UK NEWS

Female students visit Factory 2050

Women in Engineering students were “blown away” by the advanced technology they saw in action during a visit to Factory 2050 at the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC).

Female engineering students from the University of Sheffield visited the collaborative research facility, which is home to the AMRC’s Integrated Manufacturing Group (IMG).
The students – members of the university’s Women in Engineering Student Society – witnessed first-hand some of the research and innovation projects being conducted by the group into reconfigurable robotics, digitally assisted assembly and machining technologies.
The visit was organised by Serena Linley, the society’s former secretary, to give members
a glimpse into how the technologies they had been learning about were being used to drive innovation and overcome manufacturing solutions for companies.
For further information www.amrc.co.uk

New directors pave the way for expansion

A UK machine tool supplier is predicting a strong second half to 2018 after appointing two directors.

The Engineering Technology Group (ETG), which employs over 100 people at its headquarters in Wellesbourne, has promoted Steve Brown and Martin Price to sales director and operations director respectively to support ambitious growth plans. Bosses at the firm are looking to increase the number of high-end turnkey solutions sold in the UK and believe expansion across the range will help the business target £35m in sales by the end of the year.
For further information www.engtechgroup.com

Plasma-cutting quality shines through

The new floorplan at the MACH 2018 exhibition in April certainly reaped rewards for Kerf Developments, with the plasma, waterjet and oxy-fuel cutting manufacturer yielding a greater number of sales leads from a more diverse client base than at previous MACH exhibitions.

MACH was the launch-pad event for the new Plasmaster HD (high definition) and the PythonX robotic plasma structural steel fabrication system, and both machines, along with the established RUR and RUM machines, were popular among visitors.
Commenting upon why the show was such a success among a diverse audience, Kerf Developments sales director Craig Walsh says: “The new Plasmaster 3015 was on show at MACH and this machine really excited visitors with its cut quality and flexibility at such an affordable price point. We showed the Plasmaster with the Lincoln Electric Flexcut 125 and the 200HD high-definition plasma unit, with example test pieces to highlight the cut quality and precision available. As a result, we sold two Plasmaster machines with the 200HD plasma unit to a sheet metal company and another to a fabrication business. However, we also had toolmakers and subcontractors showing interest.”
Alongside Kerf Developments’ new Plasmaster was the established RUR2500 and the heavy-duty RUM4500 machine with four cutting heads on a single gantry.
“We received more than 150 serious enquiries at MACH, and with three plasma machines on the stand, the majority of enquiries were for this technology,” says Walsh. “However, we had a significant number of leads from manufacturers interested in our waterjet and oxy-fuel range.”
For further information www.kerfdevelopments.com

Fibre laser 10 times faster on 10 mm sheet

Established in 2010 by Dave Mawer and Mike Barratt, D&M Design & Fabrication has seen dramatic progression since the joint owners started running the business from the former’s bedroom and the latter’s garage.

At the time, neither thought that seven years later they would buy one of the most advanced fibre laser cutting centres on the market, a Bystronic 10 kW ByStar Fiber with automated sheet handling.
Installed at one of the firm’s factory units in Kirkby Malzeard, near Ripon, the machine is capable of processing 3 x 1.5 m sheet and employs the highest power fibre laser currently available on a cutting machine. According to Barratt, it is about 10 times faster at processing 10 mm thick material than D&M’s previous Bystronic 3.3 kW CO2 fibre laser machine bought five years earlier. A sheet can be completed typically in less than 40 minutes, rather than six hours.
“We were previously struggling to keep up with laser profiling our material, despite running the CO2 machine around the clock, six days a week,” says Barratt. “With the speed of fibre technology, we are easily processing more material per day in a single shift and now only work five days a week. The fibre machine stands idle for some of the time at present, as it finishes all the work going through the shop so quickly.”
Mawer adds: “With an eye to the future, we specified the machine with an inline ByTrans Extended handling system to automate the supply of material to the machine and the return of laser-cut sheets. We have proved the cell’s reliability during lights-out running a few times. It is not needed at the moment, but will be invaluable as volumes build in the future.”
For further information www.bystronic.co.uk

Gratnells invests in latest laser technology

Gratnells Engineering has recently invested in a new BLM LT Fiber machine, allowing the Harlow-based company to expand its capabilities and ensure clients benefit from even faster turnaround times.

This brand-new machine sits next to the existing LT5, a laser tube-cutting machine designed to cut from small-to-medium diameters and thicknesses of metal tubular sections. Gratnells’ new LT Fiber allows tubes of any shape to be cut, as well as the processing of special sections and even open shapes – without any additional special equipment required.
The laser-cutting range boasts an automated unloading and support system for pre-cut lengths up to 6100 mm, automatic weld seam detection, and a module that maintains the cleanliness of the internal tube surface when machining. Anti-crush technology makes the machine capable of processing even the lightest of tubes without deforming the walls.
BLM’s LT Fiber machine is already helping to increase factory efficiency by allowing unloading to various positions, with finished parts from one machine being unloaded while production continues uninterrupted on the other. The need to manually separate parts from different orders has also now been eliminated.
Loic Jones, operations director, says: “Gratnells Engineering decided to invest in state-of-the-art laser technology to enable us to offer fast production runs with the best quality finish. This substantial investment will allow us to continually support the ever-demanding needs of modern manufacturing clients”.
The Gratnells Engineering factory can turn around tube laser-cutting jobs within 3-5 days from receipt of order and, using sophisticated software, can process parts from a variety of media.
For further information www.gratnellslasercutting.com