Addmore Engineering has found the optimal way to measure safety- and performance-critical components with an air gauging system from Bowers Group. As part of its inspection process, Addmore needs to measure bolts that are critical components on braking systems. It is, therefore, imperative that 100% of the parts produced are within tolerance. The air gauging system from Bowers Group ensures that the performance critical parts manufactured by Addmore Engineering satisfy customer requirements to 100% inspect safety-critical characteristics and meet tight tolerances.

Ben Vasquez, managing director at Addmore, says: “The Bowers air gauging system is the perfect solution because it standardises the measurement process and eliminates the potential for human error. The system allows multiple operators to check the diameter of the components accurately in minimal time, while the modern control panel gives a quick yes/no output that allows each bolt to be checked with guaranteed high-precision results.”

Addmore Engineering manufactures in excess of 10,000 bolts every month. The business had previously experienced some difficulties whereby operators were achieving different readings with micrometers; a significant problem when trying to measure 7 µm tolerances. Bowers’ air gauging system allows team members to check component diameters in a short space of time. Using air flow volumes and pressures to measure parts, air gauging is a reliable, repeatable technology suited to applications that demand sub-micron precision.

As a further benefit, air gauging technology is also flexible, enabling measurement of not only dimensions, but geometric and relational characteristics, such as squareness, parallelism, ovality, taper and straightness. Inspectors and machine operators at Addmore Engineering use the Bowers air gauging system on a daily basis.
For further information www.bowersgroup.co.uk

Specialist industrial service provider Eriks has invested £500,000 in a new Southampton regional hub as part of multi-million-pound infrastructure improvement programmes in the UK. The company has ploughed funding into the 1800 sq m purpose-built hub, which will support the company’s customer base across manufacturing sectors in the south and southwest of England.

The regional hub replaces two smaller outdated facilities in Southampton and brings together core areas of engineering expertise in a central location, as well as a local stockholding of critical parts, allowing Eriks to improve further the speed, flexibility and scope of its customer services. A wide range of services is available, including standard repairs and upgrades for pumps, motors and gearboxes.
For further information www.eriks.co.uk

The UK’s first-ever precision tooling academy is now up and running thanks to a pioneering partnership between In-Comm Training and Brandauer. An investment of over £1m by the two partners has led to the creation of a commercial toolroom at the training provider’s Aldridge location. The facility will produce complex tooling and act as a professional training ground for the toolmakers and designers of the future.

Training will be unlike anything currently on the market, reports In-Comm, with up to 35 individuals in the first 12 months able to learn on live tooling projects that will be producing hundreds of thousands of parts every week. This will give Brandauer and other tooling experts the opportunity to re-shore more manufacturing projects from Asia, the EU and the US. In a massive stamp of approval, a major car manufacturer has agreed to be the first company to put its engineers through the toolmaking course.
For further information www.in-comm.co.uk

To help create an inclusive and diverse business community, Renishaw is partnering with the Empowered Employers campaign, led by Barnwood Trust, a Gloucestershire-based charity. Empowered Employers aims to help organisations consider attitudes and policies that enable meaningful work opportunities for disabled people, people with mental health challenges and neuro-divergent people. Partners of the Empowered Employers campaign will contribute to the conversation and support the campaign by raising awareness about barriers to disabled people in employment and to challenge existing misconceptions.
For further information www.renishaw.com

Ambitious apprentices at MTC Training – the training arm of the Manufacturing Technology Centre – are celebrating after completing an important milestone in their early careers.
Learners have been awarded certificates that recognise their contribution to Project Slingshot, a collaborative initiative giving learners the opportunity to help build and fly an aeroplane. The event was the final milestone in the first year of their apprenticeship training at the Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre before returning to their employers to begin their on-the-job training in the second year of a four-year programme.

Project Slingshot is an Air League initiative to deliver STEM learning through building a fully flight-capable light aircraft. The programme is part of MTC Training’s comprehensive programme, which supports learners to develop the additional skills required for personal and professional success, alongside the technical expertise delivered within the core apprenticeship standard.
For further information www.the-amtc.co.uk