Machine Building

Dessert producer transforms sleeve coding with Rotech RF2

The purchase of an offline RF2 coder from Rotech has transformed the sleeve coding operation at Holt-based Heaven Made Foods, eliminating inefficiencies and quality issues. With the Rotech system, which typically runs off 80-100 sleeves per minute, date coding is done in 10 per cent of the time that it was taking.

28th September 2015

Just-in-time maintenance via mGuard remote service

Machine operators such as NestlÃ© and Unilever expect 100 per cent system availability. Therefore, machine builder Big Drum Engineering sees demand-oriented maintenance and fast troubleshooting via remote service as key to this increasingly critical success factor. In providing these, the company places great emphasis on safety and security.

24th September 2015

Protecting large hydraulic cylinders in extreme environments

Fast-moving rivers present one of the most challenging environments for UK engineers. Brackish water, inclement weather and debris are just some of the threats to large-scale engineering projects. Fortunately, as technology and knowledge has increased, the ability to protect engineering components and parts in even the toughest conditions has vastly improved. However, for those infrastructure projects commissioned in the last century reliant on earlier technologies, the risk remains.

23rd September 2015

Change management and version control system minimises downtime

By introducing change management and version control software from M.A.C. Solutions for all its programmable devices (PLCs) in five production plants across three different continents, heat exchanger manufacturer SWEP has minimised the risk of machine downtime, thus avoiding costly delays and disruption to customer delivery schedules.

22nd September 2015

Herga 6240 footswitch provides anti-collision override

Ogden Safety Systems Ltd design and manufacture radar-based collision avoidance systems for on and off-highway vehicles that range from refuse collection trucks to heavy-duty wheeled quarry and mining equipment. Characterised by the elimination of unwanted alarms, these console-controlled programmable devices utilise Ogden's continuous wave multi beam radar that allows on-site set-up that exactly suits the application - essentially maintaining a precise detection zone with three individual but connected areas that are monitored and, via a CANbus networked machine interface, trigger various warnings and alarms such as the switching the vehicles' reversing camera for the first stage to applying the brakes for the third stage.

21st September 2015

HBM's data recorder is on board for world record attempt

HBM is delighted to be on board the Volkswagen Touareg vehicle, which is being used for the latest Cape-to-Cape 2.0 world record driving attempt of Africa to Europe in 10 days.

21st September 2015

Schaeffler custom spherical plain bearings for lifting system

Schaeffler has secured its largest ever order for ELGES spherical plain bearings. Schaeffler will supply more than 240 bearings with outside diameters ranging from 400mm to 1060mm, for the Topsides Lift System on the Pioneering Spirit, a purpose-built ship used for the installation and decommissioning of offshore oil platforms.

19th September 2015

Furniture manufacturer exploits the benefits of Bonderite

Designer outdoor furniture manufacturer, Fermob, is exploiting the benefits of Henkel's latest generation BONDERITE coating technology to protect its products against corrosion while at the same time minimising environmental impact.

17th September 2015

New ABB safety PLC ensures safety of crane operation

Major construction sites are tending to become very congested, in efforts to better exploit the available building space and speed project times. The workhorse tower crane is critical to the efficiency of such sites, and crane operators today often have to work in very complex 3D space envelopes with many potential collision zones. The crane controls designer NTK is making light of these issues by providing an advanced new safety system for tower cranes, which can be recognised easily by the company's distinctive crane cabs with their circular or oval cab windows.

17th September 2015

Atlas Copco VSD compressor realises major energy savings

Huddersfield-based packaging specialist Crossgrove Associates Ltd has reduced the annual cost of its compressed air supply from £6450 to just £770, as a result of installing an energy-efficient GA11VSD+FF variable speed drive compressor from Atlas Copco.

17th September 2015