Ford Dagenham has invested in seven UR10 Universal Robots from RARUK Automation to automate the previously manual task of applying fasteners to engine blocks.

The fasteners are now applied automatically to engines that arrive on the production line every 30 seconds, across a 24-hour, three-shift operation. UR10 collaborative robots pick up fasteners and run them down threads in the engine blocks to secure exhaust manifolds in position. Development of the process and application was fully supported by RARUK Automation, including training.
For further information www.rarukautomation.com

Almost every component machined on the five Hurco three-axis machining centres at Scottish subcontractor Euro Precision is programmed on the shop floor with the assistance of user-friendly menus in the machines’ WinMAX control software.

If a profile is relatively complex, as is the case about half the time, it is imported as a DXF file generated in CAD, which the Hurco control reads directly. Sometimes, using the NC Merge feature within the control software, conversational cycles programmed via the CNC touchscreens are combined with data blocks created in an offline CAM system to define more intricate 3D features.
Euro Precision’s production manager Mark Ramsay says: “The Hurco software is very versatile, easy to use, and fast at producing three-axis prismatic machining cycles. So all of our quick turnaround work requiring a lead-time of, say, two weeks, goes through these machines. We simply take a drawing down to one of our setter-operators and very often they have the job running within an hour. It is faster than if we had to wait for the offline department to produce the program in our Esprit CAM system, as there is usually a backlog of work for our five-axis machines.”
Established over 25 years ago originally as Technicut (in Auchterarder) by Liam Torrance, who in 2009 took over Qualtronic located in the company’s current 30,000 sq ft premises located in Glenrothes, Fife, Euro Precision specialises in supplying complex precision components and assemblies. The current tally of Hurco machining centres at the subcontractor’s production facility includes a VM1, VM2 and VMX24 with WinMAX twin-screen control predecessor, Ultimax. Previously in operation at Technicut, these machines have been joined by a VM30i and a VM20i with a 4th axis.
For further information www.hurco.com

Hallamshire Engineering Services, a manufacturer of material handling equipment that includes pulleys, rollers and conveyors, is celebrating 20 years of supplying stainless steel drums to the food industry.

One of only a small number of conveyor manufacturers in the UK to be able to produce drums, pulleys and rollers in stainless steel, Hallamshire Engineering, which is part of Group Rhodes, supplies both standard and bespoke product sizes. The company is the original designer and manufacturer of the ‘Whittington’ spiral wound conveyor pulley.
For further information www.grouprhodes.co.uk

At Seco Tools’ forthcoming Inspiration Through Innovation event (Alcester, 9-10 October), Edgecam, which is part of Hexagon’s Production Software stable, will highlight its latest CAM capability with a live demonstration of machining an Inconel aero-engine disc.

The Edgecam demonstration of cutting an Inconel 718 aero-engine disc on a DMG Mori CTX 1250 CNC machine using Seco tooling, Schunk work holding and Houghton coolant, will illustrate the latest manufacturing techniques, waveform turning and advanced materials. At surface speeds of up to 300 m/min, Edgecam will show that its process results in cycle time savings of over 50%.
For further information www.edgecam.com

Scotland’s economy secretary Derek Mackay recently visited the AMRC to gain a deeper understanding of what could be achieved with his government’s plans for the £65m National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS).

The Member for Scottish Parliament toured the AMRC to see what NMIS might look like when complete, and to learn from AMRC founder and executive dean Professor Keith Ridgway on how it has become a global centre for research and manufacturing excellence in less than two decades.
For further information www.amrc.co.uk