Machine Building

Are your Variable Speed Drives running at maximum efficiency?

While variable speed drives (VSDs) provide an important energy saving technology, Mitsubishi Electric's Matt Handley questions how many of the installed base of drives are actually set up to run at their maximum efficiency.

22nd February 2017

Liquid cooling halves component space

Many renewable and marine resistor applications are moving towards liquid cooling, because it offers superior environmental protection for drive systems, as well as improved reliability and smaller component sizes. A water-cooled brake resistor, for example, can be half the size of its air-cooled equivalent and the heated water produced can be integrated into a heating system, producing further efficiencies. Here, Steve Hughes of REO UK explains the benefits.

21st February 2017

Keeping a FANUC robot in top-top condition

Gary Taylor, Service Manager RO FANUC UK, explains how preventative and predictive maintenance can be used to keep FANUC robots - and other automation equipment - at the peak of their powers.

21st February 2017

High-performance industrial servers for the industrial channel

With inherent challenges to maintaining longevity and consistency in system production, the industrial channel has historically been unable to pair server-class performance with a long-life system. High[performance industrial servers from Corvalent solve this design limitation, embracing Intel Xeon technology in an application-ready, customisable server-class design with guaranteed production and availability of 5-7 years. Illustrated by application examples such as medical imaging, security and surveillance, and cloud and data centre processing, this article highlights the broad competitive value these long-life systems newly enable for industrial OEMs and application developers.

20th February 2017

How to optimise air preparation for pneumatic systems

Festo has developed a series of technical resources designed to help engineers optimise air preparation to improve process reliability, machine availability and service life in pneumatic systems.

20th February 2017

Rotating plant and machines: cloud-based condition monitoring

Condition monitoring (CM) no longer needs to be restricted to highly skilled, experienced engineers. With the advent of cloud-based CM systems, users can now share data with experts via the cloud, enabling improved fault diagnosis, faster reaction times and reduced machine downtime, says Dr Steve Lacey, Technology Centre Manager at Schaeffler UK.

17th February 2017

Working with multiple networks and growth in Asia

On a video released by the CC-Link Partner Association (CLPA), Michael Volz, Managing Director of HMS's German operations, says: "Connectivity for control and communications is becoming more and more important as industrial companies move towards more integrated systems, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Industry 4.0 (I4.0)."

15th February 2017

Understanding how colour measurement sensors work

Colour measurement sensors have been used for several years in R&D and production environments. However, in recent years significant improvements in measurement speed and accuracy have created many more uses for these sensors. Therefore, in order to successfully utilise the benefits that modern colour sensors can offer, it is important to understand how sensors measure colour, says Stephen Smith, Product Sales Engineer at Micro-Epsilon UK.

15th February 2017

Spring technology in the manufacturing industry

Lee Spring is proud of their close to 100 year tradition and are proud to reflect on the considerable growth in availability of springs and development in spring technology during that period. Chris Petts, Managing Director - Lee Spring UK discusses spring technology in the manufacturing industry.

13th February 2017

Material choices for threaded fastener systems

Threaded fastener systems - nuts, bolts, screws and washers used in manufacturing industry at large - are a time-served, well-developed, reliable and surprisingly sophisticated technology. They are also well known, but it is often not appreciated just how critical it may be to choose exactly the right material and finish. This is where Challenge Europe can be of real help.

8th February 2017