Now that the first vaccine for COVID-19 has gained approval – with others expected to follow – a supplier to the pharmaceutical industry is manufacturing packaging components and delivery systems ready to support distribution once availability is assured. West Pharmaceutical Services has 25 manufacturing sites around the world, including a plant in Bodmin, Cornwall, where it manufactures tools for elastomeric packaging components.

Production of the company’s mould tools takes place on a range of Makino, Haas and Ingersoll CNC machining centres, many with five axes. Interim production manager Chris Tamblyn says all programming, from simple, basic operations, through to complex, fully automated five-axis machining, goes through Edgecam CAM software.

For further information
www.edgecam.com

Comau has provided FCA and the Fiat brand with automation solutions and its know-how in the development of industrial processes to produce FCA’s first fully electric vehicle, a ‘Made in Turin’ product. The path started symbolically in July 2019 with the installation of the first Comau robot, which initiated the production line of the new fully electric Fiat 500 model inside FCA’s historic Mirafiori plant. A total of 187 Comau robots were subsequently integrated in the different phases of the car manufacturing process.

The Comau team also needed to adapt systems to a new body design of an iconic car, while responding to the technical characteristics of an electric vehicle. In particular, Comau developed and equipped body assembly lines dedicated to processing the structural parts of the ‘New 500’, including the front and rear floors, and the body sides and framing, which are assembled and welded to provide the complete car body with shape.

For further information
www.comau.com

Öhlins Racing, a pioneer in advanced suspension technology, is the winner of Faro’s ‘Oldest Working FaroArm in Europe’ contest. The company has put its 1993-era Faro Metrecom arm to good use for dozens of years, demonstrating the durability and reliability of FaroArm products. In recognition of this longevity, Öhlins Racing was presented with a new Faro eight-axis QuantumS ScanArm System.

“We’ve been using Faro products for decades, so when we learnt of this contest we knew we had to be in serious contention, especially knowing the first FaroArm was developed in the early 1990s,” says Henrik Johansson, CEO of Sweden-based Öhlins Racing.

“Our original Metrecom has never let us down,” he continues. “You could say it’s time to retire the arm, but it’s still going strong. Regardless, we’re thrilled to add the new Quantum to our tool chest and further enhance our productivity through faster and more accurate 3D measurement.”
David Homewood, EMEA sales VP for Faro, adds: “The QuantumS represents a new industry standard that extends maximum measurement consistency and reliability in a variety of working environments, delivering best-in-class performance for hard probing and laser-scanning applications. I want to congratulate and thank Öhlins Racing for being such a loyal customer over the years.”

Faro’s QuantumS helps manufacturers compete in the global marketplace by empowering better quality assurance and ensuring full confidence in their products and processes. The eight-axis rotary scanning platform is said to cut scan times by up to 40%, while maintaining accuracy (even in compact spaces). A hot-swappable battery enables continuous cable-free operation, while integrated Wi-Fi enables optimised workflow efficiency.

For further information
www.faro.com

Cambridge Vacuum Engineering (CVE), a specialist in the design and manufacture of electron beam welding (EBW) machines, has built its very first laser-welding system. Now installed at an important customer in the automotive sector, the machine relies on a Trumpf TruDisk 1000, a 1 kW solid-state laser with optimised beam quality for welding metals, in this case steel and Inconel.

Says CVE sales director Steve Horrex: “We were impressed with the expertise of Trumpf’s engineering team, which made the integration of the TruDisk 1000 with our system very smooth. As we were fairly new to the laser business it was good to find a partner with whom we could build trust. Following the successful installation and commissioning of the laser-welding machine we’re now quoting additional systems for the same customer, as well as machines for other clients. The Trumpf laser has been a really good stepping stone to a new revenue stream.”

For further information www.uk.trumpf.com

RPI, a specialist in high-accuracy rotary positioning and inspection devices, has developed a system for the measurement and assembly of gas turbine rotors that reduces the rate of teardowns by 95%.

The assembly of a gas turbine rotor is an extremely complicated and time-consuming process. It can take a week or more to assemble rotor, while close control of the assembly’s geometric tolerances is essential to ensure efficient performance and safe operation. If the rotor does not meet final criteria, it is subject to a ‘tear down’, where it must be completely disassembled and reassembled, costing tens or even hundreds of thousands of pounds in damaged parts, labour and delivery penalties.

These costly tear downs are avoidable if individual rotor component geometries are fully characterised and if the rotor assembly is simulated prior to its actual assembly. ‘Rotor stacking’ is the name given to this virtual assembly process.

RPI’s Integrated Measurement and Assembly Platform (iMAP) is a complete rotor-stacking solution featuring a high-precision, motorised air-bearing rotary table, an AccuScan circular geometry inspection system and IntelliStack rotor stacking software. iMAP systems can handle components as large as 35 tonnes and over 20 m3 with sub-micron accuracies, and a measuring resolution of less than 250 nm.

Some OEMs still use traditional dial indicator measurement methods, where data is manually collected and recorded from perhaps eight to 12 data points per part surface – one surface at a time. It sometimes takes a full shift just to measure a single part. iMAP replaces this time-consuming and error-prone process through the automated collection of up to 4000 data points per surface from as many as eight surfaces in one 30-second rotation of the part, resulting in tremendous savings in annual labour costs.

For further information
www.rpiuk.com