Editor’s Pick

MACH 2018 opens its doors

MACH, the UK’s largest exhibition for machine tools and manufacturing technologies, opens its doors today for a week (9-13 April) of trade, innovation and networking at the NEC in Birmingham.

Staged by the Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA), this biennial exhibition shines the spotlight on all the latest product developments. In 2016, both Halls 4 and 5 were completely sold out, attracting 25,627 visitors from diverse sectors across the whole of the UK manufacturing industry.
With over 600 companies exhibiting, an impressive £150m of business was attributed to MACH 2016, and 2018 promises to be bigger and better with new zones, advanced technologies and a vibrant seminar program. As always, MTI magazine will have a strong presence at MACH, where from hall 17, stand 434 the team will be handing out copies of the show issue to passing visitors. All are welcome to call by the stand for a friendly chat about any requirements for buying or selling new or pre-owned machine tools.
For further information www.machexhibition.com

HRH Prince of Wales honours Mazak

Yamazaki Mazak has been awarded Employer of the Year at the 2018 Industrial Cadets Awards, beating the likes of Airbus, the RAF and Tata Consultancy Services to the accolade. Held at the Kelvin Lecture Theatre at the IET’s Savoy Place in London last month, the awards were presented by HRH The Prince of Wales and celebrate both the achievements of young people who have completed their nationally accredited work-based experience programmes, as well as the vital input, support and efforts of businesses, employers and education organisations.

One of just two accolades open to employers, the Employer of the Year award recognises companies that have demonstrated outstanding engagement with young people and the Industrial Cadets initiative, as well as illustrating best practice in employer engagement on the work experience STEM agenda.
For further information www.mazakeu.co.uk

Speed and accuracy aids world record attempt

Having smashed the previous mark by 20 mph, Scunthorpe-based Becci Ellis set a world record of 264.1 mph on 17 August 2014 and became the world’s fastest woman on a conventional motorcycle over a standing-start mile. Achieving the female land-speed record also makes her the fourth fastest rider in the world, just 30 mph behind the overall world record set by late American rider Bill Warner.

Becci’s feat was performed at Elvington Airfield in North Yorkshire on a 1300 cc Suzuki Hayabusa that, when launched in 1999, won acclaim as the world’s fastest production motorcycle. In preparation for Becci’s record-breaking run, her Hayabusa was highly modified, enabling it to generate 650 bhp.
Not satisfied with being the current holder of the record, Becci is now busy preparing for a new attempt to set the benchmark even higher. In addition to multiple further modifications to the previously record-breaking Hayabusa, particular attention is now being paid to the aerodynamics of the bike.
Rather than use traditional wind tunnel testing methods to analyse and improve the bike’s aerodynamic performance, the team behind Becci’s latest record-breaking attempt are using advanced virtual simulation techniques.
To help gather the raw data needed to enable the best possible virtual simulation outcomes, the team enlisted the help of Manchester Metrology, a specialist in the field of laser scanning and data capture. Mindful of the need to acquire highly accurate data, the staff of Manchester Metrology used a Faro Edge ScanArm HD to undertake the critical scanning routines of the bike.
Philip Knowlson of Manchester Metrology says: “The Faro arm was ideal for this application as it has a scan rate of up to 560,000 points/second.”
For further information www.faro.com

Intelligent measurement from Hexagon

The latest large-scale portable laser scanner will be among a raft of measurement technologies highlighted by Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence (hall 18, stand 430).

The Leica Absolute Scanner LAS-XL not only offers a scan-line width of up to 600 mm and measurement stand-off distance of up to 1 m, but accuracy to within 150 µm. Hexagon says the scanner’s expanded measurement field and point acquisition rate means components and assemblies such as large blade surfaces or aircraft and rail carriage interiors can be digitised faster than ever before.
Speed is also the hallmark of Hexagon’s Romer Absolute all-purpose, portable measuring arm, which will be demonstrating its rapid 3D data capture capability via a new integrated RS4 scanner. Thanks to an ultra-wide laser strip of up to 150 mm, the RS4 scanner is able to acquire 752,000 points per second, reducing the number of passes required to fully scan a part.
For further information www.hexagonmi.com

Toyota Auris to be built at Burnaston

Toyota says it will build the next generation of its Auris hatchback at the company’s Burnaston plant in Derbyshire.

The Japanese carmaker also says its Deeside factory in North Wales will build most of the required engines. It comes after Toyota promised to invest £240m in upgrading Burnaston last March. According to the company, the move will secure more than 3000 jobs across its Burnaston and Deeside plants. The factory is being upgraded with new equipment, technologies and systems to enable manufacture of vehicles on the Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA) platform.
For further information www.toyota.co.uk