Major casting process investment

Bridgnorth Aluminium has kickstarted a major investment drive in new technology as part of a long-term growth plan targeting new markets. The company, which employs more than 330 people, has seen sales increase by 33% in 2024 and is currently recruiting for another 10 roles. Bridgnorth Aluminium manufactures aluminium coils for use in lithographic printing plates, pharma and household foils for packaging, and battery foil stocks for electrification. The £1.6m investment will see the arrival of new molten metal filtration equipment required prior to the casting process.

More information https://bridgnorthaluminium.co.uk/

Autonomous process control white paper

Flexxbotics, a company delivering digital solutions for robot-driven manufacturing, is publishing a new white paper titled ‘Autonomous Process Control (APC) using Robots and Automated Inspection in Manufacturing’. The paper identifies the methodology and related technologies required for APC in the context of smart factory production robotics, a pivotal technology for achieving autonomous manufacturing. The paper also explains how improved non-conformance capture can reduce defects by over 30%, increase production yields between 25 and 45%, and reduce the cost of quality by 20% or more.

More information https://flexxboticsinc.com/1apcpr

AFRC announces 100th member

The National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS) has welcomed its 100th member with international aerospace specialist ATI Inc joining the University of Strathclyde’s Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC) as a tie-one member. It marks the start of a collaboration in advanced engineering and materials science that will support sustainable air travel.

Based in Dallas, Texas, ATI is a major producer of materials to global aircraft engine manufacturers. The company has over 100 years of experience in creating superalloys that withstand extreme heat, pressure and corrosion. Access to the AFRC’s FutureForge facility will support ATI with the development of next-generation materials and processes.

More information www.nmis.scot

Toolmaker invests in high-speed machining

Located on the Ballymote Business Park in County Sligo, Ireland, Mito Precision Engineering provides a toolroom service to manufacturers in the medical device and automotive industries, as well as jigs and fixtures to the medical and pharmaceutical sectors. Since the company’s establishment by Malachy Towey and Michael Taheny in 2010, manufacturing capacity has steadily expanded and now encompasses surface grinding and EDM, in addition to turning and milling. Mito Precision mainly sources the latter machines from preferred supplier Hurco.

In total, the company operates 11 Hurco CNC machining centres and two Hurco CNC lathes. They range from early models of the compact VM10 milling centre to a TM8i turning centre purchased last year and the latest investment, a VMX42HSi vertical machining centre with 20,000 rpm HSK63A spindle. The combination of straightforward programming, robustness and high power make Hurco machine tools suitable for manufacturing one-off, often complex parts in tool steel or stainless steel.

Mito now has three different model variations of the Hurco VMX42. This 1-m X-axis machine offers 610 mm of Y-axis travel and the same in Z plus a table load capacity of 1750 kg, allowing the company to produce large mould tools. Recent design enhancements mean that direct drives are provided in X, Y and Z, and roller guideways support all axes for precise, rigid dynamics. The machine cabinet has full washdown in addition to the spindle coolant ring, while chip evacuation is via a swarf conveyor.

Attention to detail in the tools it supplies and ongoing investment in new machinery and technology underpin success at Mito Precision.

More information www.hurco.co.uk

Maximum precision for future of manufacturing

The world premiere of the DMG Mori DMU 85 monoBLOCK 2 Generation at the recent AMB exhibition in Stuttgart combines the proven machine concept of the previous series with numerous optimisations incorporated directly from the practical experience of users.

The latest generation of the versatile five-axis simultaneous machining centre sees the introduction of improved cooling measures and direct-driven ball screws that ensure a positioning accuracy of 5 µm. Importantly, the 5 kW cooling unit is integrated in such a way that the footprint of the DMU 85 monoBLOCK 2 Generation is kept to a minimum. Further advances include the integration of additional machining processes, such as the optional mill-turn table and grinding functionality.

A wide range of automation options and CELOS X as the basis for digitised production make the new series suitable for companies in the mould and die, aerospace, semiconductor and other demanding industries.

In order to cover the wide range of requirements in the numerous target sectors, DMG Mori says that the DMU 85 monoBLOCK 2 Generation modular system includes the widest range of spindles on the market: speedMASTER spindles with speeds of 30,000 rpm for high surface finish or powerMASTER spindles offering up to 430 Nm torque for heavy-duty titanium machining. MASTER series spindles come with a 36-month warranty. The tool magazine of the DMU 85 monoBLOCK 2 Generation offers 30 pockets as standard, expandable to 180 pockets.

With more than 6000 monoBLOCK machines on the market, DMG Mori attached great importance to the unrestricted compatibility of the series.

More information www.dmgmori.com