Minister emphasises surveying and metrology manufacturing skills

07/09/2010

Leading metrology and precision engineering companies have been displaying their technical and business capabilities at a mini-manufacturing exhibition at the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).

Mark Prisk, the BIS Minister of State, staged the exhibit as a demonstration of what to expect from the Government’s new Manufacturing Strategy, which is scheduled for publication in November.

Companies taking part included Craftsman Tools, a precision engineering SME, global construction equipment maker JCB, metrology equipment specialists Renishaw and Yamazaki Mazak, the world’s largest manufacturer of CNC metal-cutting machine tools that has it s European head office in Worcestershire.

Mr Prisk said training young people in these industries – where British companies have long led the global field – is crucial to the development of British manufacturing.

"If we’re going to grow the proportion of manufacturing that is part of the UK economy, we need to make sure that we have the skills needed," he explained. "That means a stronger emphasis than we saw in the last government on good vocational skills and training."

He said despite the necessary reductions his department had been forced to make soon after the start of the new government, they had assigned £150 million for apprenticeships and training.