Editor’s Pick

Blum celebrates major anniversaries

One of the world’s leading ‘in-machine’ measurement specialists is celebrating two big birthdays in 2018, with its UK operation 18 years-old and its German parent reaching half a century.

“We started out as a one-man engineering office when founder Günther Blum combined his studies in aerospace engineering with design work for machine tool manufacturers, eventually leading to him starting his own company in Schmalegg, near Ravensburg, Germany,” explains David Mold, who founded the UK subsidiary in 2000.
“The company has come a long way in 50 years and now employs close on 550 people across 16 operations worldwide,” he adds. “In order to mark the celebrations, we took a number of customers over to Blum Tech-Talk, a major event that gave them the opportunity to see how our probes and systems are built, and see the scale of our manufacturing facilities.”
For further information www.blum-novotest.com

Dugard introduces Hanwha ‘cobot’ range

The latest HCR range of Hanwha collaborative robots (‘cobots’) is now available from Dugard.

Hanwha HCR cobots prioritise safety while offering installation costs that are up to a third lower than regular industrial robots. Dugard will be showing off the range at the Robotics and Automation 2018 exhibition, which takes place at Arena MK in Milton Keynes on 10-11 October, as well as at the Dugard open house in Hove on 17-18 October.
Regarding safety, the user-friendly series of Hanwha cobots offers collision detection at 25-150 Nm. Moreover, each cobot is built with joint rotation limit, joint speed limit, TCP speed limit and a virtual safety fence. The range starts with a small, lightweight model and extends up to a heavy-duty cobot with a large working radius. Suitable for all kinds of loading, unloading, picking and packing operations, Hanwha HCR cobots provide positional accuracy of 0.01 mm.
For further information sales@dugard.com

Degree for a digital future

Tooling specialist Walter is preparing people for an Industry 4.0 future via a new Bachelor of Science course at Baden-Württemberg Co-operative State University (DHBW) in Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany.

Industry 4.0 means that mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and information technology are growing closer together to form an intelligently networked production scenario, says Walter. According to the company, the interlocking of the analogue and digital world requires a lasting change of attitude, not just in companies, but also in universities.
The new co-operative Bachelor of Science in Business Information Studies will commence in autumn 2018, combining scientific study with Walter’s practical experience. Students will switch between the university and Walter AG every three months. In this way, they will gain knowledge, professional experience and so-called soft skills in equal measure. After a three-year study programme and a thesis, graduates will complete their education with the academic title Bachelor of Science.
For further information www.walter-tools.com

Record-breaking day at showroom opening

XYZ Machine Tools officially opened its new showroom at Slough earlier this month, an event that resulted in a record-breaking day for machine sales.

“This is the best one-day open house that we have ever seen, with over 50 companies taking the time to visit XYZ and see what was on offer,” says managing director Nigel Atherton. “By lunchtime we had already taken orders for 15 machines, with the afternoon proving just as popular when a further eight machine orders were taken. The total value of sales was just shy of £800,000.”
The new showroom is located just off the M4 motorway and is available for customer demonstrations and training, being a relatively short drive for customers from across the southeast and central England regions. “Visitor numbers at this opening event shows that we have selected a good location,” says Atherton. “This will allow more customers the opportunity to see demonstrations of XYZ machines, as well as receive training once they have made a purchase.”
For further information www.xyzmachinetools.com

Machine tool museum set to open

Yamazaki Mazak is set to open its own historic machine tool museum on the 100th anniversary of its founding.

The museum, which will open in autumn 2019, is located in Minokamo, Japan, within the newly renovated underground factory of Yamazaki Mazak Optonics Corporation, currently home to the company’s laser manufacturing operations.
Mazak’s interactive museum will give visitors the opportunity to see, touch and learn about machine tools and their history, with the overall aim being to celebrate the history of machining and educate the next generation of engineers. The museum will exhibit traditional machine tools in operation, as well as showcase the many products they produce. In addition, the museum will be equipped with an FMS area, where the latest machine tools with integrated Industry 4.0 capability will be displayed.
For further information www.mazakeu.co.uk