INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Pemamek to deliver automation lines

Pemamek has secured a contract to supply tubular structure automation lines for offshore wind turbine tower and foundation production to Portuguese renewable energy company ASM Industries (ASMI). ASMI is looking to build a new industrial production unit for offshore structures at Aveiro Port.

Szczecin 02.02.2016 PEMA fabruyka na wyspie brdowskiej BILFINGER Fot. Dariusz Gorajski

Worth of €29m, the new production facility will total 72,000 sq m, of which the fabrication area will take up 22,000 sq m.
The lines include integrated milling stations for root preparation, enabling high deposit rates and minimised defect rates, as well as assembly stations and welding lines for circular and longitudinal welding. Each welding line utilises Pemamek’s control system and laser seam tracking, through which production and quality control data can be collected. Additionally, Pemamek will deliver material handling equipment for surface treatment lines.
For further information www.pemamek.com

Okuma opens plant in Taiwan

Okuma, which is represented in the UK by NCMT, says it has put an advanced manufacturing facility into operation in Taiwan.

Using experience from its smart factories Dream Site 1 and Dream Site 2 in Japan, Okuma has applied the same level of automation and IoT connectivity to its new Taiwanese plant.
To achieve a production capacity of 300 machine tools per month, the facility utilises Okuma’s Connect Plan smart manufacturing solution to link machines, monitor operations and progress, and provide accurate work instructions through the IoT. Real-time data analysis and advanced visualisation of everything from machine utilisation to assembly work help maximise productivity and evolve manufacturing on a daily basis.
For further information www.okuma.eu

Victor CNC releases latest Vturn

The existing Victor Vturn-26HD has long been pitched at manufacturers with a need for a mid-sized turning centre that delivers power, precision and reliability. Now, Victor CNC has added to this line with the arrival of the Vturn-S26.

Complementing the existing Vturn-26 HD and VT-A26CM, the new arrival has been re-engineered to provide a host of features that include the option of a servo-powered C axis to offer driven tooling stations. This new facility gives end users the option of the cost-effective two-axis Vturn-26HD workhorse, or the more flexible three-axis Vturn-S26.
As with all Victor CNC machine tools, the foundation for the Vturn-S26 is a large, sturdy single-piece slant-bed. The single-piece design eliminates the possibility of coolant leakage, while the 30° design lowers the centre of gravity to enhance rigidity and performance. In addition, the new configuration provides a large swing diameter that enables end users to load larger billets.
The performance of the Vturn-S26 is encapsulated in its 18/24 m/min rapid feed rates and thrust force of 1441 kg/f that reduces chip-to-chip times and elevates productivity. Further contributing to productivity levels is the 12-station live tooling turret. The BMT-65 turret has an indexing time of just 0.8 seconds, while the 4.5 kW motor delivers live tooling speeds of 4000 rpm with high levels of torque, rigidity and repeatability generated from Victor Taichung’s own turret configuration.
Despite its nimble and productive performance, the Vturn-S26 offers a spindle output of 22 kW with 574 Nm of torque, which permits heavy-duty cutting.
For further information www.victorcnc.com

Producing precision watch components

Founded in 2016, Geneva-based Badeco SA manufactures high-precision components for the watchmaking industry.

The company produces watch crowns, push-pieces, tubes, pinions, arbors, watch hands and parts for associated sectors, all on its in-house Tornos turning centres.
“We purchased two SwissNano CNC automatic lathes from Tornos as soon as we started our activities,” says managing director Stéphane Menoni. “Right from the start, they have proved to be particularly flexible and precise, while requiring minimum floor space.”
What was decisive, apart from the small footprint, was the flexibility of the SwissNano machines.
“Some high-precision components are manufactured in volumes up to 25,000 off, but it is also common practice to produce in small series or even perform one-off production,” says Menoni. “This means we can efficiently manufacture prototypes or spare parts.
“Since the space in our premises is restricted, we have installed the machines in an inverted position to gain additional space; this arrangement enables full access to the machining cell from the front,” he adds. “The machines are equipped with bar feeders and can be used for back machining as well as gear-cutting operations.”
Commissioning was quite easy, as Menoni affirms: “Just three days after the installation of the machines, the operator was fully familiar with set-up and operation. On the one hand, this was down to simplicity, and on the other it was the intuitive functions of the TISIS code editor. The latter is simply fantastic, since it allows program editing/transfer and tool selection, as well as machining process monitoring.”
For further information www.tornos.com

Lathe control offers new functionality

Heidenhain’s top-of-the-range lathe control, the CNC Pilot 640 is now available with a number of new upgrades.

Most notably, a newly developed Turn Plus feature is now standard on new purchases. Turn Plus allows the creation of a lathe program at the push of a button, with up to 90% time savings, says Heidenhain.
The latest versions of the control software also include other improvements, such as added functional safety (FS) features and expansions that provide the machine operator and machine tool builder with more benefits.
Heidenhain’s CNC Pilot 640 contouring control allows five-axis simultaneous machining and combined turn-mill operations, full surface machining with B axis and counter spindle, as well as up to three channels for asynchronous multi-side machining.
Multi-touch operation permits swiping and zoom functions, while high-resolution 3D simulation graphics have been added. Machining operations with one or several set-ups (multi-channel operation) can be programmed separately through structured programming. The maximum number of controlled axes and spindles has been increased to 24 using appropriate options.
Heidenhain’s CNC Pilot 640 lathe control is available in two screen formats: 19“and 15.6“, with up to 25 configurable fields. The control also now works with Heidenhain’s display hand-wheels HR 520 (FS), and the HR 550 FS radio hand-wheel system. New CFRCompactFlash memory cards and SIKs are also available.
For those interested in connected machining, the CNC Pilot 640 can be incorporated into such systems by utilising the Heidenhain options Remote Desktop Manager (option 133) and StateMonitor for capturing machining data.
For further information www.heidenhain.com