£11.3m battery project fully charged

A £11.3m project, designed to scale up the UK’s battery-pack manufacturing and supply chain capability, has been hailed a resounding success.The H1perChain project, funded by the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK (APC), has developed an automated pilot line for module/pack assembly, cell joining and in-line testing – delivering a step-change in high-performance battery costs and scalability.More than 50 highly skilled jobs have been created at the production facility in Coventry, with the promise of another 25 as it enters its first commercial agreement to supply battery packs for a global customer.
For further informationwww.hyperbat.com

Ford Aerospace accelerates inspection with Keyence

Ford Aerospace, a global specialist in pressed and high-precision machined parts for a multitude of industries, is leveraging the benefits of a new Keyence IM-8000 instant measuring system.The speed of the IM-8000 is already generating significant savings in inspection time, while simultaneously extending the company’s measurement function to machine operators thanks to inherent system simplicity.

“Our investment decision was based mainly on capacity,” explains Nathan McCully, the company’s quality, health, safety and environmental manager. “We wanted an inspection system that would allow us to increase our speed of measurement for simpler components, while at the same time providing more measurement accessibility to the shop floor. We were using a video inspection system previously but it was cumbersome, slow and complex to program.”

On a day-to-day basis, Ford Aerospace manufactures pressed and machined parts in accordance with the specific requirements of its customers. Although many components are complex in nature, a proportion are very simple. It was here that the company spotted an opportunity to make gains.

“Although the IM-8000 has 3D capability, it was the potential to quickly measure 2D shapes, such as shims, washers and other pressed parts that really stood out,” says McCully. “For components like this we typically perform sample inspection in quantities of 50-100. We would previously have to measure them individually and record the dimensions. However, with the IM-8000 we can measure all the parts simultaneously in seconds simply by pressing one button.”

The IM-8000 can perform measurement on up to 300 part features in a matter of seconds. With its simple place-and-press operation there is no time-consuming positioning or datum set-up required, while the machine automatically identifies measurement points to ensure consistency and repeatability.
For further information www.keyence.co.uk

New board of directors

At the autumn meeting of the VDMA Working Group Laser and Laser Systems for Material Processing (WG Laser), members held an election to confirm the newboard of directors and chairman.Dr Hagen Zimer, CEO laser technology at Trumpf, and Nikolas Meyer, head of sales and industry management at Weil Technology, are new board members. Dr Christoph Ullmann, general manager of Laserline GmbH is nowchairman of WG Laser with Dr Stefan Ruppik, vice president and general manager of high-power CO2 lasers andprofile welding systems at Coherent,acting as his deputy.
For further information www.vdma.org

Billions in funding for British manufacturers

The Government is announcing £4.5bn in funding for British manufacturing to increase investment in eight sectors across the UK. Funding will be available from 2025 for five years, providing industry with longer term certainty about investments. The Government is earmarking over £2bn for the automotive industry and £975m for aerospace, supporting the manufacturing, supply chain and development of zero emission vehicles, and investment in energy efficient and zero-carbon aircraft equipment.

Alongside this pledge, the government has committed to £960m for a ‘Green Industries Growth Accelerator’ to support clean energy manufacturing, and £520m for life sciences manufacturing to build resilience for future health emergencies and capitalise on the UK’s world-leading research and development. The announcement arrives ahead of the second Global Investment Summit taking place this week.
For further information www.gov.uk

Truly portable 3D scanner for large parts

Creaform is introducing the latest addition to its flagship HandySCAN 3D line-up, the MAX series. The handheld MAX series of industrial 3D scanners offers a 3D scanning area of approximately 1 x 1m and acquires accurate 3D measurements of any large and complex surfaces, reports the company.

Featuring a multiple scanning mode that allows users to choose either the fastest scanning time or maximum resolution, the new portable 3D scanners offer a level of versatility that will enable professionals to measure any large parts and assemblies up to 15 m. Combining the effect of speed, extra-large measuring volume, accuracy, portability and simplicity, the scanners allow for an easy, efficient and robust measurement process of parts typically present in the aerospace, transportation, energy, mining and heavy industries, among others.

Thanks to its volumetric accuracy of 0.1 mm + 0.015 mm/m, ISO 17025 accreditation and compliance with the VDI/VDE 2634 part 3 standard, the MAX series provides metrology-grade results, making it suitable for quality control and demanding reverse engineering of large parts. Additionally, the latest scanners still feature Creaform’s dynamic referencing algorithms, allowing for accurate and rigorous 3D scans of any object, whether in the lab, on the shop floor or in the field.

The system is plug-and-play and quick to set up. It is possible to integrate 3D scans into any CAD softwareeasily and seamlessly, accelerating and simplifying product development, 3D inspection and reverse engineering processes of large parts and assemblies.

“Measuring large and complex 3D surfaces with a handheld device was previously very challenging or, in certain cases, impossible,” says product manager Simon Côté. “The unique capability of the MAX series closes the gap and provides innovative dimensional measurement solutions.”
For further information www.creaform3d.com