Manufacturing Technology

 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Machine Tool, Co., Ltd., a Group company of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI), has unveiled the MSS300 Super Skiving Machine which allows high-speed, high-precision cutting of internal gears. It features outstanding machine rigidity, synchronisation control technology and dedicated cutting simulation software, which help overcome the technical challenges of conventional skiving, enabling lower production costs through mass production. In recent years Skiving machinery has responded to increasing demand for production efficiency and accuracy for products such as automobiles, construction equipment and reduction gears. Skiving is a cutting technology whereby a pinion type cutter, or other rotary tool, is engaged with a workpiece (the gear material to be processed) at a crossed-axes angle and rotated together. At the points where the two make contact, the effect of the crossed-axes angle generates a sliding velocity in the axial direction, resulting in high-speed machining. The skiving process typically makes the cutting angle obtuse, resulting in significant tool wear. The MSS300’s use of a barrel-shaped multiple-cutting-edge rotary tool – an original technology developed by MHI Machine Tool – allows a large crossed-axes angle, enabling improved cutting speeds and precision, while the use of multiple cutter blades extends the standard tool life. The MSS300 also facilitates machining with a general pinion cutter, allowing selective use depending on the shape of the workpiece. Direct drive motors are used for both the main spindle, on which the tool is mounted, and the table spindle, used for the workpiece. In addition to highly precise synchronization, the MSS300 also uses continuously meshing machinery to facilitate high-precision transfer of the tooth profile to the workpiece. A high level of rigidity is achieved through the adoption of a slide guide for the feeding of the X, Y and Z axes. In addition, superior positional precision is ensured through features […]

Global hydraulics leader Enerpac has developed an advanced handling and adjustment device for the world’s largest offshore gantry crane in Reunion Island. The handling device, which has just completed testing on the Zourite jack-up barge, will be used to lift and lower the piers bases onto a level gravel surface on the seabed, and for making adjustments to the base vertically and horizontally. The pier positioning and handling system, which utilises technology available throughout South East Asia, is lifted and controlled by Enerpac’s Over Head Travel Crane (OHTC), the world’s largest offshore overhead travel crane. The OHTC comprises two pairs of lifting beams, with an overall width of 30m, and a lifting capacity of 4,800 tonnes for lifting, moving and lowering the concrete blocks for the offshore highway. “Global success stories provide inspiration to local operations,” says Enerpac SE Asia Integrated Solutions Manager, Mr Maxim Lee. “Being a global company, we can share knowledge and experience throughout the Enerpac network, which spans 20 countries,” he said. Reunion Island Highway The French consortium Bouygues Travaux Publics, VINCI Construction Grands Projets, Dodin Campenon Bernard and Demathieu Bard Construction are constructing a 5,400 m bridge for a new offshore highway in Reunion Island, located East of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. The new offshore highway (Route du Littoral) will connect Saint Denis – the administrative capital of La Réunion – with La Possession. It replaces the existing coastal road, which is exposed to falling rocks and flooding from swells and tropical storms. Enerpac Over Head Travel Crane (OHTC) The Over Head Travel Crane (OHTC) comprises two pairs of lifting beams, with an overall width of 30m, and a lifting capacity of 4,800 tonnes for lifting, moving and lowering the concrete blocks for the offshore highway. The crane is classified as A5 for the […]

As products age and give way to new technologies, the need arises to proactively plan and manage the transition from existing equipment to leading-edge products and technologies. Automation components, software and systems represent major capital investments that are instrumental to the success of industrial operations. In the face of rapidly changing markets and technologies, the industrial enterprise must keep step to remain competitive. Today’s contemporary automation systems offer unprecedented advancements in performance, flexibility, and security, with the potential to provide a competitive edge. Technology continues to advance at a rapid rate, accelerated by the emergence of the Industrial Internet of Things and advances in enabling technologies, including data analytics, remote monitoring and mobility. Rockwell Automation continues to incorporate these latest technologies in control and automation platforms and although the PLC-5 programmable logic controller has been a valuable part of their portfolio for more than 30 years, no technology can last forever. Modern control systems provide a higher level of integration, driving improved asset utilisation, increased system flexibility and easy access to information. The high performance, Rockwell Automation ControlLogix platform delivers the capabilities to converge production disciplines (discrete, motion, process and safety), including extreme environments and high availability applications, into an integrated plant-wide architecture enabling a connected enterprise. Information shared between Information Technology (IT) and Operations Technology (OT) across a secure network enables: ·         Greater production visibility, for quicker response to customer demand ·         Higher profit margins through improved inventory management, cycle times and quality control ·         Improved capacity and asset utilization, leading to greater Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) ·         Regulatory compliance and reduced exposure to security risks Migrating to the ControlLogix family of programmable automation controllers (PAC) provides the platform to leverage advancements in technology, including improved access to information, more informed business decisions, faster performance for more throughput and […]

With the world of manufacturing undergoing major disruptions brought on by new market forces and technologies, Autodesk has unveiled its unified portfolio of solutions for additive and subtractive manufacturing. The portfolio lets manufacturers take advantage of technology disruptions and improve competitiveness by creating higher quality products in less time with lower costs. The new solution brings together industry-leading products historically offered from Autodesk, Delcam, Netfabb, Pan Computing and Magestic Systems—including HSMWorks, Inventor HSM, Fusion 360, FeatureCAM, PowerMill, PartMaker (now included in FeatureCAM), PowerShape, PowerInspect and Netfabb—into one complete set of hybrid manufacturing solutions. Autodesk has long been a leader and innovator in 3D design, engineering and the technologies that expand the applications of industrial 3D printing, no product is really complete until it’s realised through physical manufacture. Autodesk has also become a leader in technologies that expand the applications of industrial 3D printing. Now, they are truly integrating the design, make and use phases of product development. This new set of solution goes big on the ‘make’ component—equipping manufacturers with all the software they need to go from digital design to real-world product. The portfolio spans computer aided manufacturing (CAM), additive manufacturing, composites, robotics fabrication, factory layout, inspection and modeling. It enables customers to solve complex manufacturing challenges and seamlessly connect design to machining. Within the portfolio offerings are cloud-connected capabilities designed to help users experience the benefits of a more cohesive manufacturing workflow and invest more time in product development. Cloud-capabilities give customers improved support for global manufacturing operations with universal access to software and data, and the cloud also enables fast and frequent software upgrades. What’s in the Autodesk portfolio for additive and subtractive manufacturing? Autodesk HSMWorks: A fully integrated CAM solution for SOLIDWORKS, allowing users to get up to speed and become productive within minutes using familiar […]