Element Six (E6), part of the De Beers Group, will participate as a tooling solutions provider in an EU research initiative to scale friction stir welding (FSW) for mass adoption in the shipping industry.

RESURGAM (Robotic Survey, Repair and Agile Manufacture) is a programme established to improve the productivity of how shipyards fabricate new, advanced technology vessels and increase their access to specialist repair and maintenance. As part of the initiative, Element Six will develop specialised PCBN FSW tools in a range of sizes for welding steels that are required for various marine applications.

For further information www.e6.com

Many consider gear production to be complex and expensive because of the need to acquire a dedicated machine. However, CMZ has released a special video and downloadable guide on how to perform gear hobbing on its CNC lathes. The content steers CMZ lathe users through all the basic gear parameters and cycles required to machine gears. Hobbing is a process to manufacture gears by the use of a tool known as a ‘hob’, with the geometry of the gear obtained by synchronised movement between the spindle and live tool.

For further information https://is.gd/lasoyu

The acquisition of Samputensili Machine Tools and Samputensili CLC by the EMAG Group – including 87 employees across two sites near Bologna and Reggio Emilia, Italy – took place on 3 February. Legal integration of the two companies will lead to the creation of the newly founded EMAG technology company, EMAG SU Srl. Over time, the plan is for the two plants of Samputensili Machine Tools and Samputensili CLC to physically merge, with a shared location near Bologna. The new company is aiming to reach €35m in sales by 2025.

For further information www.emag.com

Alstom has completed the acquisition of Bombardier Transportation. The enlarged group has a combined proforma revenue of around €15.7bn and a €71.1bn combined backlog. According to estimates, the rail manufacturing market will grow at a CAGR of 2.3% by 2025. Although the Alstom Group already has an established customer base in France, Italy, Spain, India, Southeast Asia, Northern Africa and Brazil, Bombardier Transportation will bring strong customer proximity in strategic markets such as the UK, Germany, the Nordics, China and North America.

The employees of Bombardier Transportation joined the Alstom Group on 29 January. These new talents will enrich Alstom’s operational profile at all levels and build, with Alstom’s employees, one agile, inclusive and responsible team. In total, the group has 75,000 employees in 70 countries.

Alstom has confirmed its objective to generate €400m cost synergies on an annual run rate basis by the fourth to fifth year, and restore Bombardier Transportation’s margin to a standard level in the medium term.

For further information
www.alstom.com

The Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology (IPT), together with partners from mechanical engineering, network technology and robotics, is developing an end-to-end real-time-capable communication infrastructure based on 5G mobile technology and time-sensitive networking (TSN). Among the goals of the project is to have highly available, reliable and secure communication of all components and modules: from sensors and actuators at field level via 5G networks and Ethernet connections, to the Fraunhofer Edge Cloud (FEC).

For further information www.ipt.fraunhofer.de