Laser helps Ecam achieve 20% growth

A specialist in precision fabricated components for the earthmoving, construction and rail industries has marked its first venture into laser cutting by investing in a 6kW Trumpf TruLaser 3030 Fiber machine. The move has allowed Staffordshire-based Ecam Engineering to enter the market for different types of components, spurring growth of 20% in 2018, and introducing higher levels of cut quality and capacity.

“We quote for lots of different work here at Ecam, but the majority is for steel between 8 and 20mm thick,” states managing director Phil Arme. “We’ve been using plasma and oxy-gas profiling, but noticed more and more enquiries for a laser-cut finish. Not wanting to miss out on these opportunities, we did our due diligence and spoke with a number of laser profiling machine suppliers.”

Ecam shortlisted the most suitable candidates, visiting each one to perform material cutting trials.

“Some fibre laser machines are not the best at cutting steel up to 20mm thick, however, we were amazed by the trial at Trumpf,” states Arme. “Unlike at other places we visited, there was no tweaking involved, the machine just cut the material without any issues whatsoever. Moreover, the cut quality was by far the best we had seen.”

Duly installed, the TruLaser 3030 Fiber was supplied to Ecam Engineering with Trumpf’s CoolLine and BrightLine technologies. The former is proving to be particularly vital.CoolLine keeps temperatures constant by spraying a fine water mist around the point of cut. The evaporation of just 30ml of water per minute provides 1kW of cooling, and its use allows tighter parts nesting and narrower skeletons, resulting in better material utilisation.
For further information www.uk.trumpf.com

Steel contract

British Steel has secured a major new contract with Infrabel, Belgium’s national railway operator.The four-year agreement is for the maintenance and renewal of the Belgian rail network and will see British Steel supply between 35,000 and 40,000 tonnes of rail a year – more than 3000km of rail over the duration of the contract.Deliveries are scheduled to start in January 2019.The steel for the rails will be manufactured at British Steel’s headquarters in Scunthorpe, England, before being transported to the company’s rail rolling facility in Hayange, France.
For further information https://britishsteel.co.uk/

Ford Bridgend begins new engine build

Production has now begun of an all-new, fuel-efficient petrol engine at Ford’s Bridgend engine plant in Wales.The three-cylinder, 1.5-litre EcoBoost engine, which debuts in the Fiesta ST and all-new Focus, is built on a new, flexible manufacturing facility following of an investment of £100m, including support from the Welsh Government.Quality confirmation of the new engine is assured through multi-stage testing and process monitoring. Machining lines for the cylinder head and cylinder block feature the latest CNC technology and environmentally efficient cutting systems.
For further information www.ford.com

SPI buys site

UK-based fibre laser designer and manufacturer, SPI Lasers, has purchased its 8.1 acre Rugby-based manufacturing site from landlord, Kedaho Investments Ltd, in a deal worth £10.3m.The purchase will see SPI Lasers expand its manufacturing footprint in Rugby by approximately 100%, bringing its total usable space up to approximately 80,000 sq ft. Over the coming months the site will be the subject of a multi-million pound refurbishment with the express intention of utilising the additional space to accelerate SPI’s vertical integration programmes and further optimise manufacturing and production processes.
For further information www.spilasers.com

Official chain supplier to GB Cycling Team

When the Great Britain Cycling Team identified problems with the chain it had been using, Renold was contacted to see if a solution could be devised for track cycling. Renold’s history and a mutual relationship with the University of Bristol was the catalyst for the partnership forming.The chain developed is based on the same technology platform as Renold’s Synergy brand industrial transmission chain.

Detlef Ragnitz, engineering director at Renold, says: “Elite athletes make extreme demands on the chain. We looked at our technology portfolio to see what might be a good fit. Our synergy technology platform is very strong and durable, it has inherently low friction and gives us long life in industrial applications. In Industrial applications, greater efficiency means reduced carbon footprint. In cycling, it means more speed.”
For further information https://velo.renold.com/