All articles by Nick Holt – Page 23
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Article
3D printing and additive manufacturing global summit
UK: An industry-led forum is to be held in order to identify what new technologies such as 3D printing offer in terms of commercial opportunities for industrial production.Specifically the costs, limitations and identification of where these processes could generate new value alongside traditional manufacturing methods will be highlighted at ...
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Article
Annual parts2clean trade fair
Germany – This year's parts2clean fair will be held at the Stuttgart fairgrounds on October 22-24.New developments to be displayed and demonstrated include equipment for cleaning with hydrocarbons, modifi ed alcohols and polar solvents. A dry ice blasting unit is also being presented and other innovations include new cleaning nozzles ...
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ArticleIncrease at Kansas City to meet F-Series demand
USA – An additional production crew is Ford’s first step in bringing more than 2,000 jobs to its Kansas City Assembly Plant in order to meet growing truck demand and launch production of the all-new Transit van early next year.The company has announced it will increase capacity by 600,000 units ...
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ArticleMazda to increase production of SKYACTIV engines
Japan – In response to increasing demand, Mazda has announced it will raise production capacity for both SKYACTIV-G and SKYACTIVD engines at its Hiroshima Plant.Currently producing 800,000 units annually, production is set to be increased to 1m units per year by the end of 2014.The company will install a new ...
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Ford commits to engines in UK restructuring
UK – Following plans announced last year to address over-capacity in Europe, which included closing the Transit assembly plant in Southampton and stamping and tooling operations in Dagenham (DSTO), Ford has committed to investment in its remaining UK operations.These will remain a global centre of excellence for powertrain development and ...
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Article
Sunderland records investment success
UK – The city of Sunderland has achieved record-breaking automotive manufacturing success and major international investment in the last 18 months, the city authorities say. Over 2,000 automotive-related job opportunities have been announced and international companies to have opened plants in the city include US-based Lear Corporation and SNOP UK.Vantec ...
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ArticleRoad to Pardis
Celebrating 50 years of supplying state-of-the-art paintshop technology to the automotive industry, Geico has proudly inaugurated both new headquarters and Pardis Innovation Centre.The Pardis Innovation Centre is dedicated to the development of green coating processes for the automotive industry. To this end Geico has set an ambitious target to introduce ...
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ArticleCoating thickness gauge
" alt src="https://d2hkn54fqqmadw.cloudfront.net/web/AL/wp-content/uploads/file/gauge-1.jpg">Elcometer says its 456 coating thickness gauge enables users to automatically compare thickness values to a coating’s specification, display trend graphs, and store individual time and date stamped thickness readings into memory. The gauges can transfer data wirelessly to a cell phone, recording the GPS coordinates of where ...
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ArticleEditor's Note: Balancing act
Just when you think you have a good idea of the direction the industry is taking, something comes along which throws all of your cleverly-conceived ideas out of the window.In this case it was a number of manufacturing plant visits conducted for this issue. Firstly, taking a look at motorcycle ...
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ArticleWhen less is more for VW
Emuge-Franken offers a case study of the development of MQL tooling at Volkswagen’s Salzgitter engine factoryThe Salzgitter plant produces 7,000 petrol and diesel engines a day for the entire VW group. These cover more than 370 versions – ranging from three to 16-cylinders. Minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) is used exclusively ...
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ArticleFive-axis twin spindle machining centre
With the development of its LiFLEX modular system, Licon says it is able to manufacture machines to individual customer needs.It says that its newest model, the LiFLEX II 444, is a small, compact, twin spindle machine for producing intermediate volume parts. With fiveaxis capability, the company claims it is suitable ...
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ArticleHeat recovery in air compressors
Using the heat they produce can increase the efficiency of compressors to about 95%, claims Boge.Modern water-cooled compressors typically integrate a heat recovery system into the cooling circuit, but there are a lot of older compressor stations that work without heat recovery, says the company. For these it has introduced ...
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ArticleOperating-range extension for CMT weld process
Fronius claims it has evolved its Cold Metal Transfer (CMT) weld process a stage further with an algorithm which it says makes it possible to use this process in applications that had been largely the preserve of globular and pulsed arcs. Previously supplied systems can be upgraded at no extra ...
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ArticleDeep marking for multiple surfaces
Marking of heavy or large parts with greater precision is the claim for SIC Marking’s latest p123 model, which delivers sufficient force to produce deep markings on materials including stainless steel, aluminum and plastic, says the company.It will also handle surfaces which are concave, convex, cylindrical or rough, it says.The ...
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ArticleCompact transfer system
Siemens has announced a new release of its LMS Test. Lab engineering suite for test data acquisition and analysis. The latest version includes a new approach to measuring the sounds from hybrid and electric vehicles which in traditional cars are masked by the engine and other low-frequency noises, it says.They ...
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ArticleCombination reed sensors have customised build
Sensors which combine reed sensor and actuator magnet in the same housing and are intended for applications in the automotive manufacturing sector have been introduced by US company Standex- Meder Electronics.The MK28 sensor has a magnetic reed switch, and actuation occurs when a suitable vane passes through the slot between ...
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ArticleNext generation of metrology software
Hexagon Metrology has launched a new generation of its software, PC-DMIS 2013, which focuses on the collection and presentation of manufacturing data to reduce scrap, improve throughput and generally help build lean manufacturing operations, says the company.The new version includes the construction of width features from two opposing sides of ...
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ArticleNoise identification in hybrids is different
Siemens has announced a new release of its LMS Test.Lab engineering suite for test data acquisition and analysis. The latest version includes a new approach to measuring the sounds from hybrid and electric vehicles which in traditional cars are masked by the engine and other low frequency noises, it says.They ...
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ArticleBending large radius tubes
Requirements for freeform bent tubes is growing, says German company Schwarze- Robitec, with increasingly complex bending paths needed for increasingly high-strength materials. The current renaissance in hydroforming is adding to demand, it says.In the freeform process the bending radii are created using independently-mounted rollers, rather than fixed tools, says the ...
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ArticleFlashing for safety
Industrial applications are being targetted by the new series of LED warning lights from Patlite, which uses a 110 flashes per minute strobe beacon light and four operating voltages (12, 24, 48 DC and 90-250 AC). The range has a 90m/s2 (9G) vibration resistance, suitable for forklifts, loaders and similar, ...