Machine Building

Universal Robots draw the crowds in Regent Street

Two Universal Robots UR10 articulated arms are capturing the attention of those passing the display window of a prestigious new store in London's West End. Global sportswear giant ASICS has recently opened its flagship European retail premises on Regent Street, where front-of-house UR10 robots - supplied and commissioned by RARUK Automation - are engaging shoppers with eye-catching routines that include producing drawings of trainers on the store's impressive front glazing.

22nd January 2018

Efficient automation of life science laboratories

As a leading manufacturer of laboratory instruments for life science laboratories, Tecan offers efficient automation featuring Leuze electronic sensor systems.

19th January 2018

SMAC wins business manufacturing high capacity EV batteries

SMAC Moving Coil Actuators, working with an international battery manufacturer, won business supported by the government of China regarding manufacturing of the EV batteries used in their push for all-electrical vehicles, especially public transportation. This would include not just cars but also electric trains, busses, and more. The announcement comes on the heels of China's recent announcement to gradually end sales of fossil fuel powered vehicles.

16th January 2018

Driven Track System: the heart of an automated production cell

Automated production cells are now a fundamental part of manufacturing, especially as businesses pursue higher throughput and lower overheads in today's turbo charged production culture.

15th January 2018

SG Transmission develops custom fail-safe brake for cobots

SG Transmission has designed and manufactured a custom fail-safe brake that is now being used in collaborative robots for a wide variety of applications.}

11th January 2018

Lee Spring saves service time and components for F1000 racers

The engineers at Jedi Racing Cars Ltd. in Wellingborough had a recurring problem when servicing their customer F1000 single-seater racing cars - the half shaft CV pot joint they were using, derived from the original Mini, just wasn't intended for quick removal and often resulted in breakage of the adjacent casting mounted on the differential.

11th January 2018

Condition monitoring of critical calender roller bearings

With more than 30 manufacturing locations in over 20 countries worldwide, the RENOLIT Group is one of the leading global producers of high-quality plastic film and related products for technical applications. Repeated rolling bearing failures on various calender units at the production plant in Worms, Germany were causing unplanned downtime and costly production stoppages. Schaeffler was given the task of developing a monitoring concept that would improve the overall availability of the facilities. The challenges included the very slow roller speeds, high housing temperatures (up to 150 °C) and the difficulty of accessing the measurement points during production.

10th January 2018

Additive manufacturing a bespoke historic sundial

Renishaw has worked with the Friends of Berkeley Castle to create an additively manufactured sun dial for historic Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire, UK. Because sun dials are specific to one latitude and longitude, a bespoke product was essential for the project to be successful. Renishaw used its own additive manufacturing technology to produce a precise final product. The finished sun dial was unveiled at the Friends' Summer Party in August 2017 and will be displayed in the Castle's garden on a pedestal.

8th January 2018

Moulding machine OEM opts for NSK's NH linear guides

A manufacturer of blow moulding machines has recently replaced its linear guides with the NH series from NSK. The move comes after the OEM received complaints about the poor service life exhibited by its previous linear guides, which are used to move the mould platens.

4th January 2018

Conductivity meter is useful for CIP systems

The food and beverage industry is faced with continually rising quality standards, increasing cost pressure and strict hygienic regulations. As a result requirements for processing systems and efficient cleaning are growing. In order to help guarantee food safety, production and filling facilities must be cleaned regularly. This is usually carried out using an automated CIP (Clean-in-Place) system which eliminates the need to dismantle the process system and is often part of a fully automated production process.

4th January 2018