INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Minister sees smart factory up close

What opportunities are hiding behind Industry 4.0? Where do the current challenges lie in the international marketplace? What significance do medium sized companies have?

The Minister for Economic Affairs for Baden-Württemberg, Dr Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut, shed some light on these questions among others during a seminar at gripping systems and clamping technology specialist Schunk’s premises in Lauffen, Germany. After the seminar, the minister was invited to witness the capabilities of high-tech components from Schunk at close quarters – from fully automated production up to direct collaboration between humans and robots.
For further information www.schunk.com

Hypertherm wins court case in China

Hypertherm, a manufacturer of industrial cutting systems and software, has won an important intellectual property court case in China. A repeated Chinese counterfeiter was brought to court for manufacturing and selling counterfeit Hypertherm consumables.

After thorough investigation, the court ruled in favour of Hypertherm and sentenced the main suspect to three years in prison. His accomplice was sentenced to serve one year. Both will also have to pay fines of $25,000 and $7500 respectively. Examples of protected Hypertherm trademarks include Hypertherm, Powermax, HPR, FlushCut, HyAccess and ProNest.
For further information www.hypertherm.com

Tangier turbine blade plant inaugurated

Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) has officially inaugurated its new rotor blade factory in Tangier, an event chaired by Morocco’s Minister of Industry, Investment, Trade and Digital Economy, Moulay Hafid El Alamy, and Markus Tacke, CEO of Siemens Gamesa.

The first plant of its type in the region, the facility will produce B63-10 blades with a length of 63 m for export to Europe, Africa and the Middle East, as well as for local projects. Employing 600 people, the 37,500 sq m plant is ready to produce other blade models in the future, which could reach up to 75 m. The company’s blades are based on licensed technologies and made of composite materials.
For further information www.gamesacorp.com

Doors set to open at Metalex 2017

The 31st edition of Metalex is set to get underway this week (22-25 November) at the BITEC venue in Bangkok, Thailand. With over 90,000 attending the show in 2016, this year the organisers are expecting to welcome more than 100,000 visitors through the exhibition doors over the four days, which is why the show is recognised as the ASEAN region’s largest international machine tool and metalworking technologies trade fair.

In total, 64,000 sq m of exhibition space will be filled with 3300 brands and 11 international pavilions. In addition, Metalex will host several conferences and seminars by leading industry technologists and associations. This intensive programme is seen as a true think tank for the metalworking community where creativity, vision and strategy join forces to
raise productivity and efficiency.
For further information www.metalex.co.th

Prima Power unveils latest innovations

Many new technologies and solutions by Prima Power had their world premiere at Blechexpo in Stuttgart last week. For instance, the top-of-the-range Laser Genius 1530 laser cutter with a Combo Tower Laser automation system was showcased for the first time with a 10 kW fibre laser source by IPG Photonics, which further boosts its performance, especially on thicker materials.

This product configuration is particularly suited to market sectors where heavier gauges are commonly used, such as agriculture and construction. Thanks to its laser head with adaptive optics for the automatic management of the focal position, Laser Genius is said to provide high quality and maximum speed without compromise on the whole thickness range for a wide variety of materials, including mild steel, stainless steel, aluminium, copper and brass.
Novel machine architecture based on a synthetic granite frame and carbon-fibre cantilever structure, along with linear drives, are some of its other key technical features. Laser Genius is managed by the user-friendly Prima Power Open CNC, while the HMI framework is the new Prima Power Tulus Laser 2D, a logical, modern interface that applies the existing Tulus platform and its ecosystem to 2D laser cutting machines.
At Blechexpo, the machine was equipped with a Combo Tower Laser flexible storage system featuring integrated loading and unloading features. The Combo Tower Laser has been developed and manufactured by Prima Power specifically for 2D laser machines.
For further information www.primapower.com