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Corby MP welcomes Ion deposition service. Mr William Powell, the local MP, recently visited the Corby, Northants, premises of Ion Deposition Ltd to see their ion vacuum deposition coating service, which only recently came into full production.

The conference ‘The Digital Information Revolution’ was held in Westmister, London on 16–17 November 1994. It was arranged by FEI (Federation of the Electronics Industry); EURIM, an association of politicians and businessmen; and Syntegra, the systems integration division of BT. The conference was opened by the Duke of Kent and speakers were drawn from peers, MPs, general purpose dignitaries, and senior members of the electronics and tetecoms industries. Out of the many speakers, those named below talked about the particular aspects selected for discussion in this article. It was concluded that there was no doubt that a global superhighway would arrive, but speculation about when that might be and bow to define ‘arrival’ were avoided.

The ability of small businesses to make and adjust to the paradigm shift needed to benefit from the Japanese production theory has been questioned in the literature. Zangwill (1992) questioned the limits of the Japanese Production Theory (JPT) and in a subsequent paper (Zangwill, 1994) held on to his argument about the limits of the Japanese Production Theory. In this paper, the Japanese Production Theory is first discussed, followed by a discussion of the consistency between the traditional EOQ theory and the Japanese production theory, critique of the Zangwill’s argument, and issues related to the relevance of the Japanese production theory to small businesses.

Electroless nickel training course. Lea Manufacturing held the first of their training courses on the 11th & 12th February, at the Lee Wood Hotel, Buxton. The course was attended by 25 people from a very wide cross section of the electroless nickel industry, and covered the chemistry of the process, properties of deposit, plant, working practices, control, quality assurance, applications and commercial aspects.

Mapel wins big Iranian order. Over eighty transformer rectifiers worth close to £100,000 are being supplied to Iran by Metal and Pipeline Endurance Ltd (MAPEL).

Metabrasive hosts foundry executives The Bilston based steel shot and grit manufacturers, Metabrasive Ltd, played host to a party of senior foundry executives from the Southern England and West Midlands Branches of the British Foundry Association (BFA) last month. The party was led by Mr. Norman Gledhill, the newly appointed director of the Association, and included Mr. W. M. Sutherland, chief executive of METCON which represents a group of trade associations including BFA, in areas of trade affairs, labour relations and training.

Galvanizers fly high as a kite. The famous British Standards kite mark will now fly over Western Galvanizers Ltd of Hereford, following the company's winning of the industry's highest quality assurance specification.

Armstrong Fastenings Ltd have appointed a sales manager based in Spain, and will soon announce a similar appointment for Germany. Walsall based Armstrong, one of Europe's largest industrial fastenings groups, already have strong links with Germany and Spain, and intend to develop these further.

Steam contamination (solid particles in the superheated steam) comes from the boiler water largely in the carry‐over of water droplets. The need for extreme purity of steam for use in high pressure turbines has prompted the development of highly satisfactory devices for separating steam and water in a boiler drum. Consequently, steam contamination has been steadily reduced. Troublesome turbine blade deposits may occur with surprisingly low (0.6 ppm) total solids contamination in steam. In the 3.5–6 MPa range, however these deposits are usually water soluble and can be removed by periodic washing. In the 4 to 10 MPa range, however, silica deposits predominate and these deposits are not easily removed by water washing. With operating pressure of 13 MPa and above insoluble deposits do occur which may be controlled by residual water washing. Before the unit is returned to service, the deposits should be removed by air or water‐driven turbine cleaners or by chemical cleaning.

Not all of the Livery Companies of the City of London take an active interest in the craft of their guild. But the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers assuredly does so. It continues to examine all fish entering the City—the daily supply varying between 300 and 1,000 tons—and to condemn that which is bad. The Company also has important statutory duties in connection with shellfish, and salmon and other freshwater fish. Not only so, but the Fishmongers' Company published in 1949 a most valuable book for the purpose of furnishing public health officers and sampling officers under the Food and Drugs Act with the means of identifying at sight most kinds of fish likely to be exposed for sale in the markets and shops of this country. The book contains more than 80 coloured plates, each with a short description of such points as the shape, colour and position of the fins, the shape and colour of the lateral line, and the position of the mouth in relation to the eyes, in addition to the general shape and colour of the fish and any prominent and distinguishing markings. The coloured plates have been made from models in the Company's possession. They are quite excellent and will be indispensable to any sampling officer who wishes to assure himself that most kinds of fish sold in his area are of the nature demanded.