Editor's comment: New year, new issue!

Hello and welcome to the January issue of Aerospace Manufacturing magazine. In this latest issue, our Ed Hill speaks to CloudNC about its new CAM programming software which aims to dramatically reduce CNC machine tool CAM strategy creation.

CloudNC says it is revolutionising this aspect of metal part production with the latest developments of its CAM Assist software which turns the programming process into a simple click of a mouse operation. And its developers say it is particularly suitable for accelerating the time it takes to make parts in the aerospace sector.

Elsewhere, Boeing discusses the power of Lean, and why the company is so passionate about its efforts in this area. Equally passionate – at least where production savings are concerned - is subcontractor, Oaston Engineering. We report on how the company’s second Cincom sliding-head lathe purchase from Citizen Machinery UK has helped cut seven operations down to just two.

And with sustainability uppermost in everyone’s minds, Cascade Engineering’s Grenville Williamson looks at the use of carbon fibre, whether it can be recycled or produced more sustainably, and whether there are usable alternatives coming to market.

Tradeshows are always good industry bellwethers to kick off the New Year – none more so than the Southern Manufacturing & Electronics show and its co-located AutoAero specialised theme.

Previewed in this very issue, the event remains a firm favourite in the industry calendar. Indeed, Southern Manufacturing provides an ideal opportunity for aerospace professionals to source suppliers with skills and experience across a range of engineering disciplines, plus there is also many opportunities to rub shoulders with companies supplying advanced materials, such as composites. We’ll be there as always on stand B260.

Next up is our JEC World composites show preview edition. Until then, stay safe and keep the manufacturing flag flying!