Latest News & Features – Page 112
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ArticleFord trials large-scale 3D printing
US – The OEM is exploring how substantial, one-piece components such as spoilers could be printed for the prototyping and future production of vehicles, with resultant decreases in weight and fuel consumption. Ford is using a Stratasys Infinite Build 3D printer at its research centre in Dearborn, Michigan.“With Infinite Build ...
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ArticlePSA acquires Opel/Vauxhall
France – In a €2.2 billion ($2.3 billion) deal, the French vehicle-maker will take control of GM’s two European brands plus its regional financial division. The transaction will make PSA the second-largest automotive company in Europe after the Volkswagen Group, with a market share of 17%.“We are proud to join ...
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ArticleHonda’s $150m for ten-speed transmissions
US – The investment will be spread across two plants in Georgia and Ohio, enabling Honda to produce the automatic transmissions for front-wheel-drive vehicles. Production started today at Honda Precision Parts of Georgia (HPPG) in Tallapoosa.At HPPG, the OEM is spending $100m for a new assembly line and production modifications, ...
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ArticleHonda to double UK apprentices
UK – The vehicle-maker said it would expand its apprenticeship training for this year after receiving the highest number of applications since the scheme launched in 1999. Honda Swindon, which has become the production hub for the new Civic, is midway through recruiting September’s intake of apprentices.At present, the successful ...
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ArticleHarnessed dress-packs for welding robots
igus says it now offers fully assembled dress-packs for rapid replacement of energy chain systems on welding robots. The company explains that these can be custom designed, drop-in replacements, that can be connected quickly and minimise downtime.These packs consist of a multi-axis triflex R energy chain, filled with chainflex cables ...
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ArticleSmall-boring tools
New versions of the 105 Supermini are now available for boring, internal grooving, chamfering, threading, broaching, facing and parting-off exotic alloys and steels, says Horn.The company says these tools feature a new coating, substrate and microgeometry; the carbide inserts are designed to machine bores in highly alloyed materials from 0.2mm ...
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ArticleHuman-robot gap and flush measurement
Nextsense says its Calipri model series for the gap and flush measurement now includes a model variant (C12) suitable for the use in the human-robot collaboration (HRC) area.The company says the C12 variant has been applied to an HRC robot operating with a German premium segment car manufacturer. The HRC ...
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ArticleCompact structured light sensor
LMI Technologies says its Gocator 3210 stereo snapshot sensor is suitable for 3D inspection, quality control applications. Features include two 2-megapixel cameras for high-resolution 3D snapshot scans, a large FOV (120 x 85mm) for picking up multiple features at once, and onboard hardware acceleration to achieve 4Hz for full size ...
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Article
An order for progress
After the dips in demand of recent years, car makers in Brazil and Argentina anticipate an upturn in market fortunes and a boost in vehicle productionEmbattled vehicle makers operating in Brazil are predicting a return to growth in 2017 after the market sunk last year to nearly half its 2012 ...
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ArticleFast curing composite matrix resin
To meet the requirements for automated, short production cycles of composite components, Henkel says it has developed Loctite Max 2 composite matrix resin for RTM processes.The company claims this two-part polyurethane-based product is fast curing, and because of its low viscosity, rapidly fills the mould and quickly, resulting in short ...
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ArticlePortable laser tracker
Faro claims its latest generation of Vantage laser trackers is suitable for large-scale metrology applications, including assembly alignment, part and assembly inspection, machine installation and alignment, and reverse engineering.This product family consists of the VantageE with an operating range of 25 meters and the VantageS with an operating range of ...
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ArticleBMW modernises production areas
Germany – The OEM is cutting “ergonomically unfavourable and strenuous tasks” and enabling personnel to “apply their unique cognitive skills to the best effect”. By the end of 2017, it will use 60 lightweight robots, 230 smart gloves and 64 exoskeletons.“The digitalisation allows the BMW Group to tap a growing ...
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ArticleGestamp acquires plant at Pitești
Romania – The Spanish company has bought a majority stake in the operation through its Turkish subsidiary, Beyçelik Gestamp. It plans to increase turnover by manufacturing more added-value components for vehicle-makers.The plant on the edge of Pitești, an automotive production hub, has a 200-strong workforce and currently makes small and ...
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ArticlePPG sets up new coatings line at Wuhu
China – The $19m installation will make waterborne and high-solids coatings for automotive customers in the country. PPG said demand for coatings with low volatile organic compounds is rising in China due to tighter environmental regulations.“PPG’s high-performance waterborne and high-solids automotive coatings enable our customers in China to meet environmental ...
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WebinarFrom big data to smart data – Siemens MindSphere
Today’s automotive manufacturing plants generate huge amounts of data. While it is important to collect such data, it is essential to handle it intelligently. In this webinar, we’ll explain why cloud solutions are a vital part of the journey toward becoming a productive ...
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ArticleToyota makes American appointments
US – The changes, effective from April 1, are intended to “strengthen regional integration in North America”, according to Jim Lentz, Toyota’s CEO for the area. The company announced in April 2014 that it was establishing new headquarters at Plano, Texas, for its North American manufacturing, sales and marketing and ...
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ArticleSquaring the circular economy
Given the continued increase in global production, vehicle-makers have had to take action on waste managementWaste management in automotive manufacturing has moved beyond the simple recycling of materials toward a concept known as ‘the circular economy’. This is where materials that may previously have either been scrapped or recycled are ...
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ArticleBoytsov to lead Nissan St Petersburg
Russia – From March 1, Igor Boytsov will take over from Dmitry Mikhailov, who is leaving his position as vice-president, Nissan Motor Manufacturing Russia (NMGR) to become vice-president for Quality and Customer Satisfaction at AvtoVAZ. Boytsov joins the company from Alliance partner Renault, where he was plant director.Prior to Renault, ...
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ArticleFinishing on a high note
Grinding, finishing and electrical discharge machining have gone from niche to mainstream manufacturing processes Once upon a time, machining processes such as grinding and electrical discharge machining (EDM) were viewed as ‘black art’ technologies. Today, however, these advanced machine shop methods have entered the mainstream, with the automotive industry among ...
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Honda to establish new R&D centre
Japan – The vehicle-maker announced that it would set up R&D Center X to take a “non-traditional approach” toward “new value” areas including robotics, mobility systems and energy management. The facility will officially be launched in April this year.R&D Center X will initially focus on researching autonomously operated machines and ...