Developments

Street smarts – How composite materials are driving the smart city movement

Singapore is often hailed as the world’s premier smart city. With a 99 per cent connectivity rate, robo-taxis and huge network of sensors providing a large pool of data for analysis, it is easy to see why the island is at the forefront of the smart city movement. But as urban areas across the globe get smarter, how will infrastructure support their progression? Here Robert Glass, Head of Marketing at global composite technology company Exel Composites, explains how composite materials are helping to drive the smart cities movement. Just two per cent of people lived in cities around the world in 1800. By 2050, the United Nations predicts that 68 per cent of the world’s population will be urbanised. Escalating numbers of urban residents is already increasing the strain on public services, infrastructure and resources. Housing shortages, traffic congestion and overcrowded transport are all side-effects of having too many people in one place. To tackle rising urban populations and provide enhanced standards of living, countries across the world are turning to technology. On the rise A smart city uses a variety of Internet of Things (IoT) sensors to collect data and manage assets. This data is produced from our devices and infrastructure and is used to control assets such as traffic, transportation systems, water supply networks, waste management and community resources. As a “system of systems”, value is given to a smart city by what it chooses to do with the technology, not just how much data the city has. If we think of our cities growing, they’re going to need to get taller. Rising buildings are going to require highly efficient elevators in order to transport people to their homes and offices, and will require more precise co-ordination. A network of data and analysis systems could […]

Dormer Pramet completes acquisition of Miranda Tools

Dormer Pramet has completed the previously announced acquisition of Miranda Tools, a manufacturer of High-Speed Steel (HSS) cutting tools in India. With a corporate base in Mumbai and several manufacturing facilities in the state of Gujarat, Miranda is one of the leading domestic brands of drills, taps, milling cutters, tool bits and saws. Following six months of activity to finalise the acquisition, more than 580 employees will now become part of Dormer Pramet, a global manufacturer of cutting tools. It enhances the company’s existing production capabilities in Brazil, Czech Republic and the USA. Also, the deal strengthens Dormer Pramet’s round tools offer for the general engineering, automotive component manufacturing and MRO industries in India and around the world. An inauguration ceremony took place at the main Miranda production unit in Ankleshwar on December 23, marking the first day since the acquisition from the Ashok Piramal Group. Angala Srinivasan was introduced as the new production unit manager, responsible for all Miranda Tools manufacturing facilities. Gautam Ahuja, managing director of Dormer Pramet India, was also presented to employees, along with several key representatives. Meanwhile, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions on international travel, Stefan Steenstrup, Dormer Pramet president provided a welcome address via video link. Stefan said: “We are delighted to complete the acquisition of Miranda Tools and have them as part of our global team. We look forward to an exciting journey together. I would like to thank the previous owners, Ashok Piramal Group, for their support and dedication in finalizing the deal. “This year is the 75th anniversary of Miranda Tools, a business which has always been at the forefront of industrial developments in India. It is therefore fitting that in this milestone year the brand returns to its metalworking heritage by becoming part of Dormer […]

BYD Wins largest pure-electric bus order outside of China

BYD has exclusively won cumulative orders to supply 1,002-unit pure-electric buses to the capital of Colombia, Bogota. This tender was open to all bus technologies, yet BYD won the trust and cooperation of its partners in the fiercely competitive bidding process thanks to its cutting-edge technologies, products and services. This is the largest order for pure-electric buses outside of China to date, which sets a new record in sales volume for the overseas pure-electric bus industry. Bogota City Public Transport Authority (TRANSMILENIO S.A.) launched a public commercial tender covering diesel, CNG and electric technologies for 1,295 buses in August. Three of BYD’s global strategic partners finally adopted BYD’s integrated electric bus solutions for their bids and successfully won the tender, totally 1,002 pure electric buses. BYD will partner with local bus manufacturers Superpolo and BUSSCAR respectively on the bus body parts. This batch of buses is scheduled to be delivered during 2021 and into the first half of 2022, and will be put into operation on 34 bus routes across five regions of the capital, providing residents along the routes with quiet, safe and emissions-free travel services. With highly-recognised technology, products and services, this ‘thousand-unit’ order opens up a new era In this competition covering all bus technologies, BYD, relying on its strong capability with core strengths, has won exclusive orders for 1,002 pure electric buses, fully demonstrating the market’s high recognition and trust in BYD’s technology, products and services. So far, BYD has won 1,472 orders for pure electric buses in the Colombian capital. According to TRANSMILENIO S.A., these buses will reduce 83,433 tons of carbon dioxide and 9.63 tons of particle emissions per year compared to diesel buses meeting fifth-generation European emission standards over the 15-year concession period, which will greatly improve local air quality and enhance Colombia’s […]

Report: “From the Rice Paddy to the Industrial Park” in Myanmar

Working conditions in Myanmar’s labour market faced decades of neglect under authoritarian governments, contributing to a laissez-faire system where employers unilaterally set the terms of employment for their workers and labour rights were neither adequately established under law or respected in practice. At the same time, underdevelopment caused by isolation from the international community and a regime of strict economic sanctions meant that there were insufficient decent job opportunities available. This Report Discussion is now over. However, the report can be read at the above address. Since a wide-ranging political and economic liberalization process was initiated in 2010, intensive efforts at reforming Myanmar’s outdated, contradictory and vague labour legislation were made. Among the key changes were the introduction of a minimum wage, legalisation of labour organisations, establishment of processes for dispute resolution, adopting higher standards for occupational safety and health and expansion of coverage by social security. However, government and private sector sensitivities about research related to working conditions meant that few rigorous large-scale studies were undertaken to determine the impact of the legislative changes on workers themselves. Ten years after the reforms began, the Livelihoods and Food Security Fund conducted a survey of more than 2,400 workers to help fill the knowledge gap by assessing how effective the improved labour governance framework has been in ensuring decent working conditions. In particular, it represents the first major study of the prevalence of forced labour in Myanmar since 2015. The report was launched in August 2020 and research was conducted mostly before the coup, but in the discussion speakers will also reflect on the present conditions. The actions of the Tatmadaw now suggest a return to more openly exploitative employment practices and suppression of worker organizing. Indications are that the return to military rule has already begun to roll back many […]

Moving to Hanoi – Secutech Vietnam returns in August 2021

To coincide with the Vietnam Fire Department’s 60th anniversary celebrations, Secutech Vietnam is relocating to the Friendship Cultural Palace in Hanoi for its 2021 edition. The move away from its traditional location in Ho Chi Minh City will help the fair’s security and fire safety exhibitors develop their business in Northern Vietnam by connecting them with more distributors and system integrators from the region. The fair is scheduled to take place from 25 – 28 August 2021, with an expected 400 exhibitors in attendance. The August event will mark only the 3rd occasion since 2008 that the fair has been held in Hanoi. Commenting on the switch in location, Ms Regina Tsai, Deputy General Manager, Messe Frankfurt New Era Business Media Ltd, says: “Having previously been deferred in 2020 due to COVID-19, the relocation of Secutech Vietnam offers a great chance for exhibitors to re-establish industry connections and explore new market opportunities in the North, which is home to an array of government projects and industrial zones.” Ms Tsai adds: “Both the Vietnam Fire Department and the Ministry of Public Security are long term supporters of Secutech Vietnam. With their backing, the fair is expected to attract a strong turnout of leading distributors and key players from the country’s security and fire safety industry. With nine months remaining before the fair opens, we have already received a high volume of inquiries from distributors and system integrators.” In a turbulent year for global business, Vietnam has stood out as one of the global success stories in the fight against COVID-19. This has positioned the country to exit 2020 as one of the fastest growing economies in the world, according to the IMF. Hanoi, the commercial centre of the north, is expected to see growth of almost 4%, with regional projects driving […]

OnRobot 2FG7 gripper for demanding applications

OnRobot has launched the 2FG7, a complete, low cost, easy to use, out-of-the-box, cleanroom-ready parallel gripper. Designed to enable companies of all sizes to set up gripping applications at low cost, the 2FG7 can be deployed within minutes and is specially designed to handle demanding payloads – even in tight spaces. The 2FG7 gripper is ideal for low-volume, high-mix production and enables fast ROI for many different applications, including machine tending, material handling and assembly. Boasting a maximum payload of 11 kg (24.3 lb), an external grip range of up to 74 mm (2.91 in) and a gripping force of between 20-140 N, the versatile 2FG7 can handle heavy, bulky payloads with ease. Smaller than OnRobot’s RG2 and RG6 grippers – and yet more powerful than both – the 2FG7’s dimensions (156 x 158 x 180 mm/6.14 x 6.22 x 7.08 in) make it the perfect gripper for use in small work envelopes, which is a major bonus in busy manufacturing facilities where space is at a premium, and in applications with tight quarters for maneuvering. Seamlessly integrated with the OnRobot product range and compatible with all major collaborative robots and light industrial robot arms, the 2FG7 allows manufacturers of all skillsets to set up gripping applications quickly and easily. The 2FG7’s ease of use ensures visibility during the deployment process, greatly reduces the need for custom parts and cuts the time to ROI. Meanwhile, intelligent feedback features, including grip detection and lost grip detection, further simplify the deployment process. Cleanroom certifiedThe 2FG7 is a production-ready gripper built to withstand harsh manufacturing conditions and applications. In addition to being IP67-certified, the 2FG7 has attained cleanroom certification (ISO Class 5), which is required for many handling applications in the pharmaceutical and electronics industries. It also complies with ISO/TS 15066 regarding collaborative […]

Jio defies challenging market conditions with unprecedented investments pouring in

Jio Platforms Limited (Jio) has been a notable exception for being able to garner unprecedented back-to-back investments during these challenging times. The investments spree that started with Facebook on 22 April 2020 also saw many other foreign investors ranging from tech giants to big private equity firms (PE) evincing interest in Jio. The cumulative value of such investments announced between April 22 and July 15 2020 stood at US$19.9bn, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company. Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The US$19.9bn investment is gigantic and helped Jio become debt free much ahead of its set deadline of March 2021 but what makes these investments even more impressive is the fact that it has come at the time when businesses worldwide are reeling under the impact of COVID-19 pandemic.” The investments spree in Jio this year is also special in many other ways. In one of the rare instances, Facebook as well its rival Google were seen placing gigantic bets in one company. These investments also came at a time when the Indian government is trying to curb Chinese investments and has also imposed ban on 59 Chinese apps. Interestingly, none of these investments in Jio involved any Chinese investor. Out of these 14 investments, 11 came from American firms. This also assumes more significance now that Jio has been included in the list of ‘Clean Telcos’ by the US for rejecting to do business with Chinese firms. Bose adds: “These investments also indicate that Jio has some big plans and these investments are testimony of investors seeing the potential in Jio to emerge as a tech giant in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. While these may look like just some big ticket transactions, these deals also bring in technology expertise (from tech giants) along with […]

Beijing’s public companies lead revenue generation among APAC cities

Beijing has emerged as the top city in the Asia–Pacific (APAC) region in revenue analysis of the top 10 cities by GDP, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company. GlobalData analysed 10 cities with the highest GDP in the APAC region, which are then ranked based on total revenue generated by the public companies headquartered in each city in 2019. The sample size considered for the research included about 24,800 public companies in the region. The top 10 list was dominated by China with six cities. According to GlobalData’s economic research, Tokyo’s nominal GDP including metropolitan area was US$1,795.8bn, followed by Shanghai (US$518.2bn), Beijing (US$478.4bn), Shenzhen (US$438.6bn), Guangzhou (US$371.5bn), Hong Kong (US$366bn), Singapore (US$364.5bn), Chongqing (US$345.2bn), Seoul (US$328.1bn) and Tianjin (US$299.2bn). The sample size included 1,470 cities of the APAC, of which the top 10 were home to about 7,000 companies (about 28% of the sample size). About 30% of these 7,000 were based out of Tokyo, followed by Hong Kong (21%), Seoul (12%), Beijing (10%), Singapore (9%), Shanghai (7%), Shenzhen (6%), Guangzhou (3%), Chongqing (1%), and Tianjin (1%). The companies headquartered in the top 10 cities accounted for 58.5% of the aggregate revenue of the total sample size. The combined revenue of these companies increased 5.6% in 2019, as compared to that in the previous year. Parth Vala, Company Profiles Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Though Beijing was not the leader in terms of GDP and the number of companies, it led the table in terms of average revenue per company in 2019, which stood at US$8.3bn, followed by Shenzhen (US$2.8bn), Shanghai (US$2.7bn), Tokyo (US$2.4bn), Tianjin (US$1.8bn), Seoul (US$1.7bn), Chongqing (US$1.4bn), Guangzhou (US$1.3bn), Hong Kong (US$0.8bn), and Singapore (US$0.6bn).” Except Seoul which witnessed marginal aggregate revenue decline, all the cities reported growth in their aggregate revenues from the […]

OnRobot expands product capabilities

Traditional single-purpose industrial robots are losing ground to affordable, easy to use robots and peripherals that can be flexibly redeployed for a wide range of applications. This empowers manufacturers to gain even greater productivity increases from their automation investments. OnRobot is extending its commitment to ongoing customer empowerment with the launch of a software update for its popular, 2.5D camera-based Eyes vision system. The new features, which enable Eyes to be deployed in quality inspection applications and on mobile setups, include one-shot detection for multiple objects, colour and blob detection and automatic landmark calibration tools designed to speed cycle time for mobile robot setups. New visual inspection features for reduced cycle time and fast ROI Eyes’ new inspection features enable the system to easily sort, inspect, or pick and place unstructured objects using colour and contour detection – a capability that is beyond most competing vision systems. This detection method requires no workpiece teaching and finds items based on colour and size information input by the operator. Eyes’ inspection features can be used to inspect parts removed from CNC machines, for example, or to check IMM parts for excessive or inadequate material after part has been moulded. The tools also support manual inspections: operators can set up a camera and inspection program, manually place a workpiece in view and execute inspection. No robot required. The update also provides users with one-shot detection for multiple objects, allowing the system to pick all workpieces with only one picture. This reduces complexity for users and improves cycle times. The update includes tools that allow users to request specific workpiece types and specify gripper clearance parameters. Adding Eyes to mobile robotsA new landmark feature has been added to Eyes’ powerful toolkit, enabling easy deployment of Eyes on mobile robots and setups with carts, trays, […]

OMRON launches HD-1500 mobile robot with 1500kg payload capacity

OMRON Asia Pacific, a global leader in industrial automation solutions, has launched its new mobile robot called the HD-1500 across Oceania & Asia Pacific. The robot boasts a heavy payload capacity of up to 1500kg and is the strongest and newest addition to the company’s portfolio of mobile robots. The need for autonomous material handling is becoming greater as more demanding tasks in industrial automation increase while companies face labor shortages along with challenges in implementing new social distancing requirements due to the Coronavirus. The HD-1500 comes off the heels of OMRON’s LD-250 mobile robot, which was launched globally in the fall of 2019. OMRON’s mobile robots can automatically calculate the best route for material transportation while navigating safely around people and obstacles without the use of magnetic floor tapes nor other guides. The new HD-1500 mobile robot has a 1500kg payload capacity which can be used to transport large automotive components, such as, car chassis and voluminous pallet size payloads – things that would have traditionally been moved using forklifts. With the release of HD-1500, OMRON’s mobile robots achieve a seamless lineup of models that can transport a wide variety of items – from components to WIP (work in progress), finished products, and heavy material. OMRON’s industry-first “Fleet Manager” can control up to 100 mobile robots with different sizes, configurations and payload capacities under one system, thus enabling customers to utilize the HD-1500 together with OMRON’s existing robots – LD-60/90 and LD-250 – to automate the complex material transport and logistics applications with the optimum allocation of robots without traffic so that they can increase the total efficiency of material handling inside the factory. The HD-1500 offers 360-degree safety coverage promoting a collaborative and safe working space. With the release of HD-1500, the stop position accuracy of the CAPS […]

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