Business Minister at AMRC Cymru

Nadhim Zahawi MP, the Minister for Business and Industry, says technologies being developed by the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) are crucial to reducing the environmental impact of air travel and enabling the government to reach its target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Zahawi made the comments during a speech at AMRC Cymru in Broughton, which he was visiting as part of an event to launch the ‘Aerospace Sector Deal – One Year On’ report by the Aerospace Growth Partnership (AGP).
During his speech, Zahawi highlighted the importance of the aerospace sector to the national economy: “The value of this industry is there in black and white for everyone to see in the report, and I’ve been pleased to see that the sector is focussed firmly away from the southeast, with more than 90% of businesses located elsewhere across the country. The UK is the home of innovation and enterprise in aerospace, with a significantly large number of companies creating thousands of jobs for local communities.”
For further information www.amrc.co.uk

Bearing change on mill saves €35,600

After experiencing ongoing problems with the bearings on a vital milling machine at a steel plant, the management team turned to NSK for a solution. This decision proved to be extremely lucrative, with the steelmaker now enjoying annual savings of €35,600.

The steel facility produces rails for lift equipment that require the machining of two flat areas at the ends, which assist the fitting of the rails during assembly. While the time required to mill these rough surfaces is short, the stiffness of the machine’s spindle is critical due to the length of the rails. However, using the milling machine’s original bearings, the steel plant noticed that spindle stiffness reduced after just three months, making it necessary to change the spindle assembly, including motors.
Faced with a recurring and expensive situation, NSK was asked to find a solution. Expert NSK engineers visited the plant and analysed the spindle design as part of its AIP Added Value Programme. Following their analysis, it was recommended that the spindle be redesigned with a four row bearing set, instead of three, thus increasing the radial load capacity and radial stiffness. The contact angle was also changed from 15° to 25°, to increase the bending stiffness of the shaft.
NSK’s high precision angular contact ball bearings (ACBB) were selected from its range of standard products.
After the steel plant had implemented the change, the bearings continued working in the milling machine for more than 12 months, with no failures experienced in the motor or transmission. Today, the steelmaker no longer has to endure four production stops a year, while the costs for the replacement spindle assemblies and motors have also been eliminated. Taking these factors into account, it has been calculated that the plant is
saving €35,600 per annum.
For further information www.nskeurope.com

UK’s first Universal Robots training centre

RARUK Automation has opened the UK’s first Universal Robots authorised training centre at its headquarters in Shefford, Bedfordshire.

The move will allow the company’s certified UR trainers to provide tuition in collaborative robot (cobot) programming, empowering UK customers to get the best return from their UR investment. Says Mark Gray, UK sales manager at Universal Robots: “Through our partnership with UK application specialists such as RARUK Automation we can now expand our online training to hands-on classes, so manufacturers can extend their use of cobots and drive even more value from their automation investments and employees.”
For further information www.rarukautomation.com

Leading from the front and by example

Mills CNC, the exclusive distributor of Doosan machine tools in the UK and Ireland, has supplied Hertfordshire-based precision subcontract specialist Qualiturn Products with a Doosan DVF 5000 five-axis machining centre.

The machine, one of the first in the UK, was installed at Qualiturn’s modern and spacious 20,000 sq ft facility in February 2019, and was timed to coincide with the company’s relocation to these new premises.
Says Nick Groom, Qualiturn’s managing director: “We operate a high-productivity, highly-efficient and flexible milling cell that runs 24/7 and provides customers with high-quality, competitively-priced machined components, delivered in double-quick time. The DVF 5000 investment was made to improve our milling capabilities and complements our existing technologies.
“We are keen advocates of one-hit machining and, wherever possible, look to automate our processes,” he adds.
This commitment to continuous improvement through automation led Qualiturn (in 2014) to invest in its first Lang Robo-Trex robot system. The system uses mobile trollies which are loaded with multiple vices that hold workpieces. These workpieces – when prepped – are loaded into the Doosan DNM 650 machining centre by the system’s robot.
Such has been the success of the DNM 650/Lang Robo-Trex automated manufacturing cell that the company decided to invest in a second cell based on the new DVF 5000.
Says Groom: “Our new cell is fully operational and runs 24/7. The Doosan DVF 5000 is a high-performance machine and, by integrating it with an automated parts-handling system, we’ve been able to exploit its full potential. As a result we have experienced dramatic productivity gains and significantly reduced lead times, both of which make us more competitive.”
For further information www.millscnc.co.uk

Advancing into new dimensions

The first portal milling machine in the new Endura 900 Linear Compact series from Fooke is now in operation at Arnstädter Werkzeug und Maschinenbau (AWM). The installation is also a premiere for AWM: the company is venturing into new territory and can now handle tool weights of up to 20 tonne (previous capacity was 10 tonne). Fooke is represented in the UK by Phase 3 CNC.

“We had already set our sights on another supplier, but became aware of Fooke through a partner company,” says board member Klaus Kleinsteuber.
A convincing argument for AWM was the fact that the machine could be installed without foundations. On a relatively small footprint, the large machining area allows five-sided machining of workpieces made from steel, cast iron and aluminium, with traverse paths of up to 3500 x 2500 x 1500 mm.
The Arnstadt-based company uses its new machine for the fine-finish machining of injection moulds in order to achieve the required surface quality and necessary dimensional and geometrical accuracy. Above all, however, AWM can also use the Endura 900 Linear Compact to expand its customer base in the 10-20 tonne tool servicing sector, as responses to its expanded range of services have already shown. This factor is associated with a further advantage: large tools do not have to be dismantled first and reassembled after maintenance, but can now be machined in one piece – an enormous time benefit.
“This gives us a unique selling point in the region,” concludes Kleinsteuber.
For further information https://phase3cnc.co.uk/