INTERNATIONAL NEWS

UR reaches milestone

Universal Robots (UR), the Danish collaborative robot (cobot) company, has reached a new milestone of launching over 500 products through its UR+ ecosystem. The landmark represents significant growth in the ecosystem since it started in 2016 with the ambition of making UR an open-source-like platform that empowers developers to create groundbreaking solutions. Today, the UR+ ecosystem offers a wide range of components, kits, applications and solutions within both hardware and software designed to meet various customer needs.

More information www.universal-robots.com

Emco Mecof mills for Baker Industries

Baker Industries, a Lincoln Electric company, is extending its manufacturing versatility and capacity and offering new in-house capabilities with the arrival of two new Emco Mecof UMill 1800 CNC universal machining centres. The new machines boast automatic tool changers and diverse high-speed five-axis machining capabilities that include milling, drilling, turning and undercutting. A large work envelope of 1.8 x 2.15 x 1.25 m (X/Y/Z) supports the ability to turn parts up to about 2.5 m in diameter. The machine commenced production at the company’s Detroit facility at end of 2023.

More information www.bakerindustriesinc.com

Precision machinist invests in Wenzel CMM

Subcontract machining specialist Barth Präzisionstechnik offers a broad component manufacturing capability range from 5 to 2500 mm, and from 5 g to over 2 tonnes. Serving customers in industries such as energy, construction and mechanical engineering, the company’s philosophy is based on maximum precision, a zero-defect mentality and absolute adherence to deadlines.

In keeping with this tradition of continuous quality optimisation, the Binzwang-based company opted for an LH 2015 CMM from Wenzel. The LH 2015 gantry measuring machine features WM Quartis software and the Revo five-axis multi-sensor probe system from Renishaw. The latter offers a combination of contact measurement and scanning, which enables fast and precise measurement of even complex components. Due to its high flexibility and accuracy, the combination of the Revo with the LH 2015 opens up considerable advantages and a wide range of possible applications.

WM Quartis software forms the heart of the measurement solution and enables the precise recording, analysis and visualisation of measurement data. Thanks to its intuitive user interface and versatile functions, Wenzel says the tried-and-tested measurement software is an indispensable tool for quality control.

The professional team at Wenzel supported Barth with the integration of the LH 2015, resulting in a smooth commissioning process. The machine enables the company to optimise its production processes and deliver first-class products to its customers.

The three generations of the Barth family currently actively involved in the business are unanimous: “Manufactured by a German family business for use at a German family business that handles high-precision measuring tasks, this measuring machine is not only sustainable for our company today, but also represents pioneering technology for future generations.”

More information www.wenzel-group.com

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IDS: Trained quickly, inspected swiftly

Careful quality control is essential to ensure that only flawless indexable inserts leave production and meet high durability and reliability requirements. A flagship project by automation and measurement technology specialists Xactools and IDS Imaging Development Systems demonstrates how AI can help visual inspection make quantum leaps. The companies developed a fully automated handling and inspection system for a global manufacturer of indexable inserts based in Scandinavia.

A total of eight high-resolution industrial cameras and two spider robots handle and inspect the indexable inserts for defects, which monitor and load three rotary table nests and one pin pallet each. DENKnet’s AI forms the heart of the complex image processing system between cameras, robots and a multi-GPU computing rack to help drive zero-defect production.

The indexable insert manufacturer has around 2800 products in its portfolio, divided into almost 100 geometry families. The aim was to automate handling and defect inspection for them all.

The first challenge resulted from the numerous colours, whereby the AI required extreme training to variations and lighting conditions. But in addition to visual appearance, it is also about insert geometry. Categories such as triangle, rectangle, rhombus and square can be found in countless variations. Around 20 to 30 images were needed to teach each geometry family.

The team integrated AI into the production line in just a few months, achieving almost perfectly reliable AI results for checking right from the start.

“Indexable inserts identified as defective are sorted and grouped according to the size and position of the defect,” says Daniel Routschka, sales manager – AI at IDS Imaging Development Systems. “The AI image analysis detects more than 99% of production errors.”

More information https://en.ids-imaging.com

Decent year for tooling specialist

Cutting tool manufacturer Mapal was able to increase its group turnover in the 2023
financial year. At €588m, this represents an increase of 5.5% year-on-year. Dr Jochen Kress,
president of the Mapal Group, considers this a validation: “The fact that we were able to
achieve our planned growth despite considerable economic fluctuations over the course of
the year makes us optimistic that we have charted the correct course”.
The company expects turnover to stagnate overall in 2024. “The economy grew slower than
expected in the first half of the year,” says Kress. “However, there are more signs that the
second half will be more positive, which is reflected in our forecasts. We are now
concentrating on remaining in line with these despite the economic challenges.”
More information www.mapal.com