After in-person events came to a halt due to the pandemic, FABTECH will be the first large-scale manufacturing trade show to return to McCormick Place in Chicago on 13-16 September. The event brings all aspects of the metal fabricating, forming, welding and finishing industries together to showcase technology, innovation and solutions.

“FABTECH is one of the largest events held at McCormick Place, bringing $73m worth of delegation spending to Chicago,” says Ed Youdell, president and CEO of the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association. “Our last event in Chicago employed just short of 4000 labourers with over 110,000 hours of work. This contributed $5.3m of labour to the overall Chicago workforce. We are looking forward to bringing these jobs back. In addition, FABTECH will provide an important boost to the hospitality industry, utilising over 40 hotels as well as many entertainment and restaurant outlets during the 19 days.”

FABTECH facilitates connections between exhibitors and attendees in order to conduct business, share knowledge and shine the spotlight on advanced manufacturing equipment and technology. Attendees will have the opportunity to explore three halls filled with cutting-edge technology, new product debuts and first-hand product demonstrations from over 1000 exhibitors.

FABTECH has co-ordinated with state and local public health guidelines to develop a plan for its return, which should see around 30,000 visitors in attendance.

McCormick Place is fully prepared and ready to welcome events back. As North America’s largest convention centre, the entire McCormick Place Campus holds the Global Biorisk Advisory Council’s GBAC STAR accreditation, the gold standard for clean and safe facilities.

Attendee registration for FABTECH 2021 is open now.

For further information
www.fabtechexpo.com

COE Press Equipment’s latest ServoMaster Touch controller comes with a new larger 7” (178 mm) touchscreen, an additional Ethernet communications port and a host of tools that are particularly suited to the needs of roll formers. These roll form features include a stretch compensation tool. During roll forming, material can elongate or stretch. COE’s tool enables the user to enter the actual length of the stretched part, as well as the desired length. By pressing ‘accept’, the control applies a scaling factor to each step, thus compensating for any elongation.

Another feature is sequence mode. The ability to switch to sequence configuration permits the creation of multi-step jobs, enabling up to 50 steps per job to a total of 4000 steps of storage. Many applications that use sequence mode require a further new feature of the control – programmable outputs – which allows the addition of up to six programmable output cards (36 outputs) to a standard ServoMaster controller. Programmable outputs can be set to come on before, during or after the index, or not at all.

Interrupt is a function for roll forming applications that allows the mill to consume a loop of material after a punch operation. When the input is disabled by the roll form mill or other device, the controller pauses the index until the input is re-enabled. Once enabled, the feed will complete the index and resume operation.

Last but not least, FSP is a feature that enables the ServoMaster controller to close a contact and thus signal auxiliary equipment when each index is completed.

For further information
www.cpec.com/servo-and-plcs

A global producer of metal components, Fischer Group, has chosen AP&T’s solution for the hot forming of high-strength aluminium parts. The technology enables the cost-effective production of complex components made from various aluminium alloys (6000 and 7000 series).

By replacing conventional sheet metal with high-strength aluminium, it is possible to reduce component weight by up to 40% without forsaking strength. This factor also lays the foundation for increasing the use of aluminium in cars, aircraft and other applications where there is a requirement to reduce energy consumption and/or increase safety.

“We’ve chosen AP&T as a partner for this innovation due to the company’s long experience with the technology itself and their expertise in automation and press building,” says Hans-Peter Fischer, CEO of Fischer Group. “In addition, we are very pleased with the modularity of the system, which allows us to adapt line output and meet any increases in required capacity. Finally, the servo-hydraulic press is a step forward in achieving energy-efficient production to optimise the CO2 footprint of forming technologies.”

The complete, fully automatic high-strength aluminium hot forming production line from AP&T is currently in the process of becoming commercially operational at Fischer Group’s facility in Achern, southern Germany. Included in the equipment is AP&T’s servo-hydraulic press, which enables high-precision forming control throughout the press cycle. According to AP&T, the servo-hydraulic press is also considerably more energy efficient than conventional hydraulic presses.

“Initially, the line will be used for small and medium-sized manufacturing volumes, but thanks to the flexibility of our modular system of standard components, it will be possible to expand the line and scale-up production at pace in line with demand,” says Christian Koroschetz, chief sales officer at AP&T.

For further information
www.aptgroup.com

Rhodes Interform, part of Group Rhodes, has won a contract to carry out a major refurbishment on a high-temperature Superplastic Forming Press (SPF) in the aerospace industry. The press, one of a pair manufactured by Rhodes Interform for a major customer in the northwest of England, operates continuously at 1000°C to form highly complex titanium aerostructures. This is the first major refit of the machine since its installation 10 years ago and is one of the largest projects of its type conducted in the UK in recent years.

The refurbishment by Rhodes Interform will focus on the replacement of all high-temperature components, including press platens, platen fixings, supporting insulations and heatshield trims.

Rhodes Interform’s technical director Peter Anderton says: “This is a large project which involves careful project management to ensure it can be completed on time, so the customer can return to a full production in a planned, controlled manner. We have a highly experienced team of service engineers who have expertise in running contracts which reduce plant downtime and maximise operational efficiency through planned maintenance schedules.”

To help minimise downtime, Rhodes Interform’s team of specialist service engineers will provide a seven day per week service for a period of six weeks.

Rhodes Interform provides a complete one-stop refurbishment service, from arranging for machine transportation, through to retrofitting new components and re-commissioning on site. Parent company Group Rhodes, based in West Yorkshire, boasts a 200-year metalforming history, and has been manufacturing presses to form composite materials from as early as the 1930s.

For further information
www.grouprhodes.co.uk

Stamping press specialist Komatsu is staging an educational webinar that involves two sessions this week. On Tuesday 10 August, the company will set out how users can best determine their press parameter selections. A day later on Wednesday 11 August, the webinar will focus on die set-up procedures and keeping the press in good working order. Both sessions run from 09:00 to 11:00 CST.

Komatsu wants to provide its users with the tools, as well as the knowledge, needed to stamp today’s increasingly difficult materials. The purpose of this webinar is to do exactly that. The webinar will go over the spectrum of aforementioned topics and will include live demonstrations. By the end of the webinar, press shops will be able to gain a further understanding of today’s stamping materials in order to not only maximise efficiency, but increase the life of the tool and the press. The sessions in this webinar are meant to be attended in order, although if there is one session that particularly appeals, please register.

The speaker is Art Hedrick, the owner of training and consulting firm Dieology, located in Greenville, Michigan, USA. He is journeyman tool and die maker with over 40 years of metalworking experience. In addition, Hedrick is a past instructor at General Motors University and has been the recipient of many training and education awards. He has held the position of chairman on a number of stamping councils with the Society of Manufacturing Engineers and the Fabricators and Manufactures Association.

Register at https://is.gd/nc1huL