Today, about 90% of tinplate use is for can-making and packaging, with the balance utilised for light engineering applications. Steel wire is used in many forms, ranging from pins and needles to engineering and automotive components such as springs, bars and rods, whilst copper-based wire is the mainstay of the electrical and electronic industries. Thus what were the Company’s exclusive crafts in earlier centuries have become modern, competitive, highly automated, hi-tech industries.
The Company maintains links with its industries, both through its membership – about a third of the Company’s members are or have been active in them – and through prizes and awards, for example our annual Metals Industry Apprentices of Year awards, and prizes and travel grants to students of materials science and related fields of engineering. One of our closest trade links is with the Metal Packaging Manufacturers’ Association.
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