Saturday 11 October 08 - 21:37
 

Cutting & Profiling

  • Laser Replaced After Only 20 Months to Keep Up With Latest Technology

    01 Apr 2004

    Keeping up with the latest technology is of paramount importance to Molyneux Engineering Ltd, Darley Dale. 

  • Integrated Inspection Investment Pays Off

    01 Apr 2004

    The installation of a LaserQC at fine limit sheetmetal work and laser cutting specialist Carlton Laser Services (CLS) in Leicester has significantly reduced lead times. In minutes, the system performs 2-D inspections and produces printed sample inspection reports that would normally take hours. CLS is one of only a few laser job shops in the UK to integrate a LaserQC machine as part of its continuous improvement programme. 

  • Automotive Supplier Goes With the Flow To Win New Contracts

    01 Apr 2004

    Tenacity and investment in water jet cutting technology has helped Telford-based automotive supplier Acoustafoam Construction Products (ACP) recover from losing 18% of its turnover when AGCO's Coventry plant closed last year. 

  • High Speed Laser Firm Has Moved to New Site

    01 Apr 2004

    Cumbria based Lakeland Laser has recently completed the relocation of its entire business from its Appleby site into newer, bigger and better premises at a two acre site in Kirkby Stephen. Telephone and fax numbers have also changed. 

  • Press Shop Diversifies into Sheet Metal Work

    01 Apr 2004

    The Wolverhampton based Smithson Plant, part of the Tinsley Group, has been changing its business direction over the past two years from a traditional light press shop with an automotive focus, moving into new markets servicing all types of non-automotive batch production sheet metal work. Its success has resulted in significant capital investment, and it recently installed its third Trumpf laser to keep pace with growing demand. 

  • Water-Jet Takes the Jig Out of Jigsaw Making

    01 Apr 2004

    Pauline and Colin Gee, of Gee Graphite, have launched a spin-off company, PG Puzzles, which is introducing a new range of wooden jigsaw puzzles, cut by water jet. 

  • New 'Fast Track' Service Launched Nationwide

    01 Apr 2004

    Sheffield based Mayflower Technology has launched 'Fast Track' - a new express service for those with an immediate need for laser cut or profiled components. The company offers a nationwide delivery service, which includes same day, next day or 48 hour delivery options. 

Industry News

  • Northern Firms Scoop Defence Contracts

    01 Apr 2004

    United Defence has drawn up a final list of 35 contractors in the North who will build the Type 45 weapon for the British and European markets. The American defence giant's new billion-pound Mk45 naval weapon is already in production in the United States, where between four and five of the 20-tonne guns are built every year. 

  • UK Online for Business Changed and Moved On

    01 Apr 2004

    As from April 1st UK online for business, the government organisation set up to give businesses ITC and e-commerce advice, has been incorporated into Achieving best practice in your business, akey theme within the DTI's re-shaped business support package, providing ideas and guidance on improving performance and productivity throughout business. 

  • Survey Confirms Increase in Employment Litigation

    01 Apr 2004

    One of the UK's leading surveys of employment tribunal cases has shown that the number has increased by 50% since 1998, backing employers' claims of the effect of the rising tide of employment litigation. 

  • Manufacturers Need to Work with Suppliers and Clients for WEEE/RoHS Compliance

    01 Apr 2004

    Industry faces a huge challenge in preparing to comply with the WEEE and RoHS legislation. The alarming truth is that many businesses don't fully understand the extent to which they may need to change their operation systems and processes. 

  • Event Demonstrates the Growing Benefits of Shrinking Sizes

    01 Apr 2004

    The Manufacturing Technologies Association's (MTA's) series of Sharing Tomorrow's Technology Today international conferences continues on 30 June. Presentations will be on micro and nano technology, which are increasingly being used in the manufacture of a huge variety of consumer products and industrial components. Unless awareness of these technologies increases in the UK, significant business opportunities will be lost to overseas competitors. 

  • Companies Advised to Check for Unauthorised Use of Copyright

    01 Apr 2004

    "What's the worth of an article?" asks Mark Eaton, director of the MAS (South East & London), for EEF South. Following the introduction of the Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 (CRRR) last October, individuals and organisations who copy, condense, adapt, photocopy, reproduce, or even file electronically, any publication without the written consent of the publishers, could incur fines up to £20,000. 

Medical Engineering

  • Vital Medical Components Provided for Surgery

    01 Apr 2004

    Claro Precision Engineering, North Yorkshire winner of the 2003 GTMA World Class Award for manufacturing, recently provided a thumb trunion - a small but vital component used in the new MK4 electric hand produced by specialist Leeds manufacturer RSL Steeper. 

  • First Experience of European Market is an Outstanding Success

    01 Apr 2004

    Last month, Amdale, Portsmouth, exhibited in Europe for the first time at Med Tec, the medical industry event in Stuttgart, with the help of funding from the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce. The event resulted in twenty new enquiries within Europe ranging from Spain, Switzerland, Germany and Italy, which far exceeded the firm's expectations. 

  • Success Comes at a Price with a Skill Gap Challenge

    01 Apr 2004

    Stainless Metalcraft, Cambridge is a multi million pound business that is increasing in real terms year on year. Business expansion however comes at a price as recruitment of workers with the right skill levels presents an on-going challenge. 

  • The Future is Bright for the Role of Lasers in Medical Device Innovation

    01 Apr 2004

    Andrew B May, managing director of Rofin-Baasel UK Ltd, a leading manufacturer of lasers and laser-based solutions for industrial materials processing has published a review of recent applications of precision lasers in medical device product development and manufacture. 

Turning & Milling

  • Prototype Tubes for Sound Curtain Required Fine Holes

    01 Apr 2004

    An unusual job completed in January by Holifields, Abingdon, involved drilling and tapping fine holes in silver-plated, mild steel tube. Two such components were machined for use in an innovative sound curtain being developed by a London company, Aylo, to halve the level of environmental noise entering a room, or even to convert it to a soothing sound that resembles the sea. 

  • New Sliding Head Follows £0.5m Spend Last Year

    01 Apr 2004

    LMS Precision Engineering, Worcestershire has recently taken charge of its latest machine tool, a Citizen type L32, which follows a spend of £0.5m on three new machine tools last year. 

  • Production Cell Set Up for Auto Knuckle

    01 Apr 2004

    When Coventry-based King Automotive Systems won a sevenyear contract to produce the front left- and right-hand knuckles for the latest Range Rover, it needed to invest in vertical turning, as the 11kg components were too heavy for the company's horizontalspindle lathes. So at the beginning of 2002, an Okuma & Howa 2SPV55 twin-spindle vertical turning lathe (VTL) supplied by NCMT was installed opposite a preexisting, horizontal machining centre to form a knuckle production cell. 

  • Product Development Leads to Large Contract

    01 Apr 2004

    Shearline Engineering, Cambridgeshire, has secured a long-term contract to produce a quarter of a million components for Baxall, a leading British manufacturer of high quality CCTV equipment and video network solutions. With previous help from Shearline, Baxall has made considerable inroads into the security camera production market, successfully competing against companies based in the Far East. 

  • High Volume Supplier Offers Small Batch Work

    01 Apr 2004

    One of the leading producers of high volume precision turned parts in the UK, Coleshill-based MSP Turned Parts has recently invested in two Star sliding head machines to take on smaller batch quantities of parts in steel, brass and aluminium. 

  • Improved Production Systems Recognised

    01 Apr 2004

    This month, Facts Precision Ltd, a Glenthroes based manufacturer of precision machine components for the automotive industry received official certification to ISO TS16949:2002, the global standard for a quality management system for automotive production. Facts Precision is the first Scottish company in its field to gain this accreditation, which it has worked towards for the past 12 months with funding and assistance from Scottish Enterprise Fife and Business Gateway. 

Stevens Rowsell is a specialist precision sheet metal engineering company in East Sussex