Laser Process

Laser Process blog

Laser Process is one of the UK’s leading subcontract laser cutting companies.

Welcome to our blog were we aim to keep you in touch with all the latest news about the company.

Let us know what you think, you can leave us a comment on any blog post.

Saturday 12th May saw the official unveilling of the Erasmus Darwin statue, in Lichfield. After recent weeks of cold and wet weather the sun shone on the guests who had gathered to see the culmination of ten years of planning. Speakers at the event included Stephen George - chairman of the Darwin Walk Trust, Peter Mayer - President of the Birmingham Lunar Society and Desmond King-Hele - the Darwin biographer. The ribbon was cut by Stephen Saunders, son of the late John Saunders whose idea gave birth to the statue.

Mach 2012

Last week (16-20th April) we exhibited at Mach 2012 at the NEC.

As with any exhibition it is not easy to predict results so soon after the show but the gut feeling is that it is going to be successful in terms of new sales. The number of visitors to the stand was lower than might have been expected, especially for a five day show but the quality of enquiries seems to be very good - time will tell.

One good thing about the show was the air of confidence that things were improving. Everyone seemed to be in a positive mood, a better mood than I have come across for many years.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to come and talk to us.

Made in the Midlands Expo 2012

We attended the Made in the Midlands Expo at the Banks's Stadium in Walsall on Tuesday (24/04/2012). The event was very well organised, very well attended and proved to be an excellent networking opportunity.

We made several new contacts and have arranged meetings with many of them to discuss future work.

The 'buzz' around MIdlands manufacturers was very encouraging and led to a very friendly gathering.

The Made in the Midlands organisation is doing some fantastic work in encouraging local manufacturers and suppliers to work together.

Sustrans - Carlton-le-Moreland

Portrait Bench unveilled in Carlton-le-Moreland

Quote from Stan Underwood, Chairman of organising committee - "I want you to know how delighted we are - the steering committee AND the local community - with the finished Portrait Bench group. It's stunning!
Thank you very much for all your work on translating not very brilliant photos into such an amazing piece of art work."

Good News Week - Friday 30/03/2012

26/3/2012

Ernst and Young  - UK exports to emerging countries will grow by 12% per annum for the next ten years. That represents a growth of 200% over the period.

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The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has awarded Babcock a £350 million contract to refit HMS Vengeance, the last of the Vanguard class submarines.

Work will include fitting Vengeance with a new Rolls-Royce pressurised water reactor, similar to the one being installed on the new Astute class submarines. The core will fuel the submarine until it is decommissioned. 2000 jobs saved.

27/03/2012

Some interesting points in Bank of England agents' report this morning:  

• companies now less inclined to import intermediate goods...
• a series of factors are "tending to lessen the advantage of high volume foreign producers"
• rapid increase in production costs abroad (particularly Asia) has eroded competitiveness of imports
• problems with extended supply chains overseas such as quality issues and time delays
• natural disasters around the world have highlighted the risks inherent in extended supply chains

28/03/2012

UK’s current account deficit: £8.5 bn in 2011q4, down from a £10.5bn in the previous quarter.

D G Controls Ltd ‏ - New tooling and Automotive production order won from East Europe

EEF Economics Team ‏ - Despite weakness at the end of 2011 highlighted in today's GDP release, growth in the 1st quarter of 2012 seems likely:

H.T.Brigham & Co. Ltd - New tooling and Automotive production order won from East Europe

29/03/2012

George Osborne  "the role that technology plays in driving job creation and economic growth becomes more important each day"

Cobra UK -  A SHROPSHIRE aerospace firm has unveiled what is believed to be the world's lightest economy aircraft seat.  

Probrand - A BIRMINGHAM technology firm has told Business Secretary Vince Cable that the city lies at the heart of the UK's technology sector. 

 30/03/2012

French automotive company chooses Sunderland for new factory:

 

Darwin statue erected in Lichfield

A statue to commemorate Erasmus Darwin has been erected on Cathedral Walk in Lichfield. the installation took place today (March 15th 2012) ahead of the official unveling in a few weeks time.

Erasmus Darwin was a renowned scholar and the grandfather of Charles Darwin, the author of The Origin of the Species

The statue represents the four major aspects of Darwins career i.e. botany, medicine, science and writing.

Laser Process were responsible for the production of the figures in stainless steel which were then assembled and installed by Marine Fabrications. The Darwin Walk Trust were responsible for the funding and planning of the work.

Portrait bench at Sleaford

This picture is of the Potrtrait Bench in Sleaford. It features Mark Gould and Nev Crane who are local cycling celebrities and Oliver Harding who won a competion to be immortalised in steel.

Gary Barlow - Back for good

Gary Barlow is back on his home patch - and for good.

He is one of the subjects of the latest Portrait Bench to be unveiled by Sustrans, the sustainable transport charity. The bench, which has been placed by the River Dane, adjacent to the Memorial Hall in Northwich, Cheshire, also features marathon champion, Paula Radcliffe and figure of a salt worker.

The figures are life size and made of steel and are designed to rust, naturally, over time to become a golden brown colour much like the Angel of the North.

As with all characters, associated with the Portrait Benches, the subjects are chosen by the local community in which it is installed. The Bench will be officially unveiled later this month.

Seeing is believing? Not

Reading email newsletters this morning I see that "news from all quarters indicates a positive mood amongst steel makers in Europe" whilst, at the same time, "there is talk of redundanies at Tata in Corby and at Ruuki in Finland". Obviously NOT positive indications from all quarters. However, this situation seems to me to be typical of the information we are fed. I would imagine that the talk of redundancie has some substance, so what is positive about that.
Who are the experts?, can they be trusted? (was it not experts that got us into this mess in the first place?). There was a time when we could make serious decisions based on what we were reading but these days we can only look at our own business and make decisions on what we can see on our own doorstep. The bigger picture is proving too big for everyone. who is paying wages to these 'experts' - and why?

http://f.metal-supply.com/2yvi7m0wyjr75jaa.html

2011 - A summary

2011 has been a very strange year. Sometimes busy, sometimes quiet, sometimes exciting and sometimes disconcerting – but never dull.
The year started after suffering two years of poor trade and losses and not knowing what the future had in store for us. January, however, started very well and took us into a period of six months during which we experienced record sales. The second half of the year was quite different, reasonably busy but always working hand-to-mouth with never much in the way of forward orders.
As we now approach the end of this year and the start of 2012 we again find ourselves in the position of not knowing exactly what we face. The situation in the Eurozone is causing uncertainty and anxiety and I don’t think British manufacturing will really start to move forward until their problems are resolved.
So we started the year with trepidation and we seem to be ending it the same way but we, as a company, have had some highlights in between.

• The introduction of an online quoting system to enable remote quotations at any time, instantly.
• The installation of two new Trumpf laser cutting systems in an investment of nearly one million pounds.
• The achievement of Iso14001 for Environmental Management
• The award, by Made in the Midlands, for Manufacturing Achievement.

A big thank you to all of our customers for the continued support you give us. A thank you, also, to our suppliers who have played their part in our endeavours.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a very Prosperous New Year.