The ‘Encouragement Prize’ at the Advanced Monozukuri Parts Awards 2019 was awarded to NSK for its DIN-standard ball-screw.

The award committee recognised the ball screw’s speed and quietness, as well as its potential to enhance accuracy and efficiency in machine-tool applications. NSK’s DIN-standard ball-screw has the capability to provide feed rates up to 100 m/min, the highest for a deflector-type ball screw, says the company. This speed leads to faster machine tools and, subsequently, reduced cycle times in machining operations, saving money for end users. Another factor favoured by the judges was decreased noise levels, at just 4 dB(A).
For further information www.nskeurope.com

Having just celebrated its 30th anniversary, Perfect Bore Manufacturing Ltd has invested £1 million in its deep-hole boring services.

The acquisition of a Tibo machine will allow the company to offer shorter lead times in its increasingly busy Large Deep Hole Boring division, which specialises in producing bores from 25 to 165 mm diameter, and up to 2500 mm in length.
To support Perfect Bore’s ‘one-stop solution’, the investment includes a dedicated honing machine that will enable capacity to be released on CNC and vertical honing machines. In addition, the company has extended its premises to enable it to store additional material on-site. Perfect Bore also reveals that its Grinding division is thriving. In fact, this division has doubled capacity and has been attracting a lot of interest, especially since the company’s involvement in a NATEP project to grind a hard-chrome replacement coating.
For further information www.pbm-ltd.com

Adam Cunningham, CEO of Muller Holdings, has taken over the reins at the Manufacturing Assembly Network (MAN), a collaboration of eight West Midlands-based subcontract manufacturers and an engineering design agency, just as a new order takes its combined efforts to over £75m of sales generated since formation in 2003. Focus is now on increasing this number to £100m, says Cunningham, who takes over at MAN from Brandauer’s Rowan Crozier.

Says Cunningham: “We are fairly unique in being able to bring together such a wide diversity of engineering disciplines under one banner,” says Cunningham, who started his career with Concentric Pumps in Birmingham. “Our core philosophy is to work together to win new contracts, as this is what keeps us all in business and, over the years, we’ve been very successful in doing that. A recent order from the renewables sector has actually taken us over £75m of sales for the group.”
For further information www.man-group.co.uk

The Fablink Group is a privately-owned company specialising in the manufacture of cabs, pressings and assemblies to a number of global OEMs. To help inspection staff at the company’s Brixworth Technical Centre keep pace with rising production levels, and to improve the company’s measurement capabilities, Fablink researched measuring tools that had both tactile probing and scanning capabilities, as well as offering the generous measuring capacities required to cover such large assemblies.

After witnessing several demonstrations, an order was placed with Faro UK for a 3 m measurement range Quantum-M ScanArm fitted with a FaroBlu Laser Line Probe SD.
Fablink’s head of quality Glenn Wright explains: “As we serve a range of challenging industries where consistent quality and competitive pricing are of paramount importance, it is vital that we remain at the cutting edge of the technologies that support our quality ethos and our continuing pursuit of efficiency improvements.
“It was these factors and an increased workload that recently prompted our search for large-capacity technology that would boost our inspection competencies and further improve efficiency levels,” he adds. “After seeing three scanning systems perform demonstrations, we came to the conclusion that the Faro Quantum-M ScanArm was both the easiest and fastest system to use. We were very impressed with its accuracy, repeatability and the standard of the useable real-time data, alongside its ability to reduce our previous scanning times by up to 75%.
“Although intended for use mainly at our Brixworth site, as the Faro solution is portable and quick to set-up, it is available for use at our other facilities. The Quantum-M has also proved invaluable for the routine inspection and calibration of jigs and fixtures.”
For further information www.faro.com

The in-house fabrication department of ECS Engineering Services has recently completed the manufacture of 49 steel duct cradles destined for the main reactor building at a UK nuclear power plant.

All of the structures were delivered within six months. The duct cradles ranged in size from 1400 to 1800 mm wide. A channel framed structure was mated with plate-work supports to increase strength. This design ensured that the cradles could easily accommodate the sizable stainless-steel ducts which would be installed on top of them at the facility.
For further information www.ecsengineeringservices.com