CONTENTS
Volume 178 Number 4300 November 2020
10 Lead feature Rise of the robots & more
Andrew Allcock catches up with automation and Industry 4.0.
The number of such news stories, case studies and product
releases that are arriving in Machinery’s in-box is at an all-time
high. In this article he captures the overall automation
landscape and looks at a variety of those recent in-box arrivals
14 Automation & Industry 4.0 Ask these 10 questions
Robotic bin picking has been touted by many as an answer to
automating a variety of process applications, but in many industrial
sectors take up of this type of technology remains at a relatively low
level. Nicolas Lauzier, Ph.D., senior product manager, Robotiq, offers
this overview
16 Quality & metrology Innovation under inspection
The only UK-owned company that designs and makes coordinate
measuring machines (CMMs), Aberlink, has pushed the boundaries of
technology once again, introducing two new CMM designs. One looks
traditional, the other not, but neither are so. Andrew Allcock visited to
learn more
20 Machining centres Pandemic installations
Two companies have installed new kit, either during or just prior to the
lockdown earlier this year. ELE Advanced Technologies has installed a
Kitamura Mycenter and Moorland Toolmaking chose Hurco. Plus,
industry & product news in brief
23 Medical sector Integrated approach
GF Machining Solutions offers a complete AM solution for medical
device manufacturers. The company says that it sees it as an integrated
technology solution, as it explains here
27 EDM/ECM Numatic toolroom gets a boost
The toolroom at one of the world’s leading manufacturers of domestic,
commercial and industrial cleaning equipment has received a boost in
capability with the arrival of a Sodick AD55L CNC spark-erosion machine
from Sodi-Tech EDM
Regular sections
7 Comment
News round-up
8 Droop & Rein is largest
machine in Australia
8 First DMG Mori Lasertec 30
SLM installed in UK
8 Future combat plane
Tempest’s economic bene ts
8 Call for support to help
rms trade outside of the EU
8 SMEs hit by fall in demand,
but subcontracting on the up
8 GKN Wheels’ new Telford
plant now operational
9 Brandauer’s £1m electric
investment
9 Waterjet-guided laser
technology at the MTC
9 CBE+ makes cost-effective
saving with AMRC help
9 Jetcam free online tool
reveals nesting savings
9 Mazak brings in a further
17 apprentices
9 New northern sales
structure for Yamazaki Mazak
New products
9 80 mm bar capacity Miyano
9 Siemens app extension
9 Automated Nagel hone M/C
9 MecWash newcomer
9 Collision-free Chirons
9 ITC end-mills for aluminium
9 Stainless steel turning
9 Strong, compact robot
9 3D surface inspection
9 Siemens CNC tech
40 Classifi ed section
42 This month
25 years ago...
10
14
23
27
Cover image: phonlamaiphoto/stock.adobe.com
CADCAM & Production IT
Supplement, p29
Case studies, p30 – Alphacam CADCAM suits
specialist engraving and rotary die contractor
FineTech; Radan supports component manufacture
at HV Wooding; NCSIMUL simulates hydraulic valve
block machining for Evafl o; CNC turning at Doosan
Precision Engineering relies on hyperMILL
Industry & product news, p37 – Cadline; CGTech;
DP Technology; Hypertherm; Jetcam; Kasto; TTL;
Lantek; SigmaTEK
Mould tool making meltdown; CD-ROM machine tool spec database; ABB’s two
decades in robots; DSG’s manual/CNC combo; deburring specialist’s success;
aqueous degreasing; cam technology come-back; Renishaw founder’s award
november 1995
25years ago
‘Mould tool making set for meltdown’ screamed our rst
42
comment this month. The culprit is ‘3D-printing’, which
up till this point had been mostly associated with
prototype designs, hence its ‘rapid prototyping’ nomenclature and
not 3D-printing as now. 3D Systems’ stereolithography process was
the main game in town. But, off the back of that company’s
statements, we say that ‘rapid tooling’ is now a potential threat to
the traditional approach. 3D Systems introduced its QuickCast
process in 1992 for investment casting of tool details, the process
that is leading the charge towards rapid tooling, along with other
indirect methods of creating tool details. It’s just the beginning,
we say, noting also the direct production of metal tool details as
possible. There has been no 3D-printing-driven mould tool meltdown,
however, rather where the tools are made has seen major
readjustment. The future never arrives quite as imagined.
Our second comment this month heralds the launch of
Machinery’s CD-ROM Machine Tool Selector, a global database of
machine tool speci cations. The faster creation of a shortlist, based
on technical criteria, was the aim, not a complete eradication of faceto
face visits and comparison of ‘soft’ issues, however. This was a
step up from our previous Machinery Buyers’ Guide print annual but
would in just a few years be superseded by our website.
In news this month, we celebrate two decades of
robot welding for ABB and the installation of its
500th such unit in the UK, at Triumph
Lathes, Keighley, which is now offering a combination manual/CNC
lathe option for its rebuilds – a trend of the day, in fact. DMG (UK),
today DMG Mori, has started to unveil its new-look prismatic
machinery, following the rescue and reorganisation of the Deckel and
Maho brand machinery activities. The DMU 50V universal machining
centre is one of the rst all-new designs.
Celebrating a more mundane and unforgotten area of
metalcutting, that of deburring, we report on Cheltenham-based
Deburring Services’ success in doubling its turnover in just three
years. The company offers a wide range of deburring processes on
one site and can turn parts round within 24 hours. Another
previously mundane area that is becoming increasingly important is
degreasing, due to the outlawing of solvents and the increase in
aqueous degreasing technology and chemicals. New company Bio-
Clean Equipment Sales is talking big about its technology, which is
targeted at the aerospace industry. And a resurgence of old-style
mechanical technology is being seen at Cam Pro les, a maker of
cams for mechanical machinery for 45 years. Having seen its market
reduced by electronically controlled, servo-motor/ballscrew-driven
alternatives, there is a swing back, due to cams’ increased durability
and higher ef ciency, the company says. Cam Pro les was dissolved
in 2011, however. A short-lived reprieve, then.
In what has become something of a habit for Renishaw, the
company’s founder, David McMurtry (today Sir David), was recognised
at the inaugural 1995 Metrology for World Class Metrology Awards.
In feature articles this month, we have: surface nishing of shiny
engines at Triumph Motorcycles; Mitsubishi’s third-generation EDM
fuzzy logic technology; combination punch/laser machinery; Landis
Lund/Cran eld Precision Engineering grinding machine/control
developments; machine tool rebuilding; a subcontracting
supplement; rapid prototyping; Sharnoa laser digitising plus metal
and graphite machining centre; Dutch company Unisign’s Open
House; drilling/tapping – dedicated machine or machining centre?
Key Events
Motorcycles, Hinckley. ABB claims 30% of all
UK welding robot installations at this time.
It introduced the world’s rst commercially
available electrically driven industrial robot
in 1974, it’s IRB6. Production of that model
ceased in 1993, by which time 7,000+ had
been installed, 5,000+ for welding duties.
Also making technology news is DSG
Machinery’s Machine
Tool Selector CD-ROM
database heralds a
new way to shortlist
machine tools
fotogestoeber /stock.adobe.com
James Bond 17th
lm, GoldenEye
with Pierce
Brosnan
as lead, opens
▼
nov 95
▼ ▼
Bombay restored to Mumbai
▼
SNEHIT PHOTO /stock.adobe.com
majivecka /stock.adobe.com First-ever fulllength
computeranimated
feature
lm, Toy Story –
Pixar & Walt Disney
Pictures
seanlockephotography /stock.adobe.com
Web
language
HTML 2.0
standard
rst
published
The coatings for
the highest performance
For more informations:
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www.machinery.co.uk November 2020
OVER A CENTURY OF MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY INSIGHT
Sponsored by:
CADCAM &
Open MInd’s hyperMILL in action at Doosan Precision Engineering
PRODUCTION IT
SUPPLEMENT
Case studies p30 – Alphacam CADCAM suits specialist engraving and rotary die contractor FineTech;
Radan supports component manufacture at HV Wooding; NCSIMUL simulates hydraulic valve block machining for
Eva o; CNC turning at Doosan Precision Engineering relies on hyperMILL
Industry & product news p37 – Cadline; CGTech; DP Technology; Hypertherm; Jetcam; Kasto;
TTL; Lantek; SigmaTEK
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