Prime Minister operates XYZ lathe

A recent visit to Truro and Penwith College in Cornwallgave the Prime Minister the chance to try his hand at operating an XYZ 1330 Trainer lathe. The visit – to mark National Apprenticeship Week – was an opportunity for Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murthy to appreciate for themselves the valuable work performed by the college, which is rated as ‘outstanding’ and attracts students from across the county and wider southeast. Level 3 machining apprentice Daniel Wright, who now works for West Pharmaceutical Services, guided the Prime Minister through face-turning operations.

At the Truro site there are: 11 manual lathes; XYZ 1330 and XYZ 1530, 2 XYZ RLX 1630 CNC lathes with ProtoTRAK controls; five XYZ 2000 manual mills;one XYZ 1020 surface grinder; two RMX 2500 CNC mills with ProtoTRAK controls;and one XYZ 660 HD VMC with Siemens 828D control. A new campus in Bodmin will have: six XYZ 1330 manual lathes; three XYZ 2000 manual mills;one RMX 2500 CNC mill with ProtoTRAK control; one RLX 1630 CNC lathe with ProtoTRAK control; and one XYZ 660 HD VMC with Siemens 828D control.
For further information www.xyzmachinetools.com

Ward CNC strengthens sales manager network

TW Ward CNC Machinery (Ward CNC) has expanded its presence across the Yorkshire and East regions by appointing John Hawkins as regional sales manager. Hawkins brings a wealth of technical and sales experience within the machine tool and engineering industry, possessing over 20 years of selling high value/high technology solutions, capital equipment and associated software to major manufacturers and OEM customers in the UK and overseas.“The comprehensive range of products and highly reputable brands is one of the key reasons why I am so pleased to be joining Ward CNC,” he says.
For further information www.wardcnc.com

Subcontract market surges by 60%

The latest Contract Manufacturing Index (CMI) shows that the UK subcontract manufacturing market surged by 60% in the first three months of 2023 compared with the previous quarter. As political and economic uncertainty eased, high-value purchasing organisation came back to the market and the release of pent-up demand saw activity soar.
The market jumped by 178% from December 2022 to January 2023 and remained healthy for the rest of the quarter.

Overall, the first quarter of 2023 was 31% higher than the first quarter of 2022, demonstrating consistent growth in the longer term. The CMI, produced by sourcing specialist Qimtek, reflects the total purchasing budget for the outsourced manufacturing of companies looking to place business in any given month. This represents a sample of over 4000 companies who could be placing business,which together have a purchasing budget of more than £3.4bn and a supplier base of over 7000 companies with a verified turnover in excess of £25bn.
For further information www.qimtek.co.uk

Process monitoring for press-hardening lines

When metal manufacturer AP&T needed an automated solution to monitor the heat distribution during the shaping and pressing of vehicle parts, it turned to Termisk Systemteknik. The answer was a non-contact temperature monitoring solution using thermal imaging cameras from Teledyne FLIR.

AP&T needed a solution to measure and monitor sheet materials before and after pressing. It is necessary to guarantee even heat distribution from the furnace before pressing the sheets, an exact placement of the sheets, and to ensure that there are no hot spots after the sheets cool in the press tool. Failing to meet any of these three conditions means the safety-relevant components will not reach their required mechanical properties.

Termisk designed an Infrared Press Hardening Analysis (IPHA) vision system that can measure the three main factors affecting sheet pressing quality: temperature before and after pressing, and sheet placement in the press. Using Teledyne FLIR thermal imaging cameras mounted to the sides of press machines, the IPHA system 1/3 measures the temperature of metal sheets using the Teledyne FLIR A70 smart sensor camera or Teledyne FLIR A615 camera, depending on the required image quality.

The set-up ensures accurate measurement of the temperature for the whole surface area of the 3D-shaped sheet. Once pieces are inside the press, the press-line controller system signals to IPHA to take an image and analyse it. With the positioning and temperature determined as OK, the system sends a signal back to the press line to proceed. Similarly, it then measures the sheet temperature and inspects heat distribution after pressing and cooling. The high-resolution thermal images make it quick and easy to identify hot spots and measure the areas where the material has not reached the correct temperatures.
For further information www.flir.co.uk

Enerpac Cube Jacks ease tight installation of presses

Faced with installing two 16-tonne presses, one on top of the other, with just 30mm headroom, French equipment installer Bovis Group used Enerpac cube jacks to successfully complete the work. By combining Enerpac SCJ-50 cube jacks with load-holding, wooden cribbing and jacking blocks, it was possible to lift and accurately position the presses were within the space available.

Bovis Group’s centres in Poitiers and Trinstal Equipements collaborated on this high-precision handling project for a manufacturer of electronics and advanced materials. The technical challenge was the space constraint. Using 3D modelling software, it was possible to develop a lifting scenario based on progressive jacking of the upper press to within 30mm of the factory ceiling. From this position, it lowered onto the second press to complete the press assembly.

For the vertical lift of the upper press, the Bovis team used four Enerpac SCJ-50 cube jacks connected to a split flow pump, providing synchronised movement of all four jacks. After the initial lift, Bovis supported the press using wooden cribbing and positioned the cube jacks on jacking blocks to repeat the lift. Once the upper press was at the correct height, Bovis used a 30 tonne hydraulic mover to move the lower press into position beneath the upper press.

“This was a very precise operation and demonstrated the lifting accuracy we can achieve with the Enerpac cube jacks,” says Jérôme Lebrequier, industrial project manager at Bovis Group.“Thanks to our meticulous planning, and the ease of using the cube jacks, we were able to complete the installation of both presses on the same day.”
For further information www.enerpac.com