THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

SABB selected for Sharing in Growth

Engineering specialist Senior Aerospace Bird Bellows (SABB) plans to deliver future growth after being selected for Sharing in Growth (SiG), the government-backed supply chain competitiveness programme.

The Cheshire-based company, having produced steady growth in recent times, will work with SiG to achieve significant expansion over the next five years by investing in skills, productivity and business development. As part of the programme, SABB went through a robust 12-week business diagnostic to establish suitability. The company’s key customers include Airbus, Embraer, Bell Helicopters, GKN and Rolls Royce.
For further information www.sig-uk.org/apply

Length gauge for harsh environments

A new incremental length gauge for precision measuring and in-process control applications in harsh environments has been introduced by Heidenhain. The length gauge is suitable for use in the working area of grinding machines, lathes and other metal-cutting machine tools, and produces results accurate to ±1 μm over its 30 mm measuring range.

Called Specto ST 3087RC, the unit has a special housing to protect its mechanism. A built-in spring keeps the plunger, surrounded by a rubber bellows, retracted behind a guard and splash cap when the gauge is in its rest position. The extension of the plunger to the measuring position is actuated by compressed air, normally with the coolant switched off.
An increase in productivity and a reduction in floor-to-floor time result from not having to transfer components to a measuring station external to the machine tool, or to a quality control department. Should rework be necessary after metrology functions have been completed, in-process gauging preserves accuracy by eliminating the need to set the component up again for a second operation.
High-accuracy positional values over the full stroke of the gauge allow diverse components to be measured from the same fixture. Furthermore, internal photoelectric scanning of plunger position by means
of a DIADUR scale grating with a 20 μm period, together with the use of a durable ball-bush guide, permit consistent repeatability of probing even when measuring oblique or curved surfaces.
The IP67-rated ST 3087 RC is protected against ingress of dust and unaffected by high-pressure coolant jets – and even short periods of immersion. The length gauge is also tolerant to extremes of temperature, vibration and shock.
For further information www.heidenhain.com

Fives grows machine service offer

Fives Machining Systems Inc, a global machine tool and manufacturing solutions provider, has acquired Konecranes Machine Tool Service division, a USA-based provider of machine-tool service.

Konecranes MTS division has facilities located in Erlanger, Kentucky and Massillon, Ohio, both of which will remain key operating locations. “Our mission is to be the primary service and solutions provider for machine tool productivity enhancements and service support to aerospace and industrial manufacturers,” says Steve Thiry, president & CEO of Fives Machining Systems.
For further information www.fivegroup.com

Audi Toolmaking steps on the gas with WorkNC

Vero Software has developed a new WorkNC high-feed rate strategy together with the machining specialists at Audi Toolmaking. The outcome: Audi has reduced processing times in various pre-finishing pressing tools by up to 30% while tool service life has tripled.

Responsibility for optimising the toolmaking in terms of CAD and CAM technology at the Ingolstadt plant of Audi AG is Markus Brunner. Brunner is primarily occupied with increasing processing quality and throughput times through the use of modern, CAM-programmed machining technologies, thus reducing processing costs. His partner in programming software is Vero Software, with its WorkNC CAM system, which Audi Toolmaking has been using for many years now.
Vero is constantly refining WorkNC software in order to make milling work even more efficiently. For instance, the current release includes a new high-feed strategy which was proposed by the toolmakers at Audi and created in a close and partner-like co-operative effort.
The new high-feed strategy factors-in deviations in milling tool geometries with irregular cutters. WorkNC thus prevents undefined allowances from appearing on the workpiece. Brunner is enthusiastic about the result: “This new strategy enables us to use milling tools of any contour, even ones with cutters which deviate from a regular geometry, such as a sphere or torus. As a result, we can even use milling tools which were specifically designed for a defined application case. Moreover, by using WorkNC’s high-feed strategy and the tools to match, we have reduced processing time in pre-finishing work by up to 30%.”
For further information www.worknc.com

HMS technology underpins connected machines

Paper-slitting machines from American machine builder JSI are well connected indeed. By using technology from HMS Industrial Networks, and system design by Millennium Controls, JSI can remotely access and control machines via the internet and enable wired and wireless communication between different machine parts.

To access the machine remotely, JSI and Millennium Controls installed an eWON Cosy from HMS – a remote router which allows users to log in securely via the internet to perform machine monitoring or even programming and maintenance. This means that operators can change blades from a safe distance inside a plant or indeed from anywhere in the world.
The eWON Cosy is connected to the machine’s PLC (a Rockwell ControlLogix L7); in turn, the router communicates with the cloud-based eWON Talk2M service where users can log in to access their control system.
With many moving parts in a machine, cabling can be difficult and cumbersome. However, by mounting an Anybus Wireless Bolt on the paper-slitting machine, JSI can offer wireless communication between the PLC cabinet and different parts of the machine.
An Allen Bradley PLC controlling the machine communicates using EtherNet/IP, the preferred network of Rockwell Automation-based systems. The PLC communicates seamlessly with most other systems and components in the machine, but JSI wanted to use a stacklight to show the current status of the machine, and this stacklight used Modbus-TCP communication. To enable the stacklight to communicate on EtherNet/IP, Millennium Controls suggested HMS’s EtherNet/IP Linking Device, which acts as a translator between the stacklight and the PLC, enabling them to communicate.
For further information www.hms-networks.com