Engineering

The Interview: Mike Hannah, Rockwell Automation and The Connected Enterprise

Mike Hannah is the Market Development lead for the company’s Connected Enterprise initiative. His primary responsibilities involve market development and commercial program management initiative, which connects people and processes for better collaboration, faster problem solving and improved innovation. Hannah originally joined Rockwell Automation in 1990 in Cleveland, Ohio in the company’s Motion Control Business Group as a product marketing engineer. He advanced into roles of increasing responsibility in product management, including leading the company’s Networking and Infrastructure product development group. Hannah holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electronic Technology from The University of Akron, USA. What is your interpretation of what IoT means? In this Internet of Things (IoT) era, a nearly endless range of devices are being embedded with smart sensors that can communicate with one another within the existing Ethernet Internet infrastructure. In fact, many analysts have predicted that over 25 billion devices will be connected over the IoT by 2025. This proliferation of smarter end points can enable organisations to better collaborate and understand complex processes to improve their operations. It is enabled by new technologies such as big-data analytics, cloud computing, virtualisation and mobility. All of these help to optimise business and operational processes and facilitate both internal and external collaboration − an approach often referred to as “Smart Manufacturing”. Covering so many business and social activities in a title such as this must be difficult to describe? How is this done? The intangible commodity is the ability to link people, processes and technology to solve real-world problems in real-time. The key for everyone is to better understand their company’s operational performance at the most granular level, to improve operations, produce more at higher quality levels, and in a more efficient manner. LEAN manufacturing encompasses a lot of activity. Is this the way it is with IoT? Yes, […]

Free design software with DesignSpark Electrical

RS Components (RS), the trading brand of Electrocomponents plc, the global distributor for engineers, has launched DesignSpark Electrical, which brings the benefits of design software to all those not already using electrical CAD tools. The new software targets electrical design engineers and other electrical professionals, enabling them to save time and money. Supported by Schneider Electric, DesignSpark Electrical joins the award-winning suite of DesignSpark engineering resources and continues to drive the initiative of removing the barriers to innovation for every engineer. DesignSpark Electrical is a fully specified electrical CAD package delivering time saving and error avoidance, for control panel, machinery and electrical system design. This new free tool provides access to the functionality of electrical CAD for businesses that in many cases cannot reasonably justify the considerable price tag per seat for existing commercial electrical CAD software. A key element of the DesignSpark Electrical software is the integration of a library that comprises more than 250,000 components and parts, including 80,000 from Schneider Electric and 10,000 from RS, which can easily be added to customer designs. Other key features of the highly intuitive and highly functional software include intelligent and specialist electrical design tools, real-time referencing and validity checking to allow the creation of accurate 2D panel layouts, all of which saves time and reduces errors. Also built into the software is Bill-of-Materials (BOM) quote functionality, enabling customers to order parts via RS for their designs, both quickly and easily. The high cost and the learning time required of existing commercial electrical CAD tools have been major barriers to adoption for many companies. The introduction of the highly intuitive DesignSpark Electrical removes these cost barriers in a single stroke and passes on the key benefits of electrical CAD to all engineers. DesignSpark Electrical is available for free download at www.designspark.com.

Hello Industry 4.0

The newest member of the KUKA robot family – the LBR iiwa lightweight robot At the KUKA booth, the visitors of this year’s Hanover Fair can deal with the increasing digitalisation of production and cooperative network of employees and machines. As Europe’s leading supplier of industrial robots and automated production systems, KUKA directly participates with its products and services in the fourth industrial revolution – Industry 4.0. Therefore, robots will be the defining component for industry in the future – while the human takes centre stage. Sustainable automation concepts can only be developed with efficient, flexible and first of all safe production systems respecting the needs of the production staff. KUKA will not only present ways in which KUKA products can improve competitiveness, but also prove its compatibility with the digital world. Across the more than 1000 square meters of space in the Industrial Automation area, KUKA will be presenting innovative solutions that have one key characteristic in common: they are all designed to meet the requirements of Industry 4.0 and bring flexibility in the utilisation of production capacity, in logistics, in the sustainable use of resources. KUKA achieves this by merging the IT world and conventional high-tech industry solutions into complete Cyber-Physical Production Systems (CPPS). In order to react in a flexible manner, to control process data streams from complex networks around the globe and to network digital controllers from different systems, interfaces based on Mainstream IT infrastructure are essential. This was already a key concept at KUKA in the mid-90s when it brought the first PC-based robot controllers onto the market. Subsequent KUKA innovations and developments also followed this core concept of simple integration. With the newest member of the KUKA robot family – the LBR iiwa lightweight robot and the controller Sunrise designed for direct cooperation between […]

How being open can give manufacturers the innovative edge

Tesla Motors’ decision last year to make all of its patents open to outside use has turned the industry on its head. By Stefano Picozzi, PaaS business development manager, Red Hat A/NZ Most industries are affected by disruption from technology so, to remain competitive, organisations need to keep up. Technology advances affect manufacturing, in particular. The industry is changing quickly, and the manufacturers that continue to prosper are those that keep pace with technology. Industrial solutions such as automation, resource management systems, and high-speed industrial design processes have helped manufacturers become far more agile and productive than they used to be. A manufacturer can only be as innovative and agile as the software on which these industrial solutions rely. However, not all software is created equal. The bulk of software solutions used in this industry is proprietary; owned, managed, and developed by a single company. This means new developments can be slower when it comes to innovation and best practice. Open source software, by comparison, is not owned by any single organisation; it is the result of a global community of millions of programmers. Because of the open and collaborative nature of this sort of software, with many minds contributing to its development, it can keep up with the agility and innovation that industry now demands. Organisations in many areas of business are increasingly seeing the value in the open source approach. The automotive sector is a good example. Digital design and automated manufacturing means developing a new car now takes a fraction of the time it used to. Tesla Motors’ decision last year to make all of its patents open to outside use has turned the industry on its head. Tesla made this unprecedented move in the hope that it would help drive the adoption of electric car platforms. […]

Delcam launches 2016 FeatureCAM with new high-efficiency roughing

Delcam has launched the 2016 release of its FeatureCAM feature-based CAM software. This includes a range of enhancements, in particular more options for the Vortex high-efficiency area-clearance strategy, support for bar-fed mills, more efficient turning and user-interface improvements to make programming even easier and faster. FeatureCAM was the world’s first feature-based programming software when it was launched in 1995. Constant development since then has ensured that the system has retained its leadership in programming speed and ease of use, while an increased range of strategies has been added to provide more efficient toolpaths that give greater productivity on a wider range of machinery, including mill-turn machines, five-axis mills and wire EDM equipment. The 2016 release includes a number of enhancements to the Vortex area-clearance strategy. Vortex gives the fastest safe metal removal from solid carbide tooling, in particular designs that give deeper cuts by using the full flute length as the cutting surface. It produces toolpaths with a controlled engagement angle and so maintains the optimum cutting conditions for the complete roughing cycle, giving faster machining and longer tool life. The ability has now been added to adjust and fine tune the non-cutting moves of 2.5D and 3D Vortex toolpaths, with options to retract the tool and/or to increase the feedrate. These options can be set individually, or can be combined to achieve an optimum toolpath, with a reduced cycle time. Other roughing improvements include the ability to take into account any remaining stock on the model during holder collision checking, ensuring that Z-level roughing toolpaths are completely free of tool-holder collisions. Milling of inside or outside groove features has been upgraded with a number of improvements. These include support for different types of roughing links, wind-fan approach and retract moves for finishing, better gouge checking for plunges and retracts, […]

Latest Technologies at Manufacturing Myanmar 2015 to Lift Local Manufacturing Sector

A strong projection for Myanmar’s economic growth this year coupled with the launch of the ASEAN Economic Community are set to increase opportunities for the local manufacturing industry. These factors, as well as the Free Trade Agreements Myanmar has signed individually and as part of ASEAN, with countries and regions such as Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea, New Zealand and the United States, will bring upon more trade activities, as well as foreign investment into the country. To compete, it is crucial for companies in the sector to invest and update their technologies. Manufacturing Myanmar 2015 will be highlighting the latest technologies from around the world that will help manufacturers enhance their productivity and efficiency. More than 60 exhibitors from 13 countries and regions will be participating in the event’s second edition, to be held at Myanmar Event Park from 15 to 17 October 2015. Exhibitors will be showcasing their bestselling technologies for the international market, as well as manufacturing equipment and solutions that are new to Myanmar. Boosting opportunities for manufacturing sector through conducive business networking platform As Myanmar continues on its economic journey to attract foreign investors, the need to quickly increase productivity and improve efficiency in the manufacturing sector becomes more important. Speaking of this need at a press conference today, U Aye Tun, Vice President of the Myanmar Industries Association, was delighted at the wide range of manufacturing solutions offered and representation of international brand names at Manufacturing Myanmar 2015. “The business opportunities for local manufacturers will continue to increase and it is important for them to capitalise on these by shoring up their capabilities. Investing and updating the technologies will certainly help Myanmar’s budding manufacturing sector provide even more viable and effective services to the international companies that are investing in the country. Manufacturing Myanmar, […]

Advance Riko launches mini lamp Annealer ‘MILA-5050

‘Yokohama- Advance Riko, Inc. has developed a new version of MILA-5000 series, ‘Mini Lamp Annealer MILA-5050’, which enables heat treatment up to 50mm square size. Mini Lamp Annealer MILA 5000 series has contributed to the research of various materials and the developments of heat treatment technique etc in a wide range fields. However, the company has received a lot of requests from customers to enlarge the sample size because the current model has limitation of maximum size as 20mm square. The ‘MILA-5050’ which enables heat treatment up to 50 mm square size with keeping high-performance and compact design and low cost after reviewing the furnace structure and layout. Features – Capable of making heat treatment for the sample size up to maximum 50mm(W) x 50mm(L) – Maximum temperature: 1200 degrees Celsius (regular use) – Desk top type in which heating furnace, chamber and temperature controller are all integrated – Capable of rapid heating, cooling and clean heating with cold wall structure – Simple input of temperature recipe into computer connected with USB – Display temperature data on the PC monitor during heating (The data can be saved in the text format.) Applications – Rapid thermal annealing of Si wafer and compound wafer – Rapid thermal annealing of electronics material like substrates of optical CVD – Heat treatment of glass substrates, ceramics and compound materials etc – Thermal cycle test – Thermal annealing of metal materials – Heat resistance evaluation of coating films – Heating and drying of organic materials and resins Specifications – Temperature range: RT to 1200 degrees Celsius(regular use) – Maximum heating rate: 50 degrees Celsius/s – Heating atmosphere: Air, Vacuum, Inert gas – Sample size: 50mm(W) x 50mm(L) x 0.5 to 5mm (T) – Temperature control sensor: JIS K type thermocouple – Lamp rating: AC 200V-4.8kW – Standard […]

3D Design & Simulation Tools Ushering in a New Dawn for Asian Manufacturing

Ming Xu – CAE Marketing Manager,Asia Pacific Marketing,Siemens PLM Software. Asian manufacturers are on the cusp of the next industrial revolution with innovation as the catalyst that is redefining their path to success. With great opportunities come great challenges – the current Asia Pacific manufacturing scenario is seeing multiple impactful factors at play. The pressure to shorten time-to-market, design highly customisable and energy-efficient products is driving companies to rethink their manufacturing strategies. To add to this, we live in a culture of instant gratification and immediate results. Continuous and consistent improvement is the only way to stay ahead of the competition. To win in this highly complex marketplace, we need to identify trends with the potential of optimizing product development processes in order to maximize our advantage. Integrated 3D Design and Simulation for Reimagining Processes A great product is born well before the raw material reaches the machine. High quality products start their journey from high quality designs. Virtual prototyping (the process of creating an optimal physical design in software before building a physical prototype for verification) is experiencing a widespread usage in today’s manufacturing processes. It has assumed a much greater significance in recent years as engineering design has evolved drastically thanks to the availability of cutting edge design tools and software. Today’s leading manufacturers’ use advanced 3D design (CAD) and simulation (CAE) software in their research and development (R&D) processes to pre-empt, assess and avoid errors. Simulation guides critical trade-off decisions to balance competing product objectives such as reliability, cost and weight requirements. It also plays a major role in product and process innovation. Both CIMData and Scientific Computing World have noted how pivotal CAD/CAE integration is to product development. Historically, simulation has often been out of step with the design schedule with results too late to be […]

Herculon tank top bearings meet climate change and production challenges to liquid protection

Storage tanks today can hold upwards of 10, 20 or even 30,000 tons of liquid that must be protected from the elements and from pollution to safeguard it for use in water, waste water, emergency fire protection and high purity industrial processing applications. Not only are tanks being built to hold their contents more safely and securely than ever before, but they are expected to do it for longer and in more challenging operating environments where steel, concrete and fibreglass tanks need secure roofs that can withstand expansion and contraction caused by factors such as increasing climatic and load variations. A challenge facing developers and operators of buildings and processing plants for industrial and municipal uses is ensuring their top structures can flexibly cope with internal movement from climatically induced expansion, contraction and wind and rain forces, while also coping with production stresses caused by heavy and changing loads, vibration and other factors encountered within diverse industries. Relevant industries can include mining and energy, oil and gas, ports and infrastructure, food and beverage, primary processing, manufacturing, materials handling, water and waste water utility and emergency services. A cost-efficient solution to many such issues is offered by Hercules Engineering through its range of Herculon Type D Tank Top Bearings (HLD/TT) Bearings, which are custom-designed for easy installation under roof beams of tank tops and other lighter structures including some building roofs. These low-friction easy-slip bearings are particularly useful where loads are relatively small but both lateral and uplift forces need to be accommodated, says Mr David Booty, Manager, Hercules Engineering (a division of Cut to Size Plastics). “Light but strong and flexible tank tops are now widely employed to protect tanks and their contents from external pollution ranging from flora, fauna, dust and droppings and water-borne impurity. The bearings used under […]

AutoMATE 7-Axis robotic machining cell – On show at SouthMACH 2015

The largest Nachi robot ever sold in New Zealand was on show at SouthMACH in July – in the form of a 7-axis robotic machining centre from NZ based robotic machinery builder AutoMATE™. Design Energy Limited, owners of the AutoMATE™ brand and NZ distributor for Nachi Robotics, have developed a robot machining centre based on the newly released Nachi SRA210 six axis robot. This particular system, for customer Cutting Innovations in Auckland, is equipped with a 7.5kW – 24,000rpm HSK tool-change spindle, rotary table and PowerMILL CAM software. The result is a system offering a machining envelope of 2.5m x 2.5m x 2.5m with +/-0.25mm accuracy. Mike Shatford, Director of Design Energy explains: “AutoMATE™ machining centres are highly adaptable, with robot and fixturing options available to suit a wide variety of machining requirements. The high level engineering used to develop each system structural loading of each machine is carefully analysed using FEA analysis. Providing high levels of rigidity and stiffness are key to successfully carrying out machining operations using a multi-axis robot.” The team at Design Energy are already considering producing further machining cells of various configurations and would be keen to hear from interested parties. Contact:info@designenergy.co.nz

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