Harwin has started production at its new manufacturing facilities in Portsmouth. Providing an additional 1200 sq m of factory floor, the new plant is enabling the company to quickly and significantly scale-up the production of its high reliability (Hi-Rel) connectors to meet market requirements. The total investment is £3.8m, £1m of which brings in state-of-the-art equipment, with the last few Industry 4.0-ready machines arriving over the coming 12 months.

Harwin has a policy of replacing production equipment every five years to keep up with the latest developments in machinery, thus maintaining reliability and operational effectiveness. In 2016, a new-build 3000 sq m factory was opened, while an R&D centre and apprentice training hub was set up in 2019. The latest round of investment also includes a new training area to support staff with ongoing professional development, encouraging advances in skills and job flexibility.

For further information www.harwin.com

High forces must be applied to machine parts from forged steel. This material also tends to form longer pieces of swarf that are difficult to remove. For these reasons, Höhnhart, Austria-based Ferdinand Bernhofer GmbH machines forged steel workpieces on a two-spindle machine from Schwäbische Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH (SW).

Bernhofer began ambitiously expanding its range of services several years ago, with the expansion of installation-ready machining to a standard service being a top priority. Bernhofer therefore set out to find a manufacturer of suitable machine tools. Above all, the machine tools had to be sturdy and powerful enough to handle the three-shift machining of forged parts. The components being machined are combined in groups so the systems can be changed over or re-tooled as quickly and smoothly as possible. Another criterion was the most extensive automation possible, in order to conserve resources through 24/7 operation.

The first project was a family of parts with six variants made of quenched and tempered steel for motorcycle frames. Project goals included fully automatic machining and product swaps with no change-over. The BA 322 (a horizontal machining centre from SW with two synchronous spindles), was chosen to accomplish these ambitions.

“The mutual trust we have built on this foundation led us to choose SW again for the next project,” says managing director Ferdinand Bernhofer.

To explain, the new project involved machining particularly large drawbar eyes made from different variants of 42CrMo4. The task was made more difficult by the relatively large number of holes and fits that had to be machined, and was further complicated by the need for cooling lubricant to drill the holes. SW’s milling machine type BA 722 was purchased for this purpose. The larger machining centre, also with two spindles, was needed mainly because considerably greater quantities were to be removed through machining than for the motorcycle parts. Machining must remove up to 3 kg of material from each drawbar eye, which may weigh up to 18 kg, depending on the variant.

For further information
www.sw-machines.de

Nearly all of the respondents (99%) surveyed in HP’s latest Digital Manufacturing Trend Report believe that digital manufacturing technologies can lead to economic growth. As a result, decision makers are looking to transform their business models, with 77% of those surveyed indicating that they will invest in digital manufacturing technologies, such as industrial 3D printing, within the next 12 months. The medical, industrial and automotive industries were called out as those most ripe for innovation in additive manufacturing/3D printing over the next five years.

For further information www.hp.com

The tool room at one of the globe’s leading manufacturers of domestic, commercial and industrial cleaning equipment has received a boost in capability with the arrival of a Sodick AD55L CNC spark-erosion machine from Sodi-Tech EDM.

Chard-based Numatic International Ltd, manufacturer of the world-famous Henry vacuum cleaner, says its new Sodick AD55L CNC die-sink EDM has enhanced the site’s mould-tool repair, maintenance and modification services.

With so many of its products comprising plastic components, Numatic operates its own mould shop. Supporting the mould shop is a tool-room facility, which has the task of repairing, modifying and maintaining around 2000 different mould tools, ranging in weight from 100 kg to 15 tons.

“Obviously some tools become obsolete over the course of time, but these are usually countered by new arrivals – we’re expecting 96 new mould tools this year, for example,” explains toolroom supervisor Scott Connett. “Addressing issues such as tooling modifications and general wear and tear, are the most common tasks for our tool-room team.”
Numatic’s existing manual spark-erosion capacity was coming up to 20 years old and the gap in capabilities, compared with a new CNC machine, was plain to see.

“We looked at various spark eroders, but for us it was more about service and support,” says Connett. “So, even though the AD55L was our first Sodick, we chose it because Sodi-Tech EDM came top of our assessments in terms of aftersales service.
“We’ve certainly noticed the difference since it was installed,” he adds. “With our previous manual machine we would need three or four electrodes to achieve our desired end result, whereas on the Sodick we just use a roughing and finishing electrode. As you would expect, the machine is also much quicker.”

For further information www.sodi-techedm.co.uk

The Volkswagen Passenger Cars and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles brands are working flat out on the transformation and conversion of plants to e-mobility. VW Passenger Cars has now ordered more than 1400 robots from FANUC for its production facilities at Chattanooga, USA and Emden, Germany, while Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has ordered a further 800 ABB robots for its Hanover plant. The robots are mainly intended for body production and battery assembly. All three plants are currently being prepared for the production of electric cars using highly
advanced facilities.

From 2022, the ID.4 is to be produced at Chattanooga and Emden, while the model known under the show car name of ID. BUZZ is to roll off the production line at Hanover. In total, the group plans to invest €33bn by 2024 with a view to becoming the world’s market leader in e-mobility. Several billion euros are to be invested at these three plants.

For further information www.volkswagenag.com