Image caption: LVD’s Group Marketing Director, Matt Fowles, at Blechexpo/Schweisstec 2023.

Intelligent ‘lights-out’ factory solutions were the focus of SafanDarley’s stand at this October’s EuroBLECH sheet-metal exhibition in Hanover, Germany. The bending and shearing specialist, inventor of the servo-electronic E-brake bending system, has heralded an ‘E-volution’ in sheet-metal processing by moving increasingly towards the automatically and digitally controlled factory.

In the July/August issue of ISMR, we outline the principles of plasma cutting as well as process variations, key components and variables (page 16). Sources of future spending, growth and innovation are highlighted in global aerospace and defence markets (page 20) and we chart Italy’s path through the pandemic, with forecasts and growth projections for its economy and manufacturers (page 30).