According to BFPA chief executive Chris Buxton, the alliance means significant benefits for members of both organisations – including cross fertilisation of training initiatives, more influence over regulation, broader technical support and enhanced business networking.
"Both the BFPA and BCAS are successful organisations in their own right, with a collective membership well in excess of 400 companies," states Buxton.
"Together we can offer our members and the wider industry more added-value services and a stronger, more coherent voice amongst the regulatory community," he adds.
Buxton says the name, UK Motion Control Alliance, recognises the similarities between the organisations, particularly given the technological trends in the industry.
The UKMCA is open to other trade bodies or institutes that exhibit sufficient synergy with the existing members, with the aim that the alliance will evolve with future market trends, says Chris Dee, executive director of BCAS.
"Inevitably, aligning two successful, high-profile organisations is not without its challenges," concedes Dee.
"Concerns regarding individual brand integrity and governance have to be accommodated but the memorandum of understanding upon which the alliance is based accounts for such concerns."