Latest News & Features – Page 170
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WebinarWEBINAR: ArcelorMittal co-engineering
How can co-engineering with ArcelorMittal help carmakers to achieve their weight, cost and safety targets with steel?Are you involved in the design and manufacture of cars? Do you design car bodies or closures and need to save weight while improving safety at an affordable cost? Then you surely realise that ...
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ArticleJoined up thinking
A multi-disciplinary approach is enabling Cadillac to combine aluminium and steel for the new CT6For its forthcoming CT6 large saloon, US luxury brand Cadillac has married new bodyshop techniques that will “take craftsmanship and manufacturing technology to a new level,” according to the GM brand’s president, Johan de Nysschen. The ...
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WebinarSmartphone simplicity for next-generation robot users
The application of smartphones and tablets as tools now offers great opportunities for the automotive industry.Since the 1970s, industrial robots have come with a hand-held operating device called a teach-pendant. These units are now obsolete in the eyes of the new generation of robot users that are increasingly making up ...
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ArticleBMW Rosslyn hits 1m mark for 3-Series
South Africa – The milestone vehicle rolled off the production line earlier today. Last year, the 2,900-strong workforce at the plant in Pretoria built 68,771 of the sedan for local and export sales. The latter increased by 17% in 2014.“Established in 1973, plant Rosslyn was BMW Group’s first foreign plant ...
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ArticleVIDEOS: Watch Toyota make the Mirai
Japan – Toyota has held a production ceremony at Motomachi Plant in Toyota City to celebrate what it is calling "the milestone of a new age of vehicles". The OEM has launched its hydrogen fuel cell sedan, the Mirai, which will roll off the factory's production line at the rate ...
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ArticleBASF Toda Battery Materials now established
Japan – Closing an agreement that was announced in October 2014, the new joint venture will provide cathode active materials (CAM) for lithium-ion batteries, as used in the automotive and other industries.In Japan, BASF Toda will conduct R&D, production, marketing and sales for a wide range of cathode materials, particularly ...
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ArticleFord workers trained up for F-150
US – The OEM says that since May 2013 over 8,000 skilled trades and production workers at Dearborn Truck Plant, Michigan, and Kansas City Assembly Plant, Missouri, have undergone an “intensive” training programme to support manufacture of the new pick-up truck.Comprising more than 400 hours of in-class and hands-on learning, ...
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ArticleVW starts Chattanooga expansion
US – The first phase began in January and will continue for the next two years, in preparation for the manufacture of a new mid-size SUV. The assembly, body and paint facilities will all be expanded, adding a total of 512,886 sq.ft.The bodyshop will add space on the north and ...
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ArticleSpiral-fluted PCD step drills
MAPAL claims its new range of spiral-fluted PCD step drills allow machining time reductions of up to 75% to be achieved by combining multiple machining operations in a one-shot solution. The company says these new drills are suitable for applications in automotive manufacturing and feature a unique chip transport system ...
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ArticleLaser scanning speeds prototype
The Nikon Metrology XC65Dx digital cross scanner features three laser lines projected at different angles to measure complex shapes with a minimal number of motorised probe head rotations. According to the company this setup improved the efficiency of evaluating prototype parts at vehicle locking systems producer Kiekert AG. Nikon says ...
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ArticleAutomated handling of green & cured tyres
Beumer Group says its Tire Tray System offers high-speed, high-capacity transportation, sortation and storage of green tyres, from tyre building to the curing presses, combined with careful and accurate manipulation which, the company claims, is achieved without ever gripping the tyre. For cured tires, all quality inspection, warehousing and outbound ...
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ArticleBlue laser profile scanner for shiny surfaces
Micro-Epsilon UK has launched a range of 2D/3D laser profile sensors (laser line scanners) that operate using blue (violet) laser technology rather than red. The company says the special characteristics of the blue wavelength laser light make the scanners suitable for a wide range of high precision profile and dimensional ...
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ArticleRemote control: Laser welding
A €3.9m, pan-European project is developing solutions to widen the application of lasers in weldingAn alternative to the proven and reliable technique of resistance spot welding (RSW) is remote laser welding (RLW). It offers a number of advantages such as creating joints in different locations on the product through simple ...
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ArticleEurope: In recovery
The region's vehicle market is healing, but plant closures have not prevented excess production capacityEuropean automakers will be breathing a cautious sigh of relief after 2014 showed sustained growth there following the prolonged slump triggered by the 2008/9 financial collapse. All 12 months showed growth in the region (excluding Russia ...
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Multi-tasking machining system
NSH Group says the N40MC has 5-axis, rigid, machining capability suitable for producing work pieces made of Inconel, titanium, hardened steel, tungsten, and other exotic materials in a continuous process. The machining system features incremental turning lengths up to 6,000mm with up to two separate machining modules. The company says ...
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ArticleHeavy-duty scanning probe
Hexagon Metrology has launched the HP-S-X5 HD scanning sensor, a heavy-duty analogue probe. The company says it is designed to give very high and repeatable accuracy even with heavier and longer probe extensions, accepting styli of lengths up to 800mm and weights to 650g. HP-S-X5 range sensors also feature true ...
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ArticleNew high performance compounds for automotive gear wheels
Lehvoss North America claims it has developed new thermoplastic compounds that make it possible to produce gear wheels that are more resilient compared to acetal, nylon, and PBT even at elevated temperatures. LUVOCOM 1-8181 and 1-8520 compounds polyamide 66 fortified with carbon fibres and impact modifiers, have been developed for ...
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WebinarWEBINAR: Smartphone simplicity
26 February | 7:00 PST | 15:00 GMT | 10:00 EST | 23:00 CSTThe application of smartphones and tablets as tools now offers great opportunities for the automotive industry.Since the 1970s, industrial robots have come with a handheld operating device called a teach-pendant; these units are now obsolete in the ...
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ArticleThe pulling power of GAZ and Komatsu
AMS takes a look inside the OEMs' heavy-vehicle production sites at Yaroslavl, Russia, and Awazu, Japan Since early 2013, Russian heavy-vehicle manufacturer GAZ has been producing its latest generation of medium-duty diesel engines at what it describes as the "most up-to-date engine production" facility in the country. The engines are ...
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ArticleCasesa to lead Ford’s global strategy
US – An auto analyst and investment banker, John Casesa has been hired to help accelerate the One Ford plan, deliver product excellence and drive innovation across the business. As group vice-president, Global Strategy, he will report to Mark Fields, Ford president and CEO.The role will involve steering the vehicle-maker’s ...
