Latest News & Features – Page 223
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ArticleAC500 PLC able to handle ‘eXtreme Conditions’
ABB says its AC500-CX PLC offers protection against a wide range of threats, including high and low temperatures (normally -30 to +70C), high humidity, low air pressure (altitudes of 4,000m), salt mist and hazardous gases, plus vibration and shock (acceleration of 4g from random vibrations up to 500Hz, or 2g ...
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ArticlePaintshop for plastics
Sturm’s chief operating officer, Ralf Völlinger discusses the company's recent installation at BMW LeipzigThe economics of paintingThe three-coat painting processPainting system supplier Sturm Group has recently installed a paintshop designed for handling plastic parts for exterior vehicle components at the BMW factory in Leipzig. The required standard of accuracy for ...
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ArticleNew 3D scanning solution for co-ordinate measuring unit
AICON 3D Systems has unveiled Breuckmann StereoSCAN – an automated, 3D scanning tool for use with the company’s DPA co-ordinate measuring machine.The product is said to be able to handle measuring fields ranging from a few millimetres to one metre; according to AICON, an accuracy level of signifi cantly less ...
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ArticleVW hands out annual safety awards
Slovakia: Volkswagen has presented the 28th Occupational Health Trophy to its Bratislava site for being the company’s safest plant. The HTW-2/3 Pre-assembly department at Wolfsburg was also recognised as the best organisational unit.The October awards were presented at Volkswagen Bratislava in Slovakia.Michael Macht, member of the board of management of ...
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ArticleDitching the dirt at Ford
A European innovation which has been rolled out at Ford plants in the US European origins, American implementation Processing power & performanceAlmost every freshly painted surface on a vehicle will attract airborne contaminants; tiny particles of dust will stick to the wet paint and, as it dries, become part of ...
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ArticleInvesting in Izmit
Hyundai has recently updated 80% of the production line at its Turkish plant. AMS went to admire the automation Europe is overburdened with automotive factory capacity to the extent that over half of the region’s 160 car plants are running below 70% productivity, according to Q1 figures from analysts IHS ...
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ArticleAutomatic tyre label dispenser
Avery Dennison’s new automatic tyre labelling range includes tread labelling materials and thermal transfer (TT) vulcanisation labels, its says.The PP TYRE 55/60 Top White products use polypropylene fi lm to resist migration of low molecular-weight components and carbon black from the tyre surface, stopping the label from curling away. Initial ...
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ArticlePower monitoring and mitigation tools
Rockwell Automation has expanded its Allen Bradley portfolio to include i-Sense, i-Grid and DySC.The i-Sense voltage monitors can read incoming power, pinpointing voltage-based events, revealing correlations between voltage sags and downtime and enabling minimal mean time to repair (MTTR).Meanwhile, i-Grid logs analyses and corroborates i-Sense data via an Ethernet or ...
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Article‘Knobbly Jaguar’ is back on track
UK: Lister Cars is to reinstate production of the ‘Knobbly Jaguar' made famous during 1950s sports car racing, almost a quarter of a century after the last Lister rolled off the production line. George Lister Engineering of Cambridge, Brian Lister Light Engineering and Lister Storm have been united into ...
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ArticleUV cure at Fehst
Ralf Wassermann, responsible for technical sales at Sprimag, discusses the company’s all-new UV coating systemThree-axis coating machineConveying & positioningAlthough UV coating processes have been around for some time, there are still manufacturing companies that have reservations about the technique. However, there has been a recent exception to this trend. Component ...
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ArticleCNC 40 Rotary tube cold bending machine
Schwarze-Robitec has developed a fully electric tube cold bending machine designed to produce complex curve contours in a single operation.CNC 40 Rotary can process materials such as aluminium, titanium, copper, steel and stainless steel with a diameter of 6-40mm. Even tubes with pre-formed contours on the straight tube can be ...
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ArticleSunderland gears up for Infiniti production
UK: Nissan has begun construction of the first Infiniti production facilities in Europe, following approval by Sunderland City Council’s Development Control Committee.The 25,000 sq. m extension to Nissan’s production facility, which is part of a previously announced £250m investment, will house specialist equipment for Q3 body assembly and fi nal ...
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ArticlePunchBend fabrication tool for quality and accuracy
A fully automatic fabrication solution for cut-to-size materials called PunchBend has been developed by Prima Power. The servo-electric technology processes pre-cut material automatically into readybent components, with the quality and accuracy which Prima Power says are required by design products.The punching stroke is NC-controlled and the high repeatability facilitates forming, ...
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ArticleSmyrna setting standards
A look inside Nissan’s Smyrna paintshop, opened earlier this year with the aim of setting new standards for quality, efficiency and environmental ‘footprint’Setting new benchmarksBASF’s three-wet processAutomated sealingThe Nissan Green Program 2016Paint 4 is one of threeAn energy-efficient futureNissan’s Smyrna plant in Tennessee is one of three operations in the ...
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ArticlePredictive software for cutting energy use
Control system supplier Rockwell Automation is currently bringing to market a software system called Paint Shop Model Predictive Control (MPC), which is designed to predict and therefore accurately schedule and operate paintshop equipment in a way that can minimise their energy consumptionPaint Shop Model Predictive Control Todd Montpas, automotive and ...
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ArticleMazda takes top Japanese accolade
Japan: Mazda has received the Monodzukuri Nippon Grand Award from the country’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) at the fifth such bi-annual ceremony in Japan.The award, presented by the prime minister, recognises the contribution of Mazda’s Monotsukuri Innovation programme to manufacturing ideas and processes in the ...
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ArticleFocus II Light Curtains and Light Grids
ABB Jokab Safety’s Focus II Light Curtains and Light Grids offer an updated means of protecting personnel from hazardous machinery, robots and automated systems via an infrared field, the company saysThe Focus II equipment consists of a transmitter and receiver which detect any objects breaking the optical barrier formed by ...
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ArticleNew rapid-release lock for RobiFix connectors
Multi-Contact is now offering a quick-release locking unit for heavy-duty connectors for the robotic arms used in spot welding and other high-power applications. RobiFix-Lock is designed for the RobiFix electrical connectors used in robot dresspacks, the company says.According to Multi-Contact, the locking unit is suitable for fixed welding robots, manual ...
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ArticleFree Process Safebook for engineers
Rockwell Automation has compiled a free guide to functional safety for process applications, to assist with the IEC61511 standard, available athttp:// www.emea.rockwellautomation.com/ process/en/free-safety-guide.aspx.Process Safebook contains real-life examples and explains how to manage safety in electrical, electronic and programmable electronic systems, providing guidance for engineers on how to integrate safety into ...
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Article
GM's ‘largest rooftop’ solar project in Ohio
USA: Generating nearly 3% of the facility’s electricity, the new 1.8-megawatt solar array at GM’s Toledo Transmission plant is claimed to be the largest rooftop array in Ohio.“Having 21,000 solar panels on Toledo’s roof is a great visual representation of our commitment to renewable energy,” said Rob Threlkeld, GM ...