Page 3 - Industrial Technology - July 2020 issue

WELCOME

EDITORIAL
Editor
Mark Simms BSc Tel: 01732 773268 WHEN ‘NOBODY KNOWS’ IS
mark.simms@itmagazine.uk.com
ADVERTISING
Regional Director (Home Counties & South East) AN UNACCEPTABLE ANSWER
Mark West Tel: 020 8467 3613
mark.west@itmagazine.uk.com he television element of my formative years was largely spent watching the
output of producer Glen Larson. His works included the likes of The Six
Regional Sales Manager (Midlands)
David Harman Tel: 01772 462596 Million Dollar Man, Knight Rider, Battlestar Galactica, Magnum PI,
david.harman@itmagazine.uk.com TAutoman and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, to name but a few.
And then there were the re-runs of TV series from the 1960s, all of which
Regional Sales Manager (North of England, Scotland & Wales)
seemed to fall under the stall of either Irwin Allen or Quin Martin. Think of
Jan Anderson Tel: 01978 314730
the likes of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Invaders, Time Tunnel and
jan.anderson@itmagazine.uk.com
Land of the Giants, and you’ll have built up a pretty good idea of what, for
Deutschland/Suisse/Österreich me, became a golden decade of small screen entertainment.
Eisenacher Medien Tel: +49 228-2499860 You’ll have noted, no doubt, a common theme in the genre of these
info@eisenacher-medien.de various series, but that’s not to say it was the limit of the output of
these legendary producers. Looking through the TV credits for Allen
Overseas and Martin in particular, it must have been almost impossible through
George Bennett MA Tel: + 44 161 374 5615
the 1960s to turn on the box and find something they weren’t
it.marketing@itmagazine.uk.com
responsible for. And it’s not as though it was simply a reliance on a
Special Projects tried and tested formula; there was innovation in abundance. And
Steve Brotherton Tel: 01625 268585 the ideas that they piloted strongly influenced numerous
steve@itmagazine.uk.com subsequent TV series from other makers.
MAILING ADDRESSES So what gave these producers the Midas touch? Did they each
Press Releases: mark.simms@itmagazine.uk.com simply capture the zeitgeist of a particular decade? Was it pure luck?
Advertising Copy: production@itmagazine.uk.com Sometimes it’s enough to let the mystery be exactly that, and just say
Head Office: Victoria House, 2 Mornington Road ‘nobody knows’.
Sale, Cheshire M33 2DA Then of course, there are occasions when ‘nobody knows’ is a
Email: it.marketing@itmagazine.uk.com completely unacceptable answer, and the state of the economy as we
Circulation Department: PO Box 85, Sale M33 2BB emerge from the pandemic crisis is surely one of those times. In the last
Email: it.circulation@itmagazine.uk.com few days alone I have read, from different sources, that the UK economy
has rebounded strongly, has rebounded more slowly than expected, is on
GENERAL ENQUIRIES
Email: it.info@itmagazine.uk.com Tel: 0161 374 5615 track for a quick recovery, and won’t recover to pre-Covid levels for 4-5
years. Ask ten different ‘experts’ and you’ll get ten different answers. And it’s
As a controlled circulation journal, Industrial Technology is sent free not just that they’re drawing different conclusions from the same data; quite
of charge to individuals in the UK who meet the terms and often they’re using their own preferred official and unofficial sources and
conditions of the publishers. To apply for free regular copies, write to combinations of data, citing them as being more relevant and more meaningful
the Circulation Department. To those not meeting the terms and than any other.
conditions, the magazine is available on UK subscription at a cost of
£90 per year (10 issues). Single copies are £9. Overseas Do the predictions matter? We all know our own businesses; we can see
subscriptions (airmail) are as follows: Rest of Europe including Eire opportunities to innovate and areas where we might steal a march on our
£140 (single copies £14); USA $220 (single $22); Rest of the competitors. But at the same time, markets turn on confidence, and you don’t
World £170 (single copies £17). inspire confidence without consistency. And perhaps that single word brings us
back to the question of what made Larsen, Allen and Martin great:
Printing & production by Pensord Press, Blackwood, Wales
consistency. They were always bold, always innovative, always pushing
boundaries. It’s a lesson we could all learn from.
Industrial Mark Simms
Technology Editor

UK IS A EUROPEAN HUB FOR INNOVATION IN 3D PRINTING

new study from the European Patent Office technologies’, further demonstrates that Europe is a digital fields, including additive manufacturing
(EPO) reveals the UK as a leading European global leader in AM, with European inventors and technologies. This strength is clearly reflected in the list
country in additive manufacturing (AM) businesses accounting for almost half of AM patent of top AM applicants, with European inventors and
Ainnovation, also known as 3D printing. The UK applications filed with the EPO in the period from 2010 businesses submitting almost half of the patent
accounts for 5% of AM patent applications at the to 2018. applications in the past decade.”
European Patent Office (EPO), putting it in second place The report shows that European countries account for
behind Germany with 19%. Digital transformation 47% (or 7,863) of all AM inventions for which patent
European patent applications for AM increased at an “The surge in additive manufacturing is part of the applications were filed at the EPO in the period from
average annual rate of 36% from 2015 to 2018. This is broader, rapid rise of digital technologies overall, 2010 to 2018. The UK shows a high degree of
more than ten times greater than the average yearly confirming that the digital transformation of the economy specialisation in AM patenting with an RTA (revealed
growth of all applications at the Office combined in the is fully reflected in patent applications reaching the technological advantage) index of 1.2, which is one of
same period (3.5%). The report, entitled ‘Patents and EPO,” said EPO president António Campinos. “Europe the highest of all European countries, particularly in the
additive manufacturing – Trends in 3D printing has become a global hub for innovation in fast-growing digital aspects of AM and in AM application domains.

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