Manufacturing industries throughout the world are changing very rapidly. New concepts and methods are being developed and exploited to enable efficient and effective manufacturing. Existing manufacturing processes are being improved to meet the requirements of lean and agile manufacturing. The aim of the Journal of Engineering Manufacture is to provide a focus for these developments in engineering manufacture by publishing original papers and review papers covering technological and scientific research, developments and management implementation in manufacturing. Contributions are welcomed in the broad areas of processes, systems and management relevant to engineering manufacture. Of particular interest at the present time would be papers concerned with knowledge management, sustainable development, clean manufacturing, nanotechnology, high speed machining, product introduction processes, virtual enterprises, disassembly and logistics.