Machine Building

Aircraft inspection made easy: mobile fuselage inspection robot

Safety is particularly important in air travel, both on the ground and in the air. For this reason, aircraft are regularly inspected and maintained. An important item on the inspector's checklist is looking for signs of corrosion and metal fatigue on the outer skin of the aircraft. To reduce ground handling times and to increase safety through improved maintenance, Lufthansa Technik AG developed a robot-supported process for inspecting metallic aircraft fuselage structures, called MORFI (Mobile Robot for Fuselage Inspection). One of the key design criteria for the mobile robot was its overall low weight, which is why igus bearing technology is used.

11th September 2017

AWS supports innovative medical start-up company

AWS is delighted to be working alongside a rapidly growing healthcare medical technology company in the development and manufacture of an innovative state-of-the-art medical device.

4th September 2017

Fully integrated drive packages to power parcel distribution

A new sorting and distribution centre in Melbourne boasting a capacity of 35,000 parcels per hour gives Australia's largest mover of freight, Toll IPEC, an edge over competitors in the booming sector of shipping merchandise for online businesses. Conveying solutions provider BCS has built a modular, intelligent facility that quickly and efficiently takes in parcels, sorts them, and loads them onto trucks. For the configuration of the drive units, BCS relied on NORD DRIVESYSTEMS' expertise. A number of NORD drives were selected with a particular focus on easy installation and maintenance.

30th August 2017

Schaeffler bearings selected for wet steam-to-energy generators

Scottish manufacturer Heliex Power has selected cylindrical roller bearings and angular contact ball bearings from Schaeffler for use on its energy saving screw expander technology, which harnesses the power of wet steam and has been installed in industrial plants, incineration sites and large-scale farms and nurseries around the world

25th August 2017

Robust drive systems improve beverage sector production

Standstill is a word that smacks of bitter losses to the beverage industry. For drive technology in this sector, high availability and easy maintenance are therefore absolutely essential. David McNamer, manufacturing manager at G.C. Evans Sales & Mfg, an American manufacturer of cooling and heating equipment for the food and beverage industry, explains

22nd August 2017

How to prove structural bonder's speed, strength and durability

When Henkel developed its new range of Loctite Universal Structural Bonders, it needed a way to demonstrate the speed, strength and durability of this patented hybrid adhesive technology. Could just 3 grams of the adhesive be used to pull a freight train weighing 208 tons?

22nd August 2017

Harting uses MICA for digital retrofit on moulding machine

Harting has used its own MICA mini-computer in a digital retrofit project, effectively bridging the gap between an injection moulding machine and the company's ERP/MES system.

11th August 2017

Reliance and Greiner develop cell culture plate manipulator

Reliance Precision Limited (Reliance) has announced that its partnership with major supplier of high-quality labware, Greiner Bio-One (Greiner) has resulted in development of the CELLswing, an automated manipulator, which gently moves and rotates a CELLdisc containing adherent mammalian cells in any required position.

9th August 2017

Waterproof connector for Water Monitoring RF Telemetry System

Intelliconnect (Europe) Ltd have provided a UK manufacturer of remote water monitoring and control systems for irrigation, drainage systems, and data loggers with SMA Interface waterproof adaptors required for an RF telemetry system to provide feedback of the status and situation of their monitoring equipment.

7th August 2017

Universal robot cuts welding time by 50 per cent

Danish fabricator MVI Maskinfabrik originally specialised in small batch production with short lead times, but wanted to increase manufacturing flexibility to introduce new products: a new range of fittings for kitchen manufacturers, the wholesale market and general engineering applications. The company was also starting to receive larger orders and management was faced with the decision whether to increase manpower to service them. Investment in a collaborative robot from Universal Robots (UR) proved to be the right approach for this small business. It instantly provided the increased capacity and flexibility the company needed and, more specifically, resulted in welding time being cut by 50 per cent.

7th August 2017