ByBend Smart: faster and more precise

The latest Bystronic ByBend Smart press brake offers high-quality Swiss bending technology and numerous new functions at an affordable price. Bystronic says that the machine is 30% faster than conventional bending, and even 50% faster with the new ‘Efficiency Booster’ option. Furthermore, insert and stroke length expansion extends the insert height for bending tools from 480 to 580 mm. The additional 100 mm boosts the ByBend Smart’s flexibility by as much as 30% because this means that higher tools can be used, which enables users to produce parts with lower bending edges. This feature is particularly useful when bending boxes and drawers.

Another new option is the five-axis back-gauge. Until now, users had the choice between a two-axis and a four-axis back-gauge system. Customers who choose the five-axis system can now also use the ByBend Smart to form complex 3D parts, such as when the bending edges are not just parallel, but also at angles to each other. The basic version of the ByBend Smart comes with a two-axis back-gauge system.

In addition to a wide spectrum of applications, fast bending sequences and short manufacturing cycles frequently play an important role for users. Here, increasing process speeds and shortening set-up times are key. The new ‘Efficiency Booster’ is an optional feature that ensures a fast return of the upper beam, accelerating the bending process by up to 20%. Furthermore, the main drive is only active when the machine is actually in operation. This is the logic of ‘Energy Saver’, which reduces the power consumption of the machine while also boosting productivity and offering the added benefit of minimising noise and waste heat.

For further information
https://bybendsmart.bystronic.com

FourJaw secures £1m investment

FourJaw, which offers a manufacturing data analytics platform that the company says can unlock five-fold increases in shop-floor productivity, has secured a second round of angel investment and Innovate UK funding. Worth £1m, the funding will further accelerate FourJaw’s growth and support high-value-added manufacturers across the country. FourJaw secured the investment with support from many within the UK investor community, notably NorthInvest and SFC Capital, along with a substantial six-figure grant from Innovate UK, to help develop next-level data analytics tools for SME manufacturers.

For further information
www.fourjaw.com

No business like show business

Mills CNC has reported that its attendance at MACH 2022 last month was an outstanding success with the company taking orders for 22 machines, its best ever tally for a MACH show, as well as hundreds of leads and enquiries for its Doosan machine tools, SYNERGi automated manufacturing cells and Doosan cobots. Those buying machines included MNB Precision, Takumi Precision and Cosworth Engines.

Says Mills CNC’s CEO Tony Dale: “We had a great MACH show; the best in the company’s history. It seemed as though we were busy as soon as the doors opened on Monday and things didn’t quiet down until late Friday afternoon. You know you’ve got the balance of showcased technologies spot on, and that you have created an innovative and welcoming stand, when the aisles are packed to the rafters and the volume of leads and enquiries generated are breaking all of our previous MACH show records.”

For further information
www.millscnc.co.uk

Machining large composite motorsport parts

Headquartered in Fontwell, West Sussex and operating from four sites near the south coast of England, GTR Composites is known for supplying Formula One teams with carbon-fibre components and assemblies. The subcontractor has produced lightweight chassis and other large parts from composite materials for a long time, but at the beginning of 2021 it started final-machining them to tolerances measured in tens of microns.

The introduction of this new service followed the purchase of a German-built Zimmermann FZU400 five-axis machining centre, installed at GTR’s Bognor Regis facility at the end of 2020 by UK sales and service agent Kingsbury. Having a 4000 x 3000 x 1250 mm working envelope, the portal machine was selected from a shortlist of three due to its ability to hold very high accuracy.

For example, a positional tolerance of 50 µm is achieved on features across a full chassis, while holes and counterbores are held to within 10 or 20 µm. As the components are of high value, GTR adopts a policy of having an operator permanently in attendance, even when the FZU400 is running overnight.

Simon Kingdon-Butcher, joint owner (with John Biddlecombe) of GTR, says: “The Zimmermann machine stood out in terms of its rigidity, which translates into the tight tolerances we are able to hold when cutting carbon fibre. We’re able to impress our customers by hitting really tight limits that our competitors cannot achieve.

“High spindle power – 34 kW continuous/41 kW peak – enables us to rough aluminium moulds, while spindle speeds up to 24,000 rpm means their surfaces can be finish-machined to very high quality using minimum quantity lubrication,” he adds. “MQL also enables us to mill and drill carbon fibre components containing titanium or aluminium inserts in the presence of a specific type of coolant approved by our customers.”

For further information
www.kingsburyuk.com

Report shows Airbus impact in UK

A new report by Oxford Economics has revealed the full extent of the contribution that Airbus makes to the UK economy in terms of GDP, employment, tax and investment. Operating from more than 25 sites across the UK, Airbus is the largest civil aerospace company in the country, the biggest civil aerospace exporter, Britain’s largest space company, the biggest supplier of large aircraft to the Royal Air Force and is responsible for around 50% of the UK’s civil helicopter fleet.

In terms of key highlights, the analysis found that in 2020: Airbus directly and indirectly supported a £5.6bn contribution to UK GDP; £1 in every £92 earned by UK firms from exported goods were products manufactured by Airbus; Airbus supported approximately 86,400 jobs in addition to its own workforce; SME’s accounted for 30% of all Airbus UK suppliers; and Airbus invested £260m in R&D.

For further information
www.airbus.com