Smart Manufacturing

Bearings 2.0: What the future holds

SKF’s global technical press days to outline how bearing technology is speeding up industrial digitalisation and creating new business models. Entitled ‘Bearings 2.0: What the future holds’, SKF’s virtual technical press days will take place on 7-8 October, 2020. Expert speakers will address industry trends and illustrate how SKF’s innovations in bearing and rotating machinery will change the way end-users and manufacturers operate. Both days will include keynote addresses on topics such as the future role of bearings in industrial applications, how digitalisation is driving development around the rotating shaft and how these developments combine to enable the growth of outcome-based business models. Within the expert sessions that follow, the role of modelling, artificial intelligence and machine learning in enabling the improvement of bearing design, performance, lifespan and predictability will be explored. In particular, there will be a focus on: prognostics and the benefits of accurately predicting bearing performance; life models, such as SKF’s GBLM (Generalized Bearing Life Model) which can now be applied to selection of hybrid bearings; the circular economy and the demand for bearing remanufacturing and recycling of bearing-related materials. The latest developments within deep groove ball bearings and their applications within electric vehicles will also be presented.

Hitachi to supply 300 lifts in Singapore

Hitachi Elevator Asia Pte. Ltd. has successfully clinched another large contract for the supply and installation of lifts from the Housing & Development Board (HDB) of the Republic of Singapore (Singapore). Hitachi Elevator Asia has been awarded the 30th term contract to supply and install another 300 lifts at HDB blocks in Singapore. This is the largest single contract for Hitachi group for the second time; the first was the 28th term contract. Hitachi Elevator Asia aims to maintain their position among the top 3 in the new installation market of Singapore with the contribution of this contract in FY2020. Hitachi Elevator Asia was awarded the 28th term contract in 2019, which was the largest single order for the Hitachi group’s lifts and escalators business in Singapore at the time. Apart from HDB blocks, Hitachi Elevator Asia has also provided lifts, escalators and moving sidewalks for major facilities and buildings like the National University of Singapore, Changi International Airport and Guoco Tower, the tallest building in Singapore. In 2019, an advanced lift remote monitoring and maintenance service was introduced in Singapore, where real-time operational data about the lifts and implementation of preventive maintenance are provided. Moving forward, Hitachi will continue to broadly use cutting-edge digital technology, including the Internet of Things (IoT) and globally provide safe, secure and comfortable elevators and escalators as well as services that help resolve customers’ issues in urban spaces to contribute to the realisation of a sustainable society.

Faro acquires ATS

Faro has acquired Advanced Technical Solutions in Scandinavia AB (“ATS”), a Swedish-based leader in 3D digital twin solution technology. This strategic action will enable customers and their clients with differentiated accuracy and speed, which we believe will accelerate market adoption of digital twin technology. High accuracy 3D digital twin simulations allow capital intensive industries to dramatically reduce their time to market and cost. Founded in 1990, ATS has had particular success in the automotive space where the firm has agreements in place with several well-known global automotive manufacturers. The acquisition will integrate ATS software and its proprietary Traceable 3D system, which enable highly accurate and repeatable 3D scans, into the Faro Webshare Cloud platform. The ATS system will bolster Faro’s ability to improve customers’ time to decision with 10x faster 3D imaging at up to 1mm accuracy and thus has significant implications for all the industries we serve. The ATS facility in Sweden will also serve as a new Faro sales and customer support center in the Nordic region. You can expect to hear more details soon about the integration of ATS from your sales partners.

Seequent keeps world at work on major projects

High-growth geoscience software company Seequent is accelerating the development of its cloud-based solution Seequent Central, enabling organisations to continue work on critical, large-scale, earth, environment and renewable energy projects in the COVID-19 impacted environment. Central works alongside Seequent’s other geoscience analysis, modelling and collaborative technologies, to contribute understanding to subsurface geoscience and engineering design solutions. The cloud-based solution allows people in any location to visualise, track and manage geological models created for infrastructure and critical services projects, in a centralised, auditable environment. A wide range of stakeholders can readily access highly visual up-to-date information to manage risk and make better environmental and investment decisions, to progress projects. Seequent CEO, Shaun Maloney, says: “We’re working alongside customers to do everything we can to make it possible to meet the demands and operational challenges they may be facing in the current environment. Seequent’s software is being used on hundreds of diverse projects across the globe, ranging from infrastructure projects including large-scale rail, road and tunnel projects across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific; renewable energy projects in the US, Finland, Iceland, Indonesia, Philippines and New Zealand; mining and exploration projects in North and South America, Africa and Australia; and environmental projects such as groundwater management in North America, Europe, Africa and Asia-Pacific. Projects include:The Water Replenishment District – Groundwater management in Los Angeles The Water Replenishment District (WRD), the largest groundwater agency in the State of California, has the important job of managing and protecting local groundwater resources for over four million residents. WRD’s service area covers a 420 square mile region of southern Los Angeles County, the most populated county in the United States. The 43 cities in the service area, including a portion of the City of Los Angeles, use about 250,000 acre‐feet (82 billion gallons) of groundwater annually which accounts for approximately half of the […]

Using AI to predict new materials with desired properties

An artificial intelligence approach extracts how an aluminium alloy’s contents and manufacturing process are related to specific mechanical properties. Scientists in Japan have developed a machine learning approach that can predict the elements and manufacturing processes needed to obtain an aluminium alloy with specific, desired mechanical properties. The approach, published in the journal Science and Technology of Advanced Materials, could facilitate the discovery of new materials.Aluminium alloys are lightweight, energy-saving materials made predominantly from aluminium, but also contain other elements, such as magnesium, manganese, silicon, zinc and copper. The combination of elements and manufacturing process determines how resilient the alloys are to various stresses. For example, 5000 series aluminium alloys contain magnesium and several other elements and are used as a welding material in buildings, cars, and pressurized vessels. 7000 series aluminium alloys contain zinc, and usually magnesium and copper, and are most commonly used in bicycle frames. Experimenting with various combinations of elements and manufacturing processes to fabricate aluminium alloys is time-consuming and expensive. To overcome this, Ryo Tamura and colleagues at Japan’s National Institute for Materials Science and Toyota Motor Corporation developed a materials informatics technique that feeds known data from aluminium alloy databases into a machine learning model. This trains the model to understand relationships between alloys’ mechanical properties and the different elements they are made of, as well as the type of heat treatment applied during manufacturing. Once the model is provided enough data, it can then predict what is required to manufacture a new alloy with specific mechanical properties. All this without the need for input or supervision from a human. The model found, for example, 5000 series aluminium alloys that are highly resistant to stress and deformation can be made by increasing the manganese and magnesium content and reducing the aluminium content. “This sort […]

SESTO Magnus autonomous mobile robot for materials handling

SESTO Robotics has launched SESTO Magnus – a bi-directional, compact autonomous mobile robot able to carry loads up to 300kg. Having the highest payload rating in the compact class, SESTO Magnus is designed to automate material handling processes in manufacturing, commercial and healthcare industries. Specially built for tight navigation in space-scarce facilities, SESTO Magnus is able to autonomously travel through spaces as narrow as 0.9 metres wide while avoiding obstacles in its path. Its bi-directional same-speed capability means the autonomous mobile robot can reverse out of dead ends without doing a spot turn. With the world easing into the Covid-19 new normal, there is an accelerated urgency for manufacturers and non-manufacturing industries to quickly automate their processes while ensuring safe management measures such as staggered workforce or spilt team arrangements. SESTO Magnus’ small and low profile is designed with manufacturing, healthcare and commercial facilities in mind. Its intelligent software controls enable it to operate safely in narrow passageways and amongst people. Using a single mobile platform, SESTO Magnus is highly versatile and can be configured with limitless applications of autonomous material transportation. From components and parts in manufacturing, to laundry and meal services in hospitality and care facilities, to central sterile services and dispensaries in hospitals, the autonomous mobile robot can be fitted with various top module configurations, customisable to requirements. Current manual handling and transportation processes are often time-consuming and error-prone. In addition, repeated manual handling of heavy loads may lead to labour injuries and accidents. With SESTO Magnus, it reduces the dependency on manual labour which has become a priority for many companies in recent months, as COVID-19 caused major disruptions to the availability of on-premise employees. Powered by SESTO’s proprietary user-friendly interface, operators can easily deploy the robot for material transportation using a tablet or laptop. The […]

Life-Changing medical device with Stratasys additive manufacturing

Bluefrog Design, originally named 3CD, was founded in 1990 by Chris Samwell. With 30 years of combined experience as industrial design consultants, the small but expert team at Bluefrog is nothing if not versatile. Bluefrog serves a wide range of industries including consumer goods, packaging, transportation and medical. Although their clients’ specialities are very diverse, they all look to Bluefrog for innovation. Bluefrog needed the freedom to escape traditional design constraints at every stage of product development. One that could produce fully functional, advanced prototypes with industry-recognized, engineering-grade materials. In a quest to find a solution, the team turned to additive manufacturing. Overcoming complexities Bluefrog’s versatility is best exemplified by their ability to find solutions to seemingly insurmountable challenges. The team was recently approached by a young man suffering from paraesthesia, a condition that causes inexplicable burning, tingling or prickling sensation across the skin. For this patient, the only way to ease his pain was to ensure that his clothes touched his skin as little as possible. Despite interventions from doctors, no solution had been found. But it was clear to Samwell the patient could benefit greatly from a custom device he could wear with minimal skin contact that would also minimize his skin contact with his clothing. The device had to be customized to his body, resting only on the areas that were not affected by his condition. Bluefrog Design’s team knew this complex case required a realistic prototype and final product in as little time as possible. They began by creating a complex 3D scan of the patient’s body, which was converted into a 3D printed prototype on their FDM 3D printer. Once tested and modified, the final version was produced in the tough, medical-grade ABSPlus material, chosen thanks to its advanced material stability over time. Notably, due to the round-the-clock capability of the Fortus 3D printer, this process took just three days, a dramatic turnaround for a patient who […]

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 ROIEyes’ 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, and […]

Top sensor technologies impacting the future of smart cities

Frost & Sullivan’s recent analysis, Opportunities of Emerging Sensor Technologies Impacting the Future of Smart Cities, reports that digitisation and advancements in Internet of Things (IoT) are driving the large-scale adoption of sensor technologies across cities. Combined with key enabling technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and high-speed internet networks, integrated sensor networks in cities are driving the creation of a connected city ecosystem to enable the optimal use of public resources. The scope of the research includes acoustic, lidar, radar, 3D camera sensors, environmental sensors, flow sensors, gas sensors, and humidity and temperature sensors and also addresses adoption scenarios in key smart cities across the globe. “The need for a smart city is primarily driven by a requirement for a safe, secure, and sustainable environment that allows for effective population management while providing services to citizens in a satisfactory manner,” said Krithika Shekar, TechVision Senior Research Analyst at Frost & Sullivan. “An integrated sensor system aids in establishing a seamlessly interconnected network with an anchor application and a centraliz sed platform. Such a sensor network established for one purpose, such as street lighting, can enable several other connected applications, such as environment monitoring, public safety, and waste management. A centralised network will help reduce duplicated capital costs and eliminates the need for several individual complex networks.” Major investments by top smart city governments in Singapore, New York, and Tokyo show rapid pace of adoption of smart solutions. The rise of smart cities has not only created growth opportunities for sensor makers, but has also accelerated the adoption of several supporting technologies such as 5G, robots, AI, and edge computing, creating endless growth opportunities for smart city applications. For further growth opportunities, smart cities should leverage the following sensor technologies: Electronic sensors are deployed in environmental surveillance sensors and speedometer […]

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NORMA Group distinguishes Hangzhou Haiming as Best Supplier in Asia

NORMA Group, a global market leader in engineered joining technology, presented its “Supplier Recognition Award” for the Asia-Pacific region to Hangzhou Haiming Iron & Steel Co, Ltd. (Hangzhou Haiming) on August 12, 2020. In doing so, NORMA Group has honored the company for its outstanding performance in 2019 in the areas of quality, delivery and costs. “When choosing our suppliers, we rely on companies with high standards for products, services and processes,” said Dr. Michael Schneider, CEO of NORMA Group. “In Hangzhou Haiming, we have a long-standing business partner by our side in the Asia-Pacific region who meets our high standards and strives for excellence together with us.” Hangzhou Haiming has been a NORMA Group business partner for seven years. The company supplies the NORMA Group plant in Changzhou in China with various types of stainless steel slit strips. NORMA Group then uses these strips to manufacture profile clamps, exhaust gas couplings and hose clamps, for example. NORMA Group has been honoring outstanding suppliers in Europe and the Americas with the “Supplier Recognition Award” for several years now. The award is being presented in the Asia-Pacific region for the first time this year. In fiscal year 2019, Hangzhou Haiming stood out with its consistently high quality and excellent delivery times and services. Outstanding materials expertise and a lean cost structure rounded off its overall performance.

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