New level of success in metalworking

Today, as industrialists are increasingly willing to leave the memory of Covid-19 behind, it is undeniable that the pandemic has forever changed many aspects of commercial life. More communication and business took place online as face-to-face meetings were not possible during Covid-related restrictions. This also affected exhibitions such as Metalex, the ASEAN region’s leading machine tool and metalworking exhibition.

“The last full-scale Metalex event was held in 2020, with Covid-19 preventing us from organising the show in 2021,” says Sirirat Sungvichai, exhibition management director of RX Tradex (formerly Reed Tradex). “However, when the government allowed large-scale events again, we created a special edition of the event called ‘Metalex March’ in March 2022, which was a huge success. It showed that everyone in the metalworking community wanted to meet their colleagues and experience new machinery and technologies with their own eyes.

“One factor that helps businesses grow and become successful is networking, whether it’s a network of customers, suppliers or business partners,” she continues. “Therefore, when the pandemic started to improve, we started aiming for Metalex (to be held on 16-19 November 2022 at BITEC, Bangkok) to make a grand comeback. We want to make this event a meeting place for everyone in the metalworking industry to come expand their networks in the ASEAN region.”

Sungvichai goes on to say that it will be an event where everyone gets to improve production efficiency together, add value to their products, and generate business opportunities that will foster growth. Over 85,000 participants from all over the region will get to experience over 2500 brands of metalworking technologies, and meet with representatives at international pavilions from Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and the Republic of China (Taiwan). What is even more exciting is that some technologies will appear for the first time in the ASEAN region at Metalex.

In addition to the machinery and technology exhibition, Metalex will host concurrent seminars on a variety of up-and-coming topics such as AI, smart materials and many more. Interested participants can pre-register online.
For further information www.metalex.co.th

1300 robots for VW Group

FANUC has secured another major order from the Volkswagen Group. In 2022 and 2023, the company will supply four of the group’s plants with a total of around 1300 robots. The majority are destined for VW’s manufacturing facility in Bratislava, Slovakia, while the main VW plant in Wolfsburg, Germany will also receive a large batch of robots to assist with the body construction of the new all-electric ID.3. FANUC robots will also contribute to the expansion of e-mobility in Audi’s new battery assembly plant in Ingolstadt, Germany. The fourth plant that FANUC will supply is the Audi plant in Győr, Hungary.
For further information www.fanuc.eu

Polymer 3D printing market to hit $21.1bn

A new report from IDTechEx ‘Polymer Additive Manufacturing 2023-2033: Technology and Market Outlook’, finds that polymer 3D printing is moving beyond prototyping to high-value adoption by end users, propelling its growth to $21.1bn in 2033. Among the sectors that will drive this growth include automotive, medical devices and consumer goods. IDTechEx’s new report forecasts future revenue, install base and materials demand for the polymer AM market, while carefully segmenting the polymer AM technology and materials market by 10 process categories, three material form factors and 17 individual material categories.
For further information www.IDTechEx.com/polymerAM

Eriks completes £21m infrastructure investment

Industrial products supplier Eriks has completed a £21m infrastructure investment, headlined by a state-of-the-art fulfilment centre to improve its product range along with the speed and accuracy of supply. ERIKS’ new Fulfilment Centre of Expertise (FCE) in Oldbury is now fully operational with its 11,000 sq m warehouse space backed by one of the most advanced warehouse management systems anywhere in Europe. It has 21 vertical lifts, more than 400 m of high-speed conveyors, sophisticated scanning and weighing systems for every order, and Industry 4.0 configured IT infrastructure with real-time monitoring.
For further information www.eriks.co.uk

Helping aerospace motor manufacturer take-off

As a company that specialises in providing electro-mechanical solutions to the aerospace and defence sectors, Rochdale-based NEMA Ltd is at the cutting edge of technology. To work at this end of the industry, the company invests in machine tools from the Engineering Technology Group (ETG). NEMA acquired its first ETG turning centres back in 2018 and this has been followed by 3D printing technology, a Mitsubishi EDM and most recently a Quaser MV184 CNC machining centre with a Nikken 4th axis rotary system.

The company’s managing director Andy Wilding says: “We’ve worked with ETG for several years and they always have the solution we require. The staff are friendly, supportive and always available, and we have a great relationship – but most importantly, the technology is fantastic.”

Alluding to why the 40-employee business required a new machining centre, Wilding continues: “We have a machining centre that is now approaching 20 years old and, while it still performs brilliantly, we want to reduce our reliance on an older machine that is susceptible to increased maintenance and downtime than a newer machine – especially as we win more new work. Additionally, a lot of our milling work revolves around the design, development and manufacture of electric motors for the next generation of ‘electrified’ aircraft. As the motor units evolve to generate more power, they subsequently increase in size, and our 400 x 800 mm bed on the existing machining centre was too small for many of the new parts coming through our door.

“The four-axis Quaser MV184 is not only faster, the build quality has created a more stable platform and this is giving us improved tool life, surface finishes and process reliability,” adds Wilding.
For further information www.engtechgroup.com