INTERNATIONAL NEWS

$1.8bn AM deal

Stratasys and Desktop Metal are stet to combine in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $1.8bn. The transaction unites the polymer strengths of Stratasys with the complementary industrial mass production leadership of Desktop Metal’s brands. Stratasys and Desktop Metal will generate around $1.1bn in 2025 revenue, with significant upside potential in a total addressable market of more than $100bn by 2032. Following transaction closure, existing Stratasys shareholders will own approximately 59% of the combined company, while legacy Desktop Metal stockholders will own approximately 41%.
For further information www.nextgenerationAM.com

ModuleWorks 2023.04 offers new control options

The 2023.04 release of ModuleWorks’ digital manufacturing software components is now available. This first major ModuleWorks release of 2023 offers several new options for controlling the machining parameters across different subtractive and additive processes.

For instance, a range of new options for the deburring, roughing and finishing cycles offer flexibility and control for five-axis and rotary machining. Users can choose between the new climb and conventional cutting methods, and define the contact point between the tool and the workpiece. This is relevant for non-ball cutters like chamfer mills where careful control over the cutting conditions creates chamfered edges with a high-quality finish.

In addition, the new horizontal step-overs for rotary wall finishing make it possible to add cuts in shallow, cylindrical areas for a homogeneous finish across the workpiece, eliminating the need for consecutive finishing tool paths.

To speed up the programing of roughing and finishing cycles, 3D containments are now generated automatically from the selected floor surface. As a further point of note, applying tilting during the lead-in ramps and defining the start points and tool engagement offers enhanced control over the roughing and finishing process.

ModuleWorks also provides a new unified solution for three-axis machining, delivering improved performance and reliability with consistent features available across all cycles. It also offers a simple bridge to 3+2 axis and five-axis machining, and enables ModuleWorks to develop and deploy new three-axis features quickly.

Among further additions is a new two-axis contouring cycle that takes a simplified and generic 2D polyline as input. From here, the cycle generates a tool path suitable for plasma and laser cutting processes with specific lead-in and lead-out motions and parameters to control the feed rate, plasma flow rate and pierce-point behaviour.
For further information www.moduleworks.com

PSL Datatrack gets subcontractor off the ground

One of the first, vital tasks for Bradda Engineering was to invest in a production control software system. PSL Datatrack was identified as meeting all of the start-up company’s initial requirements.

“The control that PSL Datatrack would bring to the business was clear,” states Bradda Engineering’s owner Kenneth Oates. “We are primarily engineers and PSL Datatrack takes care of everything so we don’t have to get bogged down in manual administration work.”

Experience told Oates that investment in production control software was essential in order to provide the highest levels of customer service.

“Understanding how to make the most of stock and materials so that we could be as efficient as possible with minimum waste was a prerequisite,” he says.

PSL Datatrack manages the generation of quotations and all the engineering steps required until delivery and final invoice. Upon raising a works order, the system generates a material requirement and the purchase orders module is used to place an order with the supplier. Users can trace the job through the shop floor, with data collected on operational costs, tooling, materials and machining processes.

Oates initially researched a number of production control systems, but few seemed to fit the exact needs of a small engineering company.

“They did not seem flexible enough and were quite complicated to use,” he says. “We also wanted the modularity that would enable us to build up a system as we grew and attracted more customers.”

Having recognised the real potential of PSL Datatrack and how it could help a growing company, the company invested in more modules than originally envisaged. The administration, sales, purchasing, scheduling, shop-floor data collection and financial modules were installed from the outset.
For further information www.psldatatrack.com

Pucktechnik relies on 11 Emag VL machines

Pucktechnik, based in Solbiate Arno near Milan, is a contract manufacturer founded in 2017 that produces casting tools and various components. In total, the company has nearly 30 machines, including 11Emag VL turning machines and an Emag K 160 LA hobbing machine. These solutions provide high-volume and automated series production.

Primarily, with the help of these Emag machines, the company can produce around 650,000 wheels and wheel hubs for earthmoving equipment each year. What is interesting here is the deployment of four independent production lines with a high degree of automation.

The machines in each line are completely interlinked via TrackMotion, also from Emag, with various operations running directly one after the other. As a result, the quantities produced in this area have increased massively in just a few years. The basic technological principle of the lines begins with TransLift, a lift-and-turn carriage on the TrackMotion line gantry with programmable electric gripper, which picks up the raw-parts from a parts store, transports them to the machine at a speed of up to 150 m/min and deposits them on the machine’s internal shuttle. Thanks to the vertical arrangement of the spindle, it can pick up the part from the pick-up position of the shuttle and guide it into the working area of the machine.

After machining, the workpiece is discharged from the machine via the shuttle and transported to the next machine or the discharge conveyor using the TrackMotion system.In short, the combination of Emag pick-up technology with various automation solutions, from TrackMotion to robots, results in powerful and individually adaptable systems.
For further information www.emag.com

Iemca adds third Maestro barfeed to range

A manufacturer of automatic barfeeds for CNC lathes, Italy-based Iemca, is adding a third model to its Maestro range. All are designed to maximise productivity on fixed-head lathes and offer unattended production around the clock. They are available in the UK and Ireland through sole agent 1st Machine Tool Accessories.

The two existing models can handle round stock up to 100 mm diameter. Both are capable of bar changeover in 31 seconds, as is the new Maestro 52, which is for smaller lathes running material up to 51 mm diameter, 42 mm hex and 36 mm square. It is possible to load bars up to 4.2 m in length to a maximum combined weight of 100 kg.

There are numerous interesting design features incorporated into the new barfeed, three of whichcarry patents. One protects ABACOS (Adaptive BAr COntrol System), a self-adjusting bar clamping arrangement designed to guide the material, damp vibrations and tighten on the pusher, all without changing the guide channel.

Another patented feature, the Vibra-Damp collet with interchangeable inserts avoids vibration. The collet restricts bar oscillation byreducing their amplitude and lowering bending and torsional stresses on the bar. The third patent concerns the HandyLoq quick-change collet system, which allows manual exchange within three seconds without the need to use tools.

Additional advantages of all Maestro bar feeders are Industry 4.0 data sharing as an option, and a choice of bar loading systems including an UP magazine that allows the presentation of material at an ergonomic height.
For further information www.1mta.com