Sodick opens HQ

Sodick Europe welcomed 170 guests to the grand opening of its new architect-designed headquarters in Warwick.

Kenichi Furukawa, president of Sodick Co Ltd, son of Sodick’s founder Toshihiko Furukawa, helped CEO Peter Capp and other VIP guests break the traditional sake barrels to bring good fortune to the enterprise. At 4200 sq m, the building has been designed with expansion in mind and, on a 1.2 hectare site, there is plenty of space for further growth at a later date. One of the key advantages of the new building is its large, temperature-controlled showroom.
For further information https://sodi-techedm.co.uk/

High load forming cylinder

Roemheld’s newly developed block cylinder S (‘strong’) is purposed designed for use in forming technology, including punching machines. This sturdy and compact cylinder is a further development of the established Roemheld block cylinder.

The block cylinder S is hydraulically double-acting and universally applicable for all linear movements with high force requirements. According to Roemheld, the cylinder can withstand high mechanical and thermal loads, and is suitable for operating pressures up to 500 bar and operating temperatures up to 200°C. Versions up to 250°C are also available on request.
Block cylinder S shows its strengths where high loads and side loads are to be expected, such as on punching, pressing, trimming, bending and stamping machines, as well as in joining and press-in devices. All designs are equipped with piston and rod guide rings, which absorb side loads between the moving components. The rod guide rings also prevent direct metal contact between the piston and cylinder housing, minimising mechanical wear. Importantly, the operating pressure of block cylinder S must be limited to 250 bar for these applications because of very high loads during punching.
As a result of numerous variants and small dimensions, block cylinder S can also be used for a range of other applications, such as operating core pullers and sliders in mould tools. The cylinder can also be deployed in fully automatic production systems with short cycle times thanks to its high load capacity. Inductive stroke end controls are provided for optional position monitoring.
A total of five sizes with piston diameters from 32 to 80 mm, and four stroke lengths from 25 to 100 mm, are available. If required, the standard stroke can be shortened by 5 to 29 mm by means of a shrink-fit distance bushing. Piston variants with internal or external thread
can be supplied.
For further information www.roemheld.co.uk

FEI returns

The Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA) says that Future Engineering Ireland (FEI) will once again be part of the National Supply Chain and Manufacturing Conference & Exhibition in Dublin in January 2020.

Following the success of the event in January of this year, the organiser has extended the exhibition to cover two days. The 2020 edition of FEI will take place on 29-30 January at CityWest, Dublin. FEI 2020 will provide a great opportunity for manufacturing technology providers to show off their latest innovations to potential customers closer to their businesses than ever before. This year’s show attracted over 6,100 delegates.
For further information www.feiexhibition.ie

More coil-fed punching and cutting

According to a new report by Persistence Market Research, the global coil-fed punching and cutting machine market is projected to witness significant growth owing to modular automation solutions.

In addition, coil-fed punching and cutting machines answer the rising need for the reduction of scrap and high productivity, and notable opportunities in electronics and consumer goods applications.
The global coil-fed punching and cutting machine market was pegged at US$ 66.1m in the year 2018, but is expected to expand at a CAGR of 8.5% during the period of 2019 to 2029.
Demand for coil-fed punching and cutting machines has been driven by swelling investments in sectors such as automotive, consumer goods and electronics. Further, the replacement of punching and cutting machines with coil-fed equivalents for reducing material loss is expected to drive growth of the latter. The market is significantly led by a few multinational players, with the top seven players accounting for more than 80% of global market share. Manufacturers of
coil-fed punching and cutting machines are mostly based in Italy, the US, China, Japan and Germany.
The global coil-fed punching and cutting machine arena is a low-volume, high-value market and, due to its high capital investment, has not grown as per its industrial potential. In the past three to five years, end users in developing economies have depended mostly on standard sheet metal punching and cutting machines. During the forecast period, it is expected that the global coil-fed punching and cutting machine market will experience significant growth in installation in developing economies, due to factors such as reducing labour and raw material costs.
For further information www.persistencemarketresearch.com

Precision slitting with minimal burrs

Coil processing line requirements are ever more demanding on account of the increasing use of modern materials. High-strength aluminium – highly resilient and flexible – is opening up entirely new possibilities in industries like automotive and aerospace, but it is extremely hard to process.

Especially in sheet processing and assembly, precision and cut quality matter if manufacturers want to avoid failed batches. However, much of the machinery introduced over the years lacks the capability to cut modern materials with enough precision due to customer requirements for thickness and width in the geometrics of the slit strip. This factor is why Bremen, Germany-based Manfred JC Niemann Zentrale KG has added a new Burghardt + Schmidt wide-material slitting line to its machine fleet. The new line is designed to process particularly wide aluminium coils of 800 to 2100 mm. And thanks to high-precision shears and a circumferential setting mechanism on the coiler, the line can also set an outer diameter of 1850 mm efficiently and accurately.
“Depending on the thickness of the material, the yield strength is 20 to 580 N/mm², while tensile strength is 65 to 600 N/mm², so it’s especially demanding having to cut them to custom sizes,” says managing director Jörn Niemann. “Hence, the company went looking for a machine designed for wide coils, opting for a wide-material slitting line from Burghardt + Schmidt.”
At the heart of the new line is the Twin CNC slitting shear, with a pre-tensioned precision roller bearing and zero backlash linear guide designed for accurate and, above all, stable positioning. The installed blades are 400 mm in diameter and are assembled together with rubber-bonded spacers. Slitting shears feature a push-off plate to guarantee rapid retooling with the four-arm tool change system outside the line.
For further information https://b-s-germany.de/