Machine Building

ESAB endless wire cuts cost of welding for Kverneland

Kverneland Group is an international developer, manufacturer and distributor of agricultural machinery and services. At its factory in Klepp, South West Norway the company produces ploughs that are renowned for their longevity thanks largely to unique Kverneland steels and the company's in-house hardening processes. State-of-the-art automation ensures that productivity is very high, and Kverneland Group Operations Norway AS continually invests to ensure it remains a world leader in plough production. One recent development has been the upgrading of six robotic welding cells to use ESAB's endless wire, which has resulted in improved productivity and significant cost savings.

9th April 2018

Harmonised PLC use through single interface

UmeÃ¥ Energi integrates Siemens PLCs with ABB Ability System 800xA across its district heating plants to lower operator risk while minimising running and maintenance costs.

6th April 2018

Cancer patient receives 3D printed titanium implant

71-year-old Peter Maggs received life-saving chest surgery at Morriston Hospital, Wales, during an operation to remove a large sarcoma from his chest. As part of the procedure, Mr Maggs received a rib prosthesis which was designed by Morriston Hospital. This is the first chest prosthesis to be manufactured and implanted into a patient in Britain.

4th April 2018

Saving space, saving costs: Robot for rapid food-packing

Fold it, seal it, tape it, box it, pick it, place it "" automate it. No, these aren't Daft Punk lyrics, but the separate processes that Finland-based Orfer Oy needed to automate to speed up its packaging operations. However, automating these processes without expanding on factory floor space was no easy feat. For a new design of a fully automated packing machine targeted to the food and packaging industries, Orfer needed a robot that offered fast and accurate handling and that could easily integrate with a vision system to track and pick parts from a moving conveyor.

27th March 2018

Grasping the next generation of robotics

The Amazon Picking Challenge, set by global online retailer Amazon, challenged roboticists to create a robot that can pick and stow 12 products from a shelf, into a bag. The Shadow Robot Company, designer and manufacturer of state-of-the-art anthropomorphic robot hands, addressed the challenge with the help of SMB Bearings.

27th March 2018

Troubleshooting safety systems from around the world

The NiMCO Corporation is an American manufacturer of world class carton form/fill/seal machines. Formed in 1962 when milk cartons changed from being wax-coated to a heat sealable plastic-coated paperboard carton, they designed a carton erecting and bottom sealing machine for small dairies already using filling and top sealing equipment. They expanded their range in 1965 with a new filler/sealer to complement the bottom sealer, and in 1967 further expanded their range with the Model 500 Former/Filler/Sealer which helped the growth and survival of many small to medium-sized dairies.

21st March 2018

SKF supplies equipment for condition monitoring services

SKF has supplied specialist electrical testing equipment to Quartzelec that has enabled the company to offer value-added services to its customers.

20th March 2018

Plastic inserts: superlight, corrosion-free and cost-saving

When Fitsco developed its patent-pending new range of plastic threaded inserts in 2017, the company had no idea that one of the early applications would see the inserts specified for use at 50,000 feet and Mach 2+ on a front-line fighter aircraft. But that is exactly what has happened with the new LiteFit plastic threaded insert after it was specified as a 'metal replacement' part for an in-cockpit application on the Eurofighter Typhoon.

13th March 2018

Sine pumps optimise high viscosity resin delivery at Enercon

One of the world's largest wind turbine manufacturers, Enercon, is using MasoSine SPS sinusoidal pumps from Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Group to optimise the delivery of protective impregnating resin at its Magdeburg production facility in Germany.

12th March 2018

Cromar upgrades to SICK LFP guided wave radar technology

Users of machining centres rightly expect the cooling and lubrication of cutting tools to continue without interruption or failure. By building new level sensing technology from SICK into their swarf management systems, one of Europe's leading manufacturers is ensuring high-performance machine tool protection and cutting fluid recycling for its customers.

9th March 2018