Schunk has welcomed a new area sales manager to its expanding UK team.

As the latest addition to the sales force, Jason Hardwidge will be covering the East Midlands area. Hardwidge is a self-motivated sales professional with a strong engineering background. With 15 years in the industry, he has worked with a number of engineering and cutting-tool manufacturers, and will be a welcome and experienced addition to support the company’s ongoing growth. Hardwidge will now start servicing the variety of requests that Schunk receives from customers in the run up to EMO, MACH 2020 and beyond.
For further information www.schunk.com

The Engineering Technology Group (ETG) has acquired HK Holdings and all of its subsidiaries from the Pexion Group.

As a result, ETG is now able to offer its client base a single-source solution for CNC machining, wire EDM machines and 3D-printing systems. For instance, the acquisition gives ETG access to brands in additive manufacturing that include 3D Systems and Markforged. On the EDM side, ETG will now sell the latest Mitsubishi and OPS-Ingersoll machines.
“We had two choices: look to take on additional principals and agree new distribution agreements, or purchase a company that is already established in the sector and can boast immediate access to world-class brands and a host of technical expertise with their current staff,” says Martin Doyle, managing director of ETG. “Pexion Group is a key account for ETG, with multiple CNC machines installed across its group of companies. We knew Pexion was reviewing how to develop HK Holdings, so decided we would approach them about the possibility of integrating it into our business.”
For further information www.engtechgroup.com

The Dugard range of Hanwha collaborative robots is making another appearance at Robotics and Automation, the only dedicated exhibition of its type in the UK.

This year, the show will take place on 29-30 October at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry, where Dugard will be found on stand number 412. Dugard has been the sole UK distributor of Hanwha collaborative robots (cobots) for about a year now and has seen interest rise steadily since last summer. Developed and produced in South Korea, Hanwha HCR cobots can generate savings in operating costs, and are easy to install and run, says Dugard.
For further information www.dugard.com

Mills CNC, the sole distributor of Doosan machine tools in the UK and Ireland, and home of the CNC Training Academy, has announced that it will hold an open house at the company’s Technology Campus facility in Leamington on 9-10 October.

Branded ‘Another Giant Leap’, the event will make more than a passing nod to the Apollo 11 mission and the moon landing which occurred in 1969. The open house will host a total of 15 Doosan machines, including a number making their UK debuts. Mills CNC will also exhibit its latest industrial and collaborative robot (cobot) solutions to visitors
for the first time.
For further information www.millscnc.co.uk

The arrival of a front-loading, aqueous washing and rinsing system from Turbex at the Hampshire production facility of UK pump manufacturer Selwood has improved the efficiency with which machined castings are washed in preparation for assembly.

Two rotating-drum machines, also aqueous and supplied by Turbex 20 years ago to supplant a trichloroethylene cleaning process, have been replaced by a new AC-1.7-2 twin-stage machine.
Selwood’s old equipment had served well, but its effectiveness was diminishing through age and an inability to maintain water temperature and activate the detergent adequately. A batch of 12 to 15 castings for the assembly of one pump used to take 40 minutes to clean and, sometimes, they would have to go back into the machine if still soiled. The new Turbex industrial washing machine can process five such loads – placed in four rectangular stainless steel stillages – in 45 minutes.
For further information www.turbex.co.uk