Wednesday 3 December 08 - 20:14
 

Fabrication

  • Robotic Welder Arrives at Upgraded CNC Factory

    01 May 2005

    The latest addition to the impressive array of machinery at the new CNC factory at Midland Tank and Ironplate (MTI), Birmingham, is a Daiden Fanuc 600 robotic, six-axis welder with a rotating change table. The company's new CNC factory is now complete and has doubled the floor space allowing room for the new robot and further planned acquisitions. 

  • Design-Led Solutions Are the Way to Win New Deals

    01 May 2005

    Coventry-based engineering firm DCM has secured a second contract from Whale Tankers, one of the largest manufacturers of waste tankers and jetting equipment in Europe. DCM already produces laser cut components for Whale Tankers. The addition of tailor-made fabrications further strengthens the established manufacturing relationship between the two businesses. 

  • New Laser Adds Capacity for Heavier Fabrications

    01 May 2005

    Toolmasters, based in Deal, Kent, offers a complete 'cut, bend and weld' service with up to 250 ton press brake capacity. A new Prima 4kW Platino laser cutting machine installed at the beginning of the year has increased cutting capacity up to 20mm in mild steel. 

  • Skills Training Adds Value In High Quality, Low Volume, Marketplace

    01 May 2005

    Recent investment in skills training at Birmingham sheet metal fabricator Rojac Engineering has resulted in 100% of shop floor staff passing NVQ level two in 'Shopfloor Practice' and 'Health and Safety', in addition to specialist training for specific operations. 

  • Contract Won for New River Bridge Assemblies

    01 May 2005

    JP Forrest & Son Ltd, a small mechanical engineering company based in North Nottinghamshire, has won a prestigious contract to manufacture assemblies for the new Dutch River Bridge at Goole, Humberside. The company has also recently expanded its workforce to include a small nightshift team of skilled horizontal borer operators and plater/welders, in order to provide a rapid response to customers in breakdown situations. 

  • Fast Fabrication Cells to Target Plastics Market

    01 May 2005

    In 2005 Carlton Laser Services plans to target the market for plastic parts by offering equivalent metal fabrications at a fraction of the cost. The fine limit sheetmetal work and laser cutting specialist is investing £1.2m in automated laser cutting and fabrication cells. The high technology, fast set up machines will include: robotic folding, automatic linishing, and laser/punch combinations. 

  • Move Gets Company Fit for The Future and Retains Skilled Workforce

    01 May 2005

    Last year Blagg and Johnson Ltd, moved from its original site in the town of Newark, to a new facility half a mile away. Many large, heavy presses and machines, plus all the ancillary equipment, computers and offices, were successfully relocated with minimal disruption to the production schedule. The move provides Blagg and Johnson with the flexibility and scope to compete in an evermore-competitive manufacturing environment. 

Industry News

  • Measurement of Time Increases in Accuracy

    01 May 2005

    On 3 June the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is marking the 50th anniversary of the atomic clock, which was invented at the NPL by Dr Louis Essen. In global, knowledge-driven markets, competitiveness depends upon solving measurement problems. 

  • Exemplary Companies are Less Likely to be Relocated Overseas

    01 May 2005

    Many manufacturing companies are bought for their intellectual property, or their access to additional markets, and not necessarily for their capital assets and skilled workforces. 

  • Lack of Accurate Measurement is Holding Back Development

    01 May 2005

    Aerospace engineers believe that a lack of accurate measurement when designing and manufacturing compressor blades, is preventing the development of more efficient jet engines. 

  • Project Takes Giant Leap To Make Tiny 3D Parts

    01 May 2005

    Last month, a group of key scientists and engineers, who specialise in manufacturing at very small scales, began a four year, multi-organisation, Grand Challenge to develop the technologies and strategic approaches required for the design and manufacture of tightlyintegrated three dimensional miniaturised products. 

  • New Centre to Advance Manufacturing Up North

    01 May 2005

    Four years of worldwide best practice research from some of the UK's brightest manufacturing experts underpins the development, of the Northern Technologies Advanced Manufacturing Centre, which opens in Burnley this summer on the former site of a huge Michelin tyre factory that closed in 2001. 

Precision Engineering

  • EDM Expert Increases Capacity for Larger Parts

    01 May 2005

    Suffolk based precision engineers, Waveney Precision Ltd have taken delivery of a new, four tonne, Agie-Charmilles 330F wire EDM machine tool, which joins the company's existing EDM wire and sink machines, making the company one of the few in the UK which can claim full EDM capability and expertise. 

  • Measurement of Shafts is Critical in Geometrically Matched Rotor Pairs

    01 May 2005

    A world leader in the manufacture of helical components, Rochdale-based Holroyd Machine Tools, is using a bespoke measuring bench and fixtures on a project to manufacture 15,000 matched pairs of rotors per annum for the turbocharger units used in marine outboard power motors. Manufacturing tolerances on the shafts of the helical components are in accordance with automotive capability requirements, therefore measurements are taken mid-process, in order to fine tune the geometry of each pair. 

  • Swiss Precision Turning

    01 May 2005

    Tornos machines have proven the ideal solution for Rowan Precision since its inception in 1984, when it was one of the few local manufacturers of Swiss type turned parts in Birmingham. Now, the £2.3m turnover company employs 16 people and operates 17 CNC machines on single shift basis with unmanned production for high precision markets. Eleven of the 17 machines are now Tornos, with five Deco 10, two Deco 13's and the most recent acquisition being a Deco 32. 

  • High Precision, Work Handling System Installed

    01 May 2005

    For APS Metal Pressings Ltd, sustaining the competitive edge needed to win major automotive supply contracts for precision presswork, not just against competitors in the UK, but from around the world, requires continual investment in accuracy, speed and flexibility. To this end, the company has installed a new 600 tonne transfer press with a PressTrans work handling system to maximise the full potential of its new machine. 

  • Confident Component Control is Closely Defined

    01 May 2005

    "Control with confidence has never been so closely defined by a high precision component manufacturer", claims Jason Meir of WML Engineering, Swansea. Recent investments at the company have resulted in the measurement of components to micron tolerances in one hit with the data fed straight into a network for further analysis within statistical data monitoring ObjectOriented Programming packages. 

  • Highly Concentric Deep Holes are Run-of-the-Mill

    01 May 2005

    Based on the specialised provision of deep hole drilled and honed components, Premier Deep Hole Drilling has continually reinforced its presence in the oil and gas sector, which accounts for 40% of turnover. 

  • Advances in Accuracy of Defect Imaging Achieved

    01 May 2005

    TWI has invested in the latest computed X-ray tomography (CT) equipment to allow rapid threedimensional imaging of defective components. The accuracy with which defects can be sized and positioned makes this equipment a major advance for such applications as turbine engine blade inspection, castings, PCB boards and many more. 

  • Laser Inspection Adds QC Assurance on 2D Complex Graphite Parts

    01 May 2005

    The largest waterjet cutting facility in the UK, Gee Graphite, West Yorkshire, has just installed a laser quality control inspection machine that will provide a 100% check on all critical dimensions of 2D components in less than one minute. 

Tooling & Machinery Services

  • Toolmaker's Inventory Management Service Wins New Contract

    01 May 2005

    Burcas Ltd has won a prestigious single source contract for the supply of tooling to a major UK defence site. This particular contract has been sought after for over three years and is the latest in a series of tool inventory control contracts won steadily by the tool manufacturer in recent years. 

  • Rapid Repairs Use Laser Beam Build Up Welding

    01 May 2005

    Repair applications using laser-beam deposition welding, along with many other rapid processes, were presented in Leipzig earlier this month at EurouRapid, which was the 6th International user's conference and exhibition on rapid prototyping, rapid tooling and rapid manufacturing. 

  • Airbus Adopts 'Error Proof ' Jig As Benchmark

    01 May 2005

    Six senior Airbus engineers recently visited Remploy Automotive's Birmingham plant , which has made huge advances in close to zero defect component manufacture. Remploy has invented a range of 'error proof' intelligent jigs that are revolutionising the way car parts are built. 

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