Decom invests £700,000

A specialist engineering company has invested more than £700,000 to develop tools which provide greener, faster and safer solutions for decommissioning in the energy sector. Decom Engineering has updated its pipe coating removal (PCR) equipment, which cleans decommissioned or surplus pipelines of multiple coatings, so they can be repurposed for use on other projects. Based in Northern Ireland, Decom has also upgraded its cold cutting saws, which have been deployed on international decommissioning projects, as oil and gas operators replace or remove ageing infrastructure.
The latest modifications to its single-blade cutter will allow the company to target a new revenue stream, assisting clients in recovering conductors from decommissioned oil and gas rigs. Decom also believes there are opportunities for its patented saws to be deployed on offshore wind farm repair and maintenance projects, as well as onshore pile cutting.

For further information www.decomengineering.co.uk 

£1bn electric vehicle hub

Nissan has unveiled EV36Zero, a £1bn flagship electric vehicle (EV) Hub, creating a world-first EV manufacturing ecosystem at the company’s plant in Sunderland. The transformational project has been launched with an initial £1bn investment by Nissan and its partners Envision AESC, a global player in battery technology, and Sunderland City Council. The Nissan EV36Zero hub brings together three interconnected project initiatives: EVs, renewable energy and battery production.

In total, the projects represent 6200 jobs at Nissan and its UK suppliers, including more than 900 new Nissan jobs and 750 new Envision AESC jobs. Notably, Envision AESC, the battery arm of global green tech company Envision Group, will deploy integrated AIoT smart technology to monitor and optimise energy consumption, manufacturing and maintenance at its new gigafactory. The factory will be located on the International Advanced Manufacturing Park (IAMP) adjacent to Nissan’s Sunderland plant, from where it will provide batteries to power up to 100,000 Nissan EVs a year.

For further information www.nissan.co.uk 

A new dimension with 15 kW

Speed, precision, flexibility: thanks to the new laser output of 15 kW, the Bystronic ByStar Fiber can cut steel, aluminium and stainless steel with a thickness from 1 to 30 mm, and brass and copper up to 20 mm.

On average, due to the 15 kW laser, the cutting speed of the ByStar Fiber increases by up to 50% (when cutting with nitrogen) compared with a 10 kW laser source. The new power level is available for the ByStar Fiber 3015, 4020, 6225 and 8025 models.

Bystronic’s BeamShaper function ensures clean cutting edges and high operational reliability across the entire range of thicknesses up to 30 mm. This function can be selected as an option when purchasing a new 15 kW ByStar Fiber, or added later as an upgrade. The BeamShaper enables the shape of the laser beam to be optimally adapted to thicker sheets and various sheet metal qualities.

Control of the high-performance flagship machine is via the ByVision cutting software and 21.5-inch touchscreen. According to Bystronic, operating the machine is as simple as using a smartphone.

In order to provide optimal material flow at the high speeds of laser cutting, Bystronic has a broad selection of automation solutions available for the ByStar Fiber 3015 and 4020. The offer includes loading and unloading systems, sorting solutions and individually configurable storage systems. Based upon the existing manufacturing environment and available space, it is possible to develop a seamlessly integrated automated laser cutting process.
ByTrans Modular is the newest loading and unloading solution on offer from Bystronic. This automation platform can be flexibly adapted to changing order situations and production rhythms in laser cutting.

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

Investing in complete fabrication

Worcestershire-based MJH Fabrications has recently invested in two Amada ENSIS-3015AJ 9 kW fibre laser cutters with MPF load/unload automation systems. This significant capital investment is helping the company to better serve its UK-wide customer base in sectors that include shop-fitting, agriculture, yellow goods and factory automation.

Formed in 1990, MJH Fabrications has grown to become a progressive subcontract fabrication specialist with £2.5m annual turnover, 20,000 sq ft premises and 18 employees.
The company’s entry into laser cutting arrived a number of years ago when it acquired a second-hand machine. Several other preowned laser cutters followed before MJH Fabrications purchased its first new model: an AMADA F1 with automation tower. The company retained this “excellent and reliable” 4 kW CO2 machine for eight years before deciding to enquire about an upgrade.

“With the industry transitioning from CO2 to fibre laser technology, it made sense to think about new investment,” explains company founder Mike Hemming. “Thanks to the experience we’d had with the F1 – a machine that was nothing short of bulletproof – we had no hesitation in returning to Amada. With our F1 we never once had a requirement to call Amada out. The only visit was for annual servicing.”

An ENSIS-3015AJ 9kW fibre laser with MPF load/unload automation provided the perfect solution for MJH Fabrications.

“To be competitive we knew that adopting fibre technology was the only option and, sure enough, we immediately noticed a difference in speed capability with the new ENSIS – it’s unbelievably fast,” says Hemming.

MJH also takes advantage of Amada Variable Beam Control technology, whereby the laser beam is automatically adapted to deliver stable cutting across all material types and thicknesses.

For further information www.amada.eu 

Gear production savings on another planet

A fully automatic production cell based around two Heckert five-axis horizontal T45 machining centres from Starrag with integrated robot handling is manufacturing process-intensive planetary gear carriers in half the time taken by conventional methods, while also reducing tool expenditure by around 25% and halving traditional equipment costs.

The capabilities of the T45 machining centres combine effectively with robotised pallet, gripper and tool handling, as well as seamless cell control technology, to ensure Germany-based mechanical engineering and automation specialist Voith increases productivity by producing the carriers in the shortest possible lead times and with high levels of precision and process reliability.

Assuming an annual output of 50,000 parts per year, the system is also enabling productivity per unit area to be increased by up to two and a half times thanks to a reduction in the number of machines being used compared with traditional methods.

From a process perspective, once the component is clamped, an optimally co-ordinated sequence of rough and smooth milling, turning and drilling operations are undertaken by machines with 15,000 rpm, 292 Nm spindles, complemented by fast start-up and deceleration rates, and 60-tool magazines. The extremely short process and throughput times for sequentially machining workpieces that may be of variable design are partly due to the robot‘s ability to automatically set up the required grippers and type-specific pallets in the storage area while the machines are cutting. When the operator approves a new series for production, the robot changes all equipment within eight seconds. This innovative production solution halves the previous process time.

Overall throughput time is also reduced because there is no need to change workpieces between machines – thus, for example eliminating the installation of different clamping devices and re-clamping.

For further information
www.starrag.com