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Below is a preview of some of the exhibitors at the show this year. Find more Advanced Engineering articles here.
The company has invested heavily in the last few years to expand its milling and gear cutting capacity to accommodate the increased requirements from its customers and new business won in markets such as nuclear, medical, defence, rail and aerospace.
Visitors to the stand will be able to see the type of precision machining the company now undertakes at its large 35,000ft² manufacturing facility in Stockport, near Manchester where it has over 100 machines and 90 staff.
With its commercial experience and manufacturing knowledge Mini Gears assists its customers with turning concept designs into functional and manufacturable products and often is able to help reduce manufacturing costs. The stand will be manned by technical sales engineers who will be pleased to answer enquiries.
Mini Gears
www.minigears.co.uk
Stand N114
With a true 3D image, high resolution and excellent subject clarity Vision Engineering’s latest innovation, the DRV-Z1, meets the high precision quality control demands for both inspection and manufacturing. Live 3D image sharing between devices further demonstrates this global connectivity.
Greatest return on investment is found in the DRV-Z1’s carefully designed ergonomics. As an eyepiece-less device with a comfortable working position the user’s peripheral vision is maintained, eliminating nausea and enabling precise hand-to-eye coordination. These innovations reduce fatigue, downtime and improve product quality.
Optimax CEO, Pete Clements said: “We are delighted to be bringing the DRV-Z1 to such a prestigious showcase of engineering innovation. We are sure attendees will be amazed by the transformative potential of this powerful device, which is truly ground-breaking technology.”
Join Optimax at the show throughout the day for a live presentation of the technology and to have application specific questions answered.
Optimax
www.optimaxonline.com
Stand C15
E-mobility is a great example and at Advanced Engineering 2019 the company will exhibit the scope of its involvement in this field.
In a short space of time Trumpf has built-up a worldwide network of experts entirely dedicated to the subject, adapted part of its product and technology portfolio to its demands and simultaneously embarked on a series of new development projects, often in partnership with existing industry players and market newcomers.
This adaptability has resulted in a huge surge in demand for Trumpf solutions for e-mobility applications. Battery manufacturing alone already accounts for 10% of the company’s turnover in the automotive sector and more than 500 Trumpf lasers have already been installed worldwide for this purpose. Indeed, its lasers are proving ideal for the mass production of batteries, high-power electronic systems and electric drives.
Visitors will learn about the latest company developments for e-mobility that range from laser techniques that can weld all the seams on an electric motor in just one minute to its TruConnect solutions. These allow the entire production process to be digitised: from initial customer queries to invoicing and from raw material ordering to finished product dispatch.
Trumpf
www.trumpf.com/en_GB
Stand E22
Visitors to the show will witness XYZ Machine Tools’ robot-based automation cell Robo-Tend. This modular and mobile robot automation system is designed for use with XYZ vertical machining and turning centres fitted with Siemens controls.
For the exhibition the system will be demonstrated attached to an XYZ 750 LR vertical machining centre. Robo-Tend brings automation within the reach of traditional subcontract engineering businesses. The robot is equipped with a camera vision system and is fully compatible with the Siemens ShopMill and ShopTurn controls used on XYZ’s VMC’s and turning centres.
In line with XYZ’s philosophy of making machine control straightforward, Robo-Tend’s interface has been developed to make programming the automation process as easy as possible. The result is fast and efficient automation that is affordable for all, with payback possible in just a few months of operation if purchased outright, or the option of finance from £2.00/hour is available.
For those looking for full, simultaneous 5-axis machining the XYZ UMC-5X will be demonstrated on the stand. This cost-effective machine has as standard a direct drive 90rpm table configuration, which when tilted 90° towards the rear (component facing forward), there remains 500mm of Y-axis travel forward of the table surface, allowing larger workpieces to be machined.
XYZ Machine Tools
www.xyzmachinetools.com
Stand C28
Attendees can talk to the software developer about its CAD/CAM/MES solutions which offer the latest technologies for manufacturing process standardisation, automation and shopfloor equipment and resource monitoring, production planning and control.
Tebis’ knowledge-based machining technology supports database libraries of machine tools, cutting tools with machining parameters, machining features, CNC toolpath templates and machining process templates. This allows customers’ best machining practices to be built into a Tebis database and shared among CAM engineers, which reduces the work pressure on them whilst ensuring the best results.
Tebis Virtual Machine technology supports machining set-up and planning, collision-free CNC toolpath calculation, simulation and verification. This is especially beneficial to customers for 2.5 x D to 5-axis milling, trimming, laser cutting, mill-turn as well as robotic machining.
Tebis is recognised for generating highly efficient and reliable toolpaths while ensuring high product quality. Its customers include well-known engineering brands such as: Aston Martin; JLR; Airbus; UTC Aerospace Systems; Liebherr; Porsche; Audi; BMW; VW; Ford and more.
Tebis
www.tebis.com/uk/en
Stand I42
Built at the company's factory near Derby, the new Altera C machines are available in three sizes: 7.7.5, 10.7.5, and 10.7.7 – the respective X, Y, Z axis movements being 700 x 650 x 500mm, 1,000 x 650 x 500mm and 1,000 x 650 x 650mm. Typical applications are likely to be found in the aerospace, automotive, medical and other industries with demanding inspection requirements.
Altera C machines are equally at home in an inspection department or on the shopfloor, especially as pneumatic mounts isolate the CMM well from nearby sources of low frequency vibration such as large machinery.
The CMM control may be either standalone or integrated into the machine base with a keyboard on an arm at the side, giving the customer a choice that best suits the installation site. The latter option also facilitates relocation of the equipment once installed. The inclusion of Renishaw encoders with 0.05μm resolution optical scales for high volumetric accuracy not only leads to outstanding metrology but also provides immunity to the ingress of contaminants.
Measurements taken with a touch-trigger probe at a series of points, ideal for acquiring information on dimensional accuracy, is increasingly being augmented by continuous-contact probing (analogue scanning) and laser scanning to allow high speed collection of data on complex freeform surfaces.
Altera C measuring machines are able to deploy all three types of sensor. Such flexible data acquisition boosts measurement throughput to avoid bottlenecks in the metrology department.
Altera C machines are available with LK’s powerful CAMIO8 DMIS-based, multi-sensor software enabling programming and measurement based on 3D CAD data and comprehensive reporting.
LK Metrology
www.lkmetrology.com
Stand H4
Many advances in wear part performance and endurance have come from improved metal heat treatment processes, the development of lubricious hard coatings and the ability to join different metals with ever stronger bonds through vacuum brazing. The array of choices facing design engineers is a challenge in in itself.
Howard Maher, group sales manager, explains: “As heat treatment and hard coating specialists we can offer the design engineer a deep well of knowledge gained from years of experience in solving problems across industries such as aircraft manufacture, space vehicles, automotive, oil and gas equipment, medical devices – indeed almost all metal part manufacturing, including additive.”
Throughout 2019, the group has continued to invest in additional vacuum furnace capacity, aluminium heat treatment and in a new £750,000 Tufftride and Tufftride QPQ process line. With ISO9100 and ISO9001 accreditations and many aerospace prime approvals, the company also provides extensive in-house research and development and testing services.
Wallwork
www.wallworkht.co.uk
Stand M102
In this case an optical measurement system is extended with a robot arm to automatically pick, place, measure and sort components. Alicona says the system can also be used in smaller production environments.
The inspection process is based on the interaction between an administrator, who pre-defines automation processes, the collaborative robot for the manipulation and placing of components, as well as high-resolution optical 3D measurement technology. The possible connection to existing production systems including ERP facilitates adaptive production planning.
The machined component is removed from the machine by the robot, clamped on the measuring system and measured automatically. Depending on the manufacturing strategy, there are different options of continuing the production process afterwards.
The system can be set up with only three steps with no programming knowledge required. The robot handles component manipulation including the positioning on the measuring system and further sorting in OK/NO OK pallets. Regardless of the number of components, only four parts per pallet have to be pre-defined. At the push of a button the operator starts the entire process in production.
Pick & Place is also used in conjunction with machine tools. The machined component is removed from the machine by the robot, clamped automatically on the measurement solution and measured automatically.
Bruker Alicona
www.alicona.com/en
Stand C11
The focus for this year’s exhibition is laser marking. For the first time in the UK, Pryor will demonstrate its laser workstation, a large, modular floor-standing laser engraving machine. In addition, visitors to the stand will also see a demonstration of the portable laser and laser marking ‘on-the-fly’ unit. Pryor will also show: PortaDot P50-25 with 4000 controller and PortaDot P130-30 for heavy industrial use.
Pryor has extensive experience in supplying global automotive brands and supply chains with marking and traceability technologies. It offers standard and custom technologies for all sizes of manufacturer within the automotive supply chain. All of its lasers are supplied in Class 1 light safe enclosures, including the laser VIN cells installed in the production facilities for Jaguar Land Rover.
Alastair Morris, sales director, comments: “Advanced Engineering is the perfect exhibition for engineers to see, feel and experience the full capability of our innovative part identification solutions. As the only company designing and manufacturing this equipment in the UK, our team can provide expert advice on marking best practice.”
Pryor Marking Technology
www.pryormarking.com
Stand H9
The team will be showcasing the firm’s extensive range of both fixed and mobile cyclone-based dust extractors and air cleaners at its stand.
The DC 11-Module for example, which comes in several models, is an optimised standalone unit for source extraction and industrial cleaning. It has been designed to service up to six normal extraction points or several cleaning outlets at a time, and is modularly built, meaning it can be tailor-made to suit any manufacturing and production environment.
As with all of Dustcontrol UK’s equipment, the DC 11-Module can be fitted with Hepa 13 filters, meaning exhaust air can be safely returned to the work environment.
The company, based in Milton Keynes, has over 45 years’ experience in developing dust extraction solutions and centralised vacuum systems to fit client requirements in the manufacturing and engineering industries.
Dustcontrol UK
www.dustcontroluk.co.uk
Stand M116
STL manufactures stamped components, contact rivets and bi-metal strip at its factory in Redditch and supplies to customers in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and North America.
This year it has opened a further 400m² production area and invested in several new power presses and commissioned one new multi-slide forming line.
Onsite tool design and build has been further supported by one further EDM system bringing total capacity to four.
At this year’s show STL is particularly aiming to discuss manufacturing for EV busbars and other electrical contact applications.
Samuel Taylor
www.samueltaylor.co.uk
Stand K92