SIC buys Zaniboni

SIC Marking has purchased Zaniboni Srl of Turin, Italy, which has subsequently been renamed SIC Zaniboni.

Formed in 1977, Zaniboni specialises in the design, manufacture and sale of customised marking and laser traceability solutions for the automotive and mechanical engineering sectors. As early as 1994, Zaniboni began introducing lasers into its marking and traceability solutions, becoming a pioneer in the integration of this technology. In over 40 years, Zaniboni has succeeded not only in becoming a reference in Italy and internationally, but in establishing strategic partnerships with international OEMs such as SKF.
For further information www.sic-marking.co.uk

UK-built planes

Britten-Norman has two new BN2B-26 Islanders on its production line for the Falkland Islands Government Aviation Service (FIGAS), bringing the service’s fleet to a total of six Islanders by the time the second aircraft is delivered.

The investment, approved by the Falkland’s Government, will be used to meet the islands’ increasing popularity as a tourist destination. Britten-Norman says the first of the aircraft will be delivered this summer, with the second scheduled for early 2020. FIGAS has operated Islanders since October 1979.
For further information http://britten-norman.com/

Erodex set to hit £20m turnover

Erodex UK, a supplier of EDM graphite and tooling to the aerospace market, has reported record levels of turnover, with the company set to hit the £20m mark for the first time in its history.

Overall turnover increased by £2m to £19.3m during the last financial year, spurred by strong growth from the company’s machining/EDM sundries division, and a 46% rise in turnover within the tooling division, Erodex Tooling Solutions. Following a strong start to 2019, the company is now set to surpass total sales of £20m.
According to Erodex, it has continued to benefit from a strong and growing reputation within the global aerospace industry. Notably, a large proportion of new business has been won outside of the EU, in countries such as Israel, the US and Mexico.
Says director Steve Rolinson: “We operate in a mature industry, so achieving the level of growth that we continue to achieve is testament to our people, the expertise that we have within the group and our constant efforts to innovate. Export sales have increased significantly; our
US operation continues to grow year-on-year and we have secured a further three customers in Mexico for tooling and EDM electrode work.”
Erodex has made investments totalling £1.2m in the past 12 months and surpassed a total head count of 100 staff members.
Rolinson says: “Around £900,000 of the £1.2m was spent on upgrading plant, IT infrastructure and machinery, including machining centres, grinding machines and Mitutoyo metrology equipment. Such investments go hand in hand with our focus on employing and investing in the best people, as part of our long-term growth strategy.”
For further information www.erodex.com

Over 130 at shipbuilding event

Taking place on 11-12 June, the Modern Shipbuilding Summit 2019, organised by Pemamek, was aimed at shipbuilders looking to modernise their existing production or planning to invest in a new shipyard.

In total, the event in Finland was attended by over 130 maritime influencers from 56 companies in 20 countries. The event included presentations from major shipyards such as MV Werften (Germany) and Ingalls Shipbuilding (USA), as well as welding, cutting and production technology providers like Pemamek, Lincoln Electric, Davi, HGG, Hexagon and Microstep.
For further information https://pemamek.com/

FANUC reveals IoT space at technology day

Fanuc unveiled a new space dedicated to the IoT at its UK headquarters in Coventry recently as part of the company’s latest technology day for wire EDM. The event saw several of FANUC’s RoboCut α-CiB wire EDM machines in live cutting action.

Furthermore, all production data was available to view in real-time in the new IoT area. The space demonstrated FANUC’s out-of-the-box MT-Linki machine-tool monitoring service, which allows users to remotely monitor, harvest and analyse live production data.
Visitors were also able to get a first glimpse of FANUC’s newest data connectivity platform, FIELD, will officially launch later in the year.
FANUC’s α-CiB series comprises of compact, submerged wire-cutting machines. One of the stand-out features is the built-in ‘Core Stitch’ function, which allows operators to extend unmanned machining hours through the better planning of cutting jobs. Stitch points are set directly on the machine’s CNC without the need for any pre-programming, and when used in combination with the wire-path re-threading function, offer a good solution for unmanned machining and multi-workpiece cutting. Once the job is complete, operators simply knock-out the cores by hand, avoiding any risk of damaging the machine.
The α-CiB machine series also employs FANUC’s AWF2 automatic wire-feed threading technology, which takes just 10 seconds to complete a threading operation. Importantly, the RoboCut series need not return to the starting point after a wire break, which reduces cycle times. To guarantee reliable threading and re-threading, wires are electronically cut to leave a pointed end that is straight and burr free. Improved cutting control can also be achieved via the built-in iPulse 2 cutting function, which provides accurate corner control, regardless of material thickness or surface roughness.
For further information www.fanuc.eu