Northern Manufacturing 2019 will build on past success this week

Northern Manufacturing & Electronics 2019 returns to Manchester’s EventCity, from 2-3 October promising a blend of traditional and new initiatives.

Since its debut in 2013, Northern Manufacturing & Electronics has built a solid following amongst the engineering community in the North, attracting around 3,000 visitors to its last event. But while the show’s traditional blend of machinery demos, production hardware, components and engineering services will no doubt please its loyal fans, this year some important new initiatives have greatly enhanced the business development aspects of the show.

With manufacturers simultaneously facing a perfect storm of commercial, operational and technological uncertainties, the access to information and support has arguably become one of the show’s most important features.

For the first time this year, the exhibition is joining with several national and regional business organisations, headed by the two important regional bodies for the aerospace and automotive sector, the North West Aerospace Alliance (NWAA) and the Northern Automotive Alliance (NAA).

Together with industry-specific event partners, the show is also supported by many other esteemed national bodies, including NetComposites, Composites UK, the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT), the Gear & Toolmakers Association (GTMA), the British Gear Association (BGA) and the Confederation of British Metalforming (CBM).

Also taking part is Made Smarter and the Manufacturing Growth Fund. The government-backed initiative has been set-up to provide funding, advice and support to drive manufacturing growth across the North West. It helps businesses boost productivity and profitability through improved operational efficiency and digital technologies. A range of services are available to support manufacturers across every business area from operations and shopfloor processes through to digitalisation.

Investing in automation

Investment in the latest automated manufacturing technologies is a key issue for many SMEs, who see it as a viable strategy to tackle skills shortages while maintaining the agility to stay competitive in a global market.

For these visitors, the show provides an excellent opportunity to become acquainted with the latest industrial technologies and machining centres.

XYZ Machine Tools will demonstrate its Robo-Tend robot-based automation cell at Northern 2019. The modular and mobile robot automation system brings automation within the reach of traditional subcontract engineering businesses, says the company and is designed for use with XYZ vertical machining and turning centres fitted with Siemens controls.

At Northern it will be demonstrated attached to an XYZ 750 LR vertical machining centre. It is equipped with a camera vision system and is compatible with the Siemens ShopMill and ShopTurn controls used on the company’s VMCs and turning centres. The firm says the interface has been developed to make programming automation as easy as possible for fast, efficient and affordable automation. XYZ claims payback is possible in just a few months of operation.

Returning to Northern 2019, Haas Automation is one of the largest CNC machine tool manufacturer in the world with over 100 models in its range. The firm’s customer base spans all engineering disciplines including automotive, motorsport, aerospace and general subcontracting.

Laser and additive manufacturing attractions

Laser and additive manufacturing also figure prominently in the show’s line-up of live demonstrations. For example, HPC Laser will showcase a sample of the 100 or so CE Certified and HSE inspected machines it holds in its Yorkshire warehouse.

Also Laser Lines UK will be performing live demonstrations of industrial laser systems. These laser systems can be used for marking, welding, cleaning, cutting and cladding. A wide range of interesting samples made from a host of modern materials will be on display to help demonstrate the capabilities that the Laser Lines systems can deliver. Laser technologies can produce consistently high-quality results at high speed – and at competitive prices. New products to be showcased include the Sisma range of laser welding systems.

A Stratasys and Desktop Metal Platinum partner exhibiting this year is Tri-Tech 3D, which offers the complete range of Stratasys PolyJet and FDM, and Desktop Metal Systems alongside expert consultancy and training services, maintenance support contracts and competitive lease and finance schemes.

Experts from Tri-Tech 3D will be on hand to discuss additive manufacturing and there will be live demos with the Stratasys F370 FDM machine. Autodesk consultants from sister company, Cadspec, will also be on the stand to chat about the latest CAD and CAM technology.

Diversely appealing

Readers of PES will find plenty more to interest them among the show’s anticipated 250 exhibitors. Faro showcases its integrated, remote axis, portable 3D visualisation and rendering system, the 8-axis Design ScanArm 2.5C.

Capable of measuring in full colour, it’s used for 3D modelling, reverse engineering and CAD-based design applications across the product lifecycle management (PLM) process. Faro’s Prizm laser line probe delivers high-resolution colour point-cloud data, says the company, giving more insight into an object’s design and creation, geometry, surface composition and visual differentiation between materials. Other metrology providers at the show include Nikon Metrology and Zeiss.

Specialist equipment manufacturers are also plentiful; Carbolite Gero is an expert in the development of customised equipment for complex heat treatment processes. The company has 80 years’ experience in thermal engineering in the design and manufacture of laboratory and industrial ovens and furnaces ranging from 30 to 3,000°C with a focus on vacuum and special atmosphere technology.

Sharmic Engineering will showcase its comprehensive range of vibratory finishing machines and consumables. It supplies small and large companies in the automotive, marine, aerospace, medical, plastic and ceramic industries. Machines perform component deburring, degreasing, radiusing and polishing on all types of materials, using vibratory finishing techniques. The company also offers an efficient, low cost and reliable subcontract service.

On the fabrication side, LVD has developed Dyna-Cell, a robotic bending cell featuring a high-speed electric press brake.

The press brake and robot function as a compact, integrated unit to automate the bending of small- to medium-sized parts in varying batch sizes at bending speeds up to 25mm per second. Dyna-Cell incorporates a patent-pending universal gripper that allows users to bend on three sides of a part without regripping.

The cell is built on LVD’s proven Dyna-Press electric-drive platform. At Northern Manufacturing, the company will exhibit a Dyna-Press 24/12 Plus electric-drive press brake on its stand.

Dyna-Cell offers fast programming of part and robot following the 10-10 rule: 10 minutes for CAM generation of the bending and robot program and 10 minutes for set-up and first part generation.

Knowledge is power

Finally, returning to the topic of knowledge acquisition, the impressive technical seminar programme at Northern Manufacturing provides perhaps the most powerful argument to attend the show.

The free, hour-long sessions run over both days of the show and give visitors the opportunity to see presentations from numerous expert presenters covering a wide range of pertinent topics, both technical and commercial.

Highlights of the 2019 event include sessions by award winning author, creator of the Lean Iceberg Model and partner at S.A. Partners, Gary Griffiths. Along with co-authors Professor Peter Hines, Pauline Found and Richard Harrison, Mr Griffith’s book ‘Staying Lean: Thriving, Not Just Surviving’ won a Shingo Research and Professional Publication Prize in 2009 for its illustration of the experience of a multi-national company that successfully implemented Lean in its manufacturing and commercial operations.

Andy Brunskill, Author of ‘TPM: A Foundation of Operational Excellence’ will share his 11 step Model which can be used to deploy an effective, systematic Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) programme. Further sessions include advice on government incentives, mergers and acquisitions, CE marking, 3D print technology and advanced composite materials among others. A complete list of sessions is available online.

Entry to Northern Manufacturing & Electronics 2019 and on-site parking is free of charge with easy access by road. EventCity is also very accessible by public transport from central Manchester.

Northern Manufacturing www.industrynorth.co.uk