Product News

  In today’s fast-moving business environment, the ability to change automated assembly and production systems quickly and efficiently, at lowest cost and risk across multiple global locations, is vital. Now, innovative computer experts have created a software tool with the potential to save a wide variety of manufacturers many millions every year. Academics at Loughborough University, England have developed a virtual-reality engineering environment that offers manufacturers a faster and more focused tool for the creation of their automation systems – from electronic goods assembly to the food and packaging industries. The Business Driven Automation (BDA) system has been made in the automotive sector in partnership with the Ford Motor Company, ThyssenKrupp System Engineering and Schneider Electric. BDA provides a virtual reality (VR) engineering environment for manufacturing companies to enable them to validate and change automated assembly and production systems quickly and efficiently, at minimal cost/risk across multiple global locations. The approach is highly generic and applicable to almost all industrial automation sectors. Today’s automation systems are difficult and complex to service, reconfigure and integrate. Moving away from these traditional, slower practices, the new software engineering tool enables rapid configuration and modification of factory automation systems. At Loughborough’s Innovative Manufacturing & Construction Research Centre (IMCRC), the project’s principal investigator Professor Rob Harrison said: “We have developed innovative software to give a quick, accurate, virtual 3D prototype view of assembly machine behaviour before they are physically built. We aim to make these tools much easier and faster, and we want to see them used throughout the machine lifecycle, not just at initial design and build.” Virtual design tools help Ford engineers to improve the design aesthetics, engineering and ergonomics of its cars and trucks. Speaking for Ford’s manufacturing engineering department, Les Lee, said: “Collaboration offers opportunities for reduced costs, faster time-to-market, improved […]

SINGAPORE: Hypertherm, a U.S. based manufacturer of advanced metal cutting systems, is now selling consumables for Kaliburn Spirit plasma cutting systems that last at least twice as long as the OEM consumables. Testing shows the life expectancy of the consumables increases by two to three times when cutting at 275 amps and below, and increases more than 50 percent when cutting at 400 amps. In addition to lasting longer, the consumables deliver better and more consistent cut quality, resulting in the need for less secondary work. The life and performance improvements are the result of advanced Hypertherm technology. SilverLine electrodes contain a solid silver front so they wear more slowly; CoolFlow nozzles have an angled o-ring, deep cooling contours and thicker walls to extend the working life; and the swirl ring is made with lava instead of ceramic, making it more robust and economical. “These new Centricut consumables for Kaliburn reduce the overall cost of operation and deliver exceptional cut quality and process reliability,” said Martin Geheran, product marketing manager for Hypertherm’s Centricut brand. “At the same time, they maintain the fast cutting speeds that are especially important in today’s economic environment.” The Centricut brand consumables are available for all Kaliburn Spirit and ProLine systems. Like all Hypertherm products, they are precision manufactured to tight tolerances so customers get consistent, reliable performance from their cutting system. Hypertherm’s Centricut brand engineers and manufactures advanced plasma and laser cutting consumables. Its product line includes consumables that deliver increased value to people who own most any non-Hypertherm cutting system including systems by ESAB, Kjellberg, and Trumpf. All Centricut brand products are engineered and manufactured to exacting standards and incorporate the latest technological advances that help to reduce operating costs, while delivering increased cut speed and quality. Centricut products include free technical support and […]

Picture:  With FeatureCAM, Mr. Waugh can now program anything that can be machined on his Haas Minimills. After adding Delcam’s FeatureCAM feature-based CAM system, Bruce Waugh has been able to move into 3D machining in the one-person machine shop, Waugh Machine, he runs in his garage in Camp Verde, Arizona. Until two years ago, he turned down jobs involving 3D parts because he was unable to program them. Now he can produce any part that fits within the capabilities of his two Haas Minimills. In addition, the feature-recognition capabilities within the software have reduced the time required to program typical 2.5D parts from one hour to ten minutes. There is a common misconception that only large companies can benefit from introducing CAM software. Examples like Waugh Machine prove that even the smallest operations can also boost their capabilities and productivity with these systems. “FeatureCAM has changed the nature of my business,” claimed Mr. Waugh, who has been a machinist for 35 years. “Because I can now do more complicated parts, I have been able to raise my rates while running my machines at full capacity. My customers are more than happy to pay my new rates because I am able to deliver a higher level of quality on more difficult jobs.” Mr. Waugh’s two main customers are a large medical-device manufacturer and an aerospace subcontractor. “The aerospace manufacturer usually gives me drawings,” he said. “Sometimes these are up to 60 years old.” “The medical-device company used to give me drawings as the starting point for contract machining jobs,” he added. “One day, the customer told me that it was going to do away with drawings and begin providing CAD files. I saw this as the writing on the wall for 2.5D programming and made the decision to upgrade to FeatureCAM […]

With the continuing evolution of machining requirements to satisfy new power generation production needs, Mitsui Seiki has introduced the HU63-T 5-xis CNC Machining Center. Typical applications include critical rotating components (Blisks, Impellers, & Turbine Disks) for gas turbine power generation systems. New features and specifications for the HU63-T include up 800 mm (31.5”) work diameter capacity on its vertically oriented table, 300 kg (660 lbs) work / fixture weight capacity, variety of increased axis stroke options, high torque spindles (1081 Nm – 800 lb-ft continuous), tuned structure for heavy cutting in hard metals, and latest Fanuc 30iM control with enhanced features for 5-axis simultaneous machining. The X, Y, Z working envelope is 900 mm x 800 mm x 800 mm (35.4″ x 31.5″ x 31.5″). The rapid federate in X, Y, Z axes is 32,000 mm/min (1260 ipm). Accuracy is the hallmark of any Mitsui Seiki machine. With the HU63-T, positioning accuracy in X, Y, Z axes is 0.001 mm (0.00004″), positioning repeatability is 0.001 mm (0.00004″). On the B axis, positioning accuracy is ±4 arc seconds; repeatability is ±1.5 arc seconds. The driver for the energy industry boom is fuel efficiency, achieved by lighter weights, excellent heat tolerance, and smaller packages. For a machine tool builder such as Mitsui Seiki, this is a fortunate evolution as more sophisticated machine tools are required to machine these new materials and complex precision parts cost-effectively. Mitsui Seiki has a long history developing dedicated machine tools for the energy industry. The company has been particularly active in the ground-based gas turbine market developing new projects for high speed machining of air foils, heavy-duty machining of engine cases, and high precision machining of gearboxes. The advancement of its HU-T product line has become important to this energy market segment. Likewise, with other products, the […]

  Processing of steel is a tough assignment for lifting equipment. Not only does the hoisting technology have to cope with high volumes of heavy and unevenly shaped product in often challenging environments, but also it has to function at high levels of reliability and safety 24/7. See Hup Seng – a leading provider of corrosion prevention services in Singapore – has employed the technology and maintenances services of the global Konecranes group to sharpen its competitive edge over more than a decade. It has moved recently to further extend its materials handling advantage by investing in advanced technology backed by local expertise. The investment is a strategic initiative by the Singapore-based company, which is a major service provider to the marine, oil and gas, construction and infrastructure industries– industry groups where quality of services and finished product is essential to safety and reliability. The group processes of more than 20,000 tons of steel plate and profile in a month  at its two Singapore facilities, where, since 1971, it has built up a strong niche in specialised tank coating services, large scale industrial plant operations,  and as a resident contractor for premier shipyards in one of the world’s busiest ports. To ensure production quality, safety and reliability, the company has chosen to rely upon a materials handling system based on overhead cranes, rather than floor-based alternatives, says See Hup Seng General Manager Mr Edward Ho Tong Wong. “We process 300-400 heavy plates a day, which is high by any standard. Our founder was very far sighted in depending from the outset on an overhead crane system, which saves a lot of space and increases throughput and efficiency.  “With the crane system there is less effort and less damage to processes,” said Mr Edward Ho, whose plant’s lifting technology has to […]

By Richard Maino Despite the best efforts of an international naval police force patrolling the Gulf of Aden and nearby seas, gangs of ruthless criminals can still capture highly valuable cargo ships and hold them to ransom. Most vessels hijacked by the modern pirates in the busy shipping lanes off the coast of Somalia have to be “reclaimed” by their owners for an average of two million US dollars each. In an attempt to prevent that, an imaginative private security company in the UK has developed a new product that it believes can halt or hamper today’s pirates who use small fast boats to board the large vulnerable and slow-moving vessels. The novel defence system consists of a simple but strong net that can be draped over the stern or sides of a possible target vessel – creating a safety zone – and floated clearly on the surface for some distance to prevent the pirates getting their speed-boats close to the big ships they seek to capture. In the years of anarchy that Somalia has suffered since its government was overthrown in 1991, thousands of pirates now operate off its coast. Somalia’s 3,000-kilometre coastline – the longest in Africa – has become one of the world’s most dangerous waterways. No ship is safe. Pirates have hijacked aid shipments, kidnapped crews, and have even fired rocket-propelled grenades at cruise ships. The idea for the naval safety net came to Nick Davies, founder of the Anti-Piracy Maritime Security Solutions company – based in Poole, south-west England – after he noted the way in which powerboat propellers can be badly fouled by fishing nets. He said: “In essence it [the anti-pirate system] is a fishing net that is deployed, then it floats on the water all around the ship and snags the propellers […]

Korean manufacturing giant LG Electronics has recently introduced its first mobile phone designed with Delcam’s Tribrid Modelling software.  The Waffle phone features a surface texture created in the ArtCAM artistic CADCAM program, wrapped around the body of a phone design produced with the PowerSHAPE CAD software.  It is expected to be the first of a number of new models that will use the Delcam software to create the distinctive designs needed to build market share in the highly competitive and fashion-conscious mobile phone market. Tribrid Modelling is Delcam’s unique, patented approach to design that adds triangle modelling to the solid and surface modelling options that are available in hybrid modelling systems.  It gives the ability to add triangle files of logos, branding, textures or other 3D decorations onto the surfaces of CAD models.  This effect is rather like sliding a transfer over the surface of an object, with the added advantages that the decoration can be scaled or stretched to fit any given area, and that the result is fully three-dimensional. Tribrid Modelling also allows Boolean operations to be carried out between triangle models and either surfaces or solids.  For many years, PowerSHAPE was one of very few CAD systems able to perform Boolean operations between solids and surfaces.  The ability to perform similar addition, subtraction and merge operations with triangles as well makes the software even more flexible. LG Electronics has become a global leader through more that 50 years of technical innovation in consumer electronics, mobile communications and home appliances.  The company, which is based in the Korean capital Seoul, employs more than 80,000 people, working in over 115 operations around the world.  Last year, its global sales topped US$ 43 billion. Staff from Delcam’s Korean joint venture, Hankook Delcam, had their first contact with LG in August […]