Sewtec Automation, a market leader in bespoke automation for a wide range of industries, has developed an advanced inspection machine for PET bottles that relies on the high performance of Keyence camera sensors to deliver accurate and repeatable results in short cycle times.

When a meat processing plant operator needed a solution to check that transportation bins had been emptied prior to being sent to an automated wash station, it turned to Contrinex. An ultrasonic sensor mounted above a conveyor looks down into the bins and diverts contaminated bins from proceeding to the wash station.

Even the finest hairline cracks on engine components can lead to failures. That’s why components at MTU Aero Engines pass through an extensive crack testing facility provided by Rhode + Wagner Anlagenbau as part of their production process – a testing system that integrates the tamper-proof PITmode fusion safety solution from Pilz.

When an automotive manufacturer needed a low cost, easy-to-implement solution to add RFID verification to the automated tooling change system, for a small robot working as a machine tender to an expensive and delicate machining centre, it turned to Contrinex.

SEW-Eurodrive has established efficient and flexible processes to achieve its vision for Industry 4.0. SEW’s new design for automated guided vehicles at its main US location includes integrated timing belt conveyors from mk. These vehicles serve as mobile workbenches for mounting individual gearboxes.

When leading manufacturer of custom portal milling, tooling and CNC machines, Hermle, needed a heavy-duty version of its HS flex handling system to load machines with palletised components weighing up to 1,200 kilograms, it created an automated drive that integrated a rack and pinion drive, planetary gear unit and servo motor from STOBER.

Supporting a bachelor thesis project at The Vienna University of Technology, Norelem has provided a range of components to enable students to make their idea a reality.

Developing gas reaction experimental research apparatus for academia, DarbyTech needed a valve system that could handle both methane and ammonia. The valve manifold system also had to achieve multi-channel mixing of these gases, and scalable gas distribution options were also required for system expansion potential. DarbyTech turned to Bürkert to provide the right valve solution.

When Designed Architectural Lighting (DAL) was contracted to design and manufacture specialist luminaires for the cross-passage tunnel lighting in several of the newly built stations on the Crossrail Elizabeth Line, it turned to Southco for a solution to enhance the safety and performance of the luminaires.

As an example of how a smart factory can use Contrinex’s smart inductive and photoelectric sensors, we look at a smart inductive sensor embedded within the spindle of a CNC machining centre at the start of a manufacturing cell.