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A family-owned business established nearly 75 years ago is winning strong overseas sales for its advanced instruments for quality control of a diverse range of products from jet fuel to lipstick. The company, Stanhope-Seta Ltd, is led by two enthusiastic, energetic brothers, Martin and Giles Verity, who together with a dedicated team design and manufacture pioneering instruments at their base in Chertsey, Surrey, near London.  The company has become established as a leader in the field of quality control testing and has built strong relationships with customers across the world. It was awarded a Queen’s Award for Enterprise 2012 in the International Trade category, with more than 80 per cent of its products going for export to more than 120 countries. Stanhope-Seta designs and manufactures petroleum test equipment and quality control instruments used to measure the physical characteristics that determine product quality and consistency. Its range of petroleum test instruments includes flash point testers, vapour pressure testers, oil test centrifuge, particulate analysers and distillation apparatus. Research and development activity is carried out in-house and a key part of the development process is participation in international specification meetings. The company has an active presence in groups that include the Energy Institute in the UK, ISO in Europe and ASTM in the United States. The company recognises that maintaining links with industry and developing innovative instrumentation will increase future growth and it actively strives to engage with universities, colleges and customers in the development process. The latest innovation, a unique instrument for the measurement of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) in marine fuels, is the result of a six-year development project. The analyser provides a rapid and accurate measurement of the levels of H2S, allowing the industry to remove it and thereby improving the safety of the fuel and minimising environmental impacts. The H2S […]

 For the fifth time, the Ethisphere Institute has named Rockwell Automation as one of the ‘World’s Most Ethical (WME) Companies’, a recognition that highlights companies that outperform industry peers when it comes to business ethics. The Ethisphere Institute is a leading international organization dedicated to the creation, advancement and sharing of best practices in business ethics, governance, anti-corruption and sustainability. “The 2013 WME companies are those that truly embrace ethical business practices and demonstrate industry leadership, forcing peers to follow suit or fall behind,” said Alex Brigham, executive director of Ethisphere. “More companies applied for the World’s Most Ethical Companies recognition this year than any year in the past, which demonstrates that ethical activity is an important part of many of these companies’ business models.”  “It’s because of the decisions our employees make every day that we are regarded as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies,” explained Keith D. Nosbusch, Rockwell Automation chairman and CEO. “Integrity is a core company value and a critical part of who we are as a company.It’s as important as delivering quality products and providing excellent customer service.”  The most recent Ethisphere listing is the latest in a series of honours for Rockwell Automation. The Council of Better Business Bureaus (BBB) recognized Rockwell Automation with the 2012 BBB International Torch Award for Marketplace Excellence. Additionally, the Foundation for Financial Service Professionals presented Rockwell Automation with the 2012 American Business Ethics Award. Rockwell Automation also announced today that its 2012 Corporate Responsibility Report is now available online and in print. Besides detailing the company’s approach to ethical business practices, the report provides updates on the company’s environmental, employee safety and culture, and community-relations efforts.    

By Craig Charlton, senior vice president and general manager, Asia Pacific Epicor Software No longer something that simply offers a competitive edge, having mobility in the workforce today is a competitive necessity; particularly in certain vertical sectors such as the metalworking industry. The vast majority of medium-sized businesses already utilise the benefits of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system to optimise and improve organisational processes and cut costs. Enter enterprise mobility, which is all about flexibility, provides easy access to information and processes to employees wherever they are located. It can encompass everything from the integration of mobile phones into a corporate telephone system to vertically oriented solutions involving the quick delivery of productivity enhancing information to people in the field, the factory and in the warehouse. The Internet and ubiquitous mobility play an essential part in the daily lives of the information-hungry global economy, but how do you make ERP mobile? Furthermore, how do you use mobility to the benefit of the metalworking industry and other manufacturers? The image of the traditional ERP system doesn’t match with today’s powerful mobile devices and flexible, scalable software solutions. The traditional image has become outdated. There is a new set of technologies which enable ERP with’ Enterprise Mobility.’ ‘Enterprise Mobility’ improves employee performance and increases productivity by ensuring employees access to data from your ERP system at all times and in all locations. Inventory tracking is improved by labelling and scanning inventory to achieve optimum traceability and to make immediate adjustments during counting, leading to improved confidence in your enterprise data; you know your stock levels are accurate and can therefore make better business decisions when buying and selling products.  Material handling and visibility on the plant floor is also improved. The use of mobile solutions allows an organisation to track Work […]

The world tallest (634 m) sightseeing and TV broad casting tower – Tokyo Sky Tree uses a massive amount of most advanced TMCP steels. Although steel production dates back about 4000 years, exploration of steel’s potential abilities is still advancing. With an output of about 45%, China dominates when it comes to basic steel production. Japan however is shifting towards so called ‘high-grade steels’. Take for example, the water-cooled thermo mechanical control process (TMCP) steels. Relative to traditional water-cooled steel plate processes, TMCP steels offer simultaneous improvements of strength and toughness, while allowing control of the steelÕs microstructure. Nishioka and Ichikawa, researchers from Japan’s largest steel production company, describe recent developments in TMCP Technology in the latest issue of Science and Technology of Advanced Materials Vol. 13 (2012) Issue 2, Page 023001 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1468-6996/13/2/023001). Manipulation of steel plates and early TMCP technologies originated in Japan. TMCP offers many advantages not least because it produces steel that is easier to work with. Compared to other metals, TMCP steel is much easier to weld, for example. Nishioka and Ichikawa also assess developments of equipment and production technologies for TMCP, and theoretical modelling. The latest applications of TMCP steel are seen in various industries such as shipbuilding, offshore structures, building construction, bridges, pipelines, penstocks and cryogenic tanks. The world tallest (634 m) sightseeing and TV broad casting tower, the Tokyo Sky Tree, was constructed in large part using TMCP steels. TMCP technology is also likely to provide solutions for resource savings which is critical in a world trying to reduce its carbon emissions.

  USA:Kennametal has announced a multi-year renewal of its machining technology partnership with Chip Ganassi Teams (CGRT). Kennametal began its relationship with CGRT in 1993. This renewed relationship occurs in the wake of Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon’s dramatic first and second-place finish at the 2012 Indianapolis 500. With cars competing in multiple series – the IZOD Indy Car Series, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and the Rolex GRAND-AM Series – Chip Ganassi Racing holds a record of 15 championships and more than 140 victories, including four Indianapolis 500 wins. This year marks Franchitti’s third win, (one of only 10 drivers in the history of the race to do so), a Daytona 500, a Brickyard 400, and four Rolex 24 at Daytona victories. RACER Magazine named them its 2010 ‘Team of the Year.’ Kennametal has expanded the 19-year metal cutting partnership by providing Ganassi’s Indy machine shop with proprietary Precision Surface Management Technology by Kennametal Extrude Hone. Kennametal’s advanced surface finishing solutions deliver uniform, repeatable, predictable results by removing the rough cast surfaces that restrict the efficiency of critical engine components and performance competence. “We have been in business for 23 years and for 19 of those, Kennametal has been a partner,” said Chip Ganassi, owner of Chip Ganassi Racing Teams. “Their logo is on every one of our cars across all our teams and series. But what really makes the partnership even more important to the race team is how their expertise even helps us on race day. They come to us with many solutions for different mechanical challenges we face. It is great when you have a partner that can do that.” Kennametal tooling and services deliver high performance throughout the automotive industry, machining such critical components as engine blocks, cylinder heads, pistons, crankshafts, gear boxes, suspension parts, […]

Picture The Advanced Remanufacturing & Technology Centre will drive value-added manufacturing activities here through private-public R&D collaborations SINGAPORE: The establishment has occurred of the Advanced Remanufacturing & Technology Centre (ARTC), the first centre in Asia to look into research and development (R&D) to develop technologies for remanufacturing that can be readily adopted by industry. These technologies will enable companies and businesses to translate end-of-life products into Ôgood as newÕ ones for the market through a sustainable process, contributing to greater cost and materials savings and, potentially, higher profit margins. Six industry leaders, namely Boeing, Rolls-Royce plc, Siemens Industry Software, ABB, FUCHS Lubricants and Carl Zeiss, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Centre to look into collaborative R&D to bridge technological gaps in remanufacturing for the aerospace, oil & gas, marine, energy, automotive and engineering industries. In doing so, ARTC will tap on A*STARÍs Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology’s (SIMTech) R&D expertise in automation, manufacturing systems and processes, as well as the strong capabilities of local universities such as Nanyang Technological University, to carry out R&D in production-ready technologies in the areas of repair and restoration, surface enhancement and product verification. Eight local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have also joined the Centre to co-develop technologies along with leading multinational corporations (MNCs). By engaging local SMEs and MNCs, ARTC is encouraging leading companies to develop new high value manufacturing activities in Singapore while cultivating the local supply chain in this new growth area. Said Dr Raj Thampuran, Executive Director of the Science and Engineering Research Council, A*STAR, “The Advanced Remanufacturing & Technology Centre will help industries realise remanufacturing’s economic and environmental potential through public-private collaborative R&D. Member companies can leverage on our spectrum of relevant capabilities, advanced infrastructure and high quality talent, while at the same time contribute to […]