Yamazaki Mazak has partnered with local environmental organisation, Worcester Environmental Group (WEG), to recycle its leftover wooden packaging into houses and feeders for local wildlife. Mazak began donating wooden pallets from its European Manufacturing Plant in Worcester to WEG following the group’s inception in June 2020.

The volunteer-run organisation has since recycled the wood into bird boxes, bat boxes, hedgehog houses and feeding stations that are now in use throughout Worcestershire to promote biodiversity and support the development and sustenance of local wildlife. In a fitting culmination of the process, Mazak has also taken delivery of 10 bird boxes that will be located throughout the manufacturer’s outdoor recreational and relaxation areas. WEG is currently selling a variety of bird boxes for a small donation.

For further information
www.theweg.org.uk

Unprecedented growth at GM CNC has seen the machine-tool specialist expand its team with two new recruits. The latest marketing appointments will see the company further build brand awareness, social media interaction, and provide support to the sales and service teams. Jake Riley and Reece Mundy will work across GM CNC and sister company GM Machinery, building communication platforms with existing and potential customers to inform the manufacturing industry about products, offers, services and live machine-tool auctions and events.

GM CNC director Nicola Howard says: “Digital marketing communication is an industry within itself, and while most companies believe they are proficient because they have LinkedIn or Facebook accounts, this route to market is vitally important to communicate with existing and new customers. This is why GM CNC is convinced that digital marketing communication deserves the attention of dedicated and experienced team members.”

For further information www.gm-cnc.com

Safran Landing Systems, the world’s largest supplier of landing gear, has teamed up with German metal additive manufacturing (AM) equipment specialist SLM Solutions to evaluate the feasibility of using its technology in the production of large, safety-critical aircraft components.

The trial involved 3D-printing the main fitting for the nose landing gear of a business jet, layer-by-layer, from titanium alloy powder.

It was a world first for such a large part measuring 455 x 295 x 805 mm tall. The component was redesigned to optimise its production using metal powder bed AM, leading to a time saving in the build process and a significant weight reduction of around 15% in comparison with milling the part from a forging. SLM Solutions’ sole agent in the UK and Ireland is Kingsbury.

For further information
www.kingsburyuk.com

Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division has launched a wireless multi-sensor laser scanner with metrology levels of precision for operation inside CNC machine tools. The m&h LS-R-4.8 can capture around 40,000 measurement points a second and securely transmits the data to a receiver, via radio, enabling operators to change the sensor automatically without manual intervention.

Measuring on the machine tool, whether for workpiece inspection, temperature or tool control, is a valuable source of information in the machining process. With this data, it is possible to control workpieces before, or even between, machining operations. The wireless scanner will remove bottlenecks by taking in-line measurement for in-process enhancements away from CMM machines.

Capturing 40,000 measurement points a second provides information about the complete part, rather than selected individual points. This capability enables users to evaluate production quality, enhance manufacturing processes by identifying problems early, better align parts for steps later in the workflow, and gain an insight into complete part quality.

Notably, the wireless scanner deploys laser triangulation to deliver high levels of speed and accuracy. The laser beam projects on to the component and its reflection passes through a lens for detection by an imager. That information then determines the positional measurement points.

Dedicated modular software presents the data in an easy-to-understand format, making it simple for machine operators or quality teams to quickly identify issues and correctly align a part for reworking while it remains in the machine tool.

Hexagon’s new package includes the wireless scanner, modular software and the company’s RC-R-100 multi-sensor receiver. The scanner is stored directly in the machine’s tool magazine, from where it inserts automatically into the spindle without manual intervention.

For further information
www.hexagonmi.com

As industry in the UK and Ireland emerges from the grips of the pandemic, improvements in production efficiency will be essential to maintain competitiveness in a global marketplace.

However, according to 1st Machine Tool Accessories (1st MTA), the situation is more an opportunity than a challenge. Machine shops currently have time to carry out in-depth analyses of their processes and see where cost reductions are possible without compromising quality.

Unit production cost is everything and there are many ways of reducing it. For instance, one of the most recent agency lines taken on by 1st MTA is the range of electro-permanent magnetic work-holding and handling equipment from Walmag. The manufacturer asserts that swapping from the use of conventional vices to a magnetic solution allows five sides of a components to be machined in one hit, typically raising output by a quarter for no increase in production cost.

Walmag has gone so far as to calculate the comparative cost benefit of producing a part in one operation using magnetic work holding rather than in two operations using compressive clamping. The analysis is based on milling a 400 x 600 x 20 mm component on a VMC in a 30-minute cycle. The saving derives solely from being able to fixture the billet once in one minute instead of twice in eight minutes.

Based on £16.20 per hour to employ an operator and £43.20 per hour for use of the machine tool, the £5079.24 capital cost of the Walmag clamp and control unit is amortised in 49 days in single-shift operation, or in half that time for a double-shift pattern. After that, there is a net saving for the manufacturer of £103.95 per shift, assuming the machining of 15 workpieces.

For further information www.1mta.com