SIC Marking has purchased Zaniboni Srl of Turin, Italy, which has subsequently been renamed SIC Zaniboni.

Formed in 1977, Zaniboni specialises in the design, manufacture and sale of customised marking and laser traceability solutions for the automotive and mechanical engineering sectors. As early as 1994, Zaniboni began introducing lasers into its marking and traceability solutions, becoming a pioneer in the integration of this technology. In over 40 years, Zaniboni has succeeded not only in becoming a reference in Italy and internationally, but in establishing strategic partnerships with international OEMs such as SKF.
For further information www.sic-marking.co.uk

Taking place on 11-12 June, the Modern Shipbuilding Summit 2019, organised by Pemamek, was aimed at shipbuilders looking to modernise their existing production or planning to invest in a new shipyard.

In total, the event in Finland was attended by over 130 maritime influencers from 56 companies in 20 countries. The event included presentations from major shipyards such as MV Werften (Germany) and Ingalls Shipbuilding (USA), as well as welding, cutting and production technology providers like Pemamek, Lincoln Electric, Davi, HGG, Hexagon and Microstep.
For further information https://pemamek.com/

Ballydehob, Ireland-based Ceramicx, a designer and manufacturer of ceramic infrared heating elements and ovens for industrial and commercial applications, has installed an Excetek wire EDM and EDM hole drill from Warwick Machine Tools. The machines are being used to support the company’s tool-room operations.

Under the auspices of founder Frank Wilson, Ceramicx has gone from strength-to-strength. Around 99% of business comes from exporting its products to over 80 countries, including Germany, UK, USA, Russia, Turkey, India and China. During the past decade Ceramicx has been enjoying average annual growth levels of circa 15%.
In 2017, the company reached a new milestone with the completion of a major building expansion project. The extra space included a well-equipped tool room to provide day-to-day support for the ceramic mouldings required by the company.
“We produce the tooling needed for compacting ceramic powder to generate the various heat insulation and control parts required for our products, so a fully capable and self-sufficient tool room was a pragmatic decision,” says Wilson. “Some of my team visited the MACH 2018 exhibition and subsequently visited Warwick Machine Tools’ showroom in the Midlands.
“A demonstration of the compact Excetek V350 CNC wire EDM machine and the HD30Z EDM hole drilling machine provided my team with the confidence to recommend the investment required,” he adds.
In use, the Excetek EDM machines have proven reliable and robust. However, as Wilson points out, “while the machines are easy to use and maintain, it’s reassuring to know that we have support here in Ireland. Our remote location makes this a key consideration, along with the trust we have in Paul Barry, WMT’s local sales and service engineer.”
For further information www.warwickmachinetools.co.uk

Cutting-tool specialist Mitsubishi Materials has opened its MTEC (Mitsubishi Technology and Education Centre) near Stuttgart, Germany.

The facility represents significant investment for the present and future needs of Mitsubishi’s development towards providing customers with turnkey metal-cutting solutions. MTEC houses the latest turning and milling machines, including a five-axis machining centre. Further equipment includes advanced coordinate measuring and inspection devices, together with the latest in tool-setting technology. Yutaka Tanaka, president of MMC Hardmetal Europe (Holdings) GmbH, says: “It is our expectation that this new facility will become respected for providing closer, direct engineering contact with our customers.”
For further information www.mmc-hardmetal.com

The second VDW (German Machine Tool Builders’ Association) symposium in Vietnam sought to tap into the country’s recent economic acceleration.

Machine-tool consumption, an important indicator of the industry’s modernisation efforts, is forecast to grow by 8.2% in 2019. A total of 11 machine-tool manufacturers – including Alzmetall, Chiron, Gleason, Grob, Heller, Index, Kapp Niles, Röders, Siemens, Trumpf and Weisser – presented their latest innovations to around 100 representatives from Vietnamese industry.
Since 2014, German machine-tool exports to Vietnam have risen by more than 150%, with a 215% increase in 2018 alone. Indeed, orders from Vietnam have more than tripled recently. The German machine-tool industry offers technologically advanced solutions that stand out from the mass-produced offerings of Asian competitors, which was confirmed by Duong Tuan Ngoc, vice general director at Hong KY Ltd of Ho Chi Minh City: “We’ve already purchased machine tools from Switzerland this year. However, in the future, we’ll be taking a keen interest in high-precision milling machines from Germany.”
For further information www.vdw.de