FANUC Secures Top 1% Sustainability Ranking

FANUC Corporation has received a ‘Platinum’ rating for sustainability by EcoVadis, placing it in the top 1% of over 150,000 companies assessed globally. Achieving a score of 82/100, the recognition reflects FANUC’s commitment to responsible business conduct and sustainable innovation. EcoVadis, a global sustainability ratings platform, conducts its assessments using internationally recognised standards, including the United Nations Global Compact, ILO conventions and ISO 26000. It evaluates organisations across four key performance areas: environment; labour and human rights; ethics; and sustainable procurement.

More information www.fanuc.eu

£100,000 robotics investment at Wallwork

In a £100,000 investment, Wallwork Group has introduced a UR collaborative robot (cobot)  to its vacuum brazing line in Cambridge. The move will make high-volume brazed components a commercially viable option for many manufacturers. With its 12.5 kg payload and  1300 mm reach, the cobot has the ability to learn as it goes along via a continuous improvement process.

“Cost-effective, high-volume vacuum-brazed components have been out of reach until now, largely due to the amount of assembly and labour time required,” explains group director Simeon Collins. “This investment brings the advantages of vacuum brazing to components that were previously uneconomic to process. It also means we can develop the quality of customer products.”

More information www.bit.ly/46RE7vU

MecWash named UK agent for Sugino Machines

MecWash Systems is now the sole UK agent of Sugino Corporation’s high-pressure cleaning and deburring machines, including the JCC (Jet Clean Centre) range. This strategic partnership strengthens MecWash’s position as a major UK supplier of aqueous parts cleaning systems for precision industries.

Sugino, a global specialist in high-pressure cleaning and deburring technology, has developed the JCC series to deliver accurate results, short cycle times and operational flexibility. The Sugino systems are designed like machine tools with an XYZ column and rotating plinth, to give strength, accuracy and control of the waterjets. The systems are also programmed like CNC machine tools, so they can be used easily by machine tool trained staff.

Delivering high pressures at up to 2450 bar, the machines provide high performance for particularly tenacious contamination and burrs. This power can be particularly valuable in cleaning up die castings, removing casting media or oxidation scale from hardening, leaving an excellent surface finish, reports MecWash.

Pierre Le Noach, sales manager at Sugino Machine France, says: “This is a great opportunity for Sugino and MecWash to combine forces to tackle industry’s toughest cleaning challenges. The partnership gives Sugino access to the UK market, where high-pressure deburring and washing systems are in great demand. MecWash has an exceptional reputation and will help to drive Sugino’s presence within UK manufacturing.” 

Adds John Pattison, managing director of MecWash Systems: “This partnership is a perfect synergy of precision engineering and technical expertise. The Sugino JCC machines complement and extend our existing range by providing capability for applications where accurate ‘brute force’ is critical for cleaning or deburring.”

More information www.mecwash.com

Lissmac implements changes in management team

Important changes in the management team have taken place at metal processing machine manufacturer Lissmac Maschinenbau GmbH. Its long-standing employee and managing director Daniel Keller has left the company, replaced by Thomas Hoffmeister. Hoffmeister has already been in office since earlier this year and is now managing the company together with Dr Hinrich Dohrmann.
 
“In 2024, after careful consideration, I made the decision to reorient myself professionally after more than 25 years at Lissmac and take up a position outside the company,” said Keller. “The decision was not easy for me, as Lissmac has always been a matter close to my heart. We achieved a lot together. Our successes are the result of joint efforts and the tireless commitment of all employees.”

Added Hoffmeister: “At 53 years old, I bring not only experience but, above all, passion and an entrepreneurial spirit. Coming from a family of entrepreneurs, I was taught from a young age the importance of entrepreneurial thinking, responsibility and sustainable action. After studying Manufacturing Engineering at Boston University and earning an MBA from the London Business School, my career took me around the globe – from Thailand to Egypt to China. Positions at ABB and Dresdner Bank provided me with valuable insights before I founded my own company in 2016, which I have since sold.

“Now, I’m excited to drive Lissmac forward with full energy together with an outstanding team. Our company is excellently positioned to not only meet the challenges of the future but to set new standards. With strong employees, a solid market position and strategic investments in our site in Bad Wurzach, we have everything needed for enduring success.”

More information www.lismac.com

Automated, fast finishing of artificial knee femurs

The expansion of the product range with knee implants made from titanium at a leading implant manufacturer required the purchase of new surface finishing equipment. With the RMSF 4/800 multi-surf finisher, Rösler developed a solution which, compared to typically utilised drag finishing machines, produces the required results in two separate process stages about four times faster.

Depending on the initial surface roughness readings of the raw components, the grinding operation with plastic processing media – specially developed for medical engineering applications – produces surface roughness readings of less than Ra 0.1 µm in cycle times of about 20 minutes. Moreover,  the critical ‘box’ surface area, frequently requiring a manual  grinding operation, can be fully automatically ground and polished.

This was made possible with the novel surf-finishing system, an intensive mass finishing technology. Surf finishing was developed for treating high-value workpieces with complex shapes requiring the targeted finishing of precisely defined surface areas. Similar to drag finishing, the knee femurs are mounted to a rotary spindle equipped with a servomotor. The actual treatment of the work pieces takes place in a rotating processing bowl filled with grinding, respectively, polishing media.

Individually adjustable tilting and rotary motions guarantee the highly precise and absolutely repeatable surface treatment of the various implant components on precisely defined surface areas. Process parameters, such as cycle time, rotary speed and direction, are stored in the equipment PLC as part of workpiece-specific processing programs. Pneumatic clamping of the work piece fixtures and a loading window, as part of the standard machine version, allow easy automation of the loading operation with an industrial robot.

More information www.rosler.com