Machine Building

Timber plant reduces downtime with NSK linear guides

Thanks to the adoption of NSK’s linear guides with K1 lubrication units, a timber manufacturer managed to reduce conveyor downtime by a factor of more than 12, prompting annual cost savings of more than €77,000.

28th June 2022

Axis Harvesting and Igus automate mushroom harvesting

Automating production is becoming the focus of many companies and Axis Harvesting is no exception. From weighing to packaging the punnets, automation helps alongside humans to process over 90 tonnes of mushrooms per week.

27th June 2022

Emka locking technology suits international enclosure OEM

Emka has developed a special type and size for leading enclosure OEM Rittal, with the company completely relaunching its range of small and compact enclosures with the new AX and KX series.

23rd June 2022

Variable speed drives save energy on Archimedes’ screws

A series of trials by Anglian Water, during which variable speed drives (VSDs) were used to control the speed of Archimedes’ screws, has resulted in a £26,000 energy saving in three months across three wastewater treatment sites.

10th June 2022

Siemens enables underwater farming revolution with digital twin

Siemens Digital Industries Software reports that Nemo’s Garden, a startup focused on sustainable underwater cultivation of crops, has deployed Siemens’ Xcelerator portfolio of software and services to shorten its innovation cycles and move more rapidly towards industrialisation and scale.

8th April 2022

Swing handles help put the squeeze on litter

Swing handles and hinges from Telford-based access hardware manufacturer Industrilas have been specified as part of a new, automated smart wastebin that is delivering significant cost savings to municipal authorities – as well as helping to keep towns and cities tidier.

8th April 2022

Economical test systems with effective but not obstructive protection

Brainware Solutions needed a safety system for machines that test automotive door trims, which could guarantee a fast-running test routine while giving operators unobstructed, safe access to both test systems, so that they can be loaded and unloaded in time. For a solution, it turned to Pilz, which supplied a PSENscan safety laser scanner, combined with the PNOZmulti 2 configurable small controller, offering effective but not obstructive protection, so enabling minimum test times.

6th April 2022

UV transparent-object detection solves medical packaging problem

Transparent plastic packaging is commonly used in the packaging of a wide variety of products. However, it poses a challenge for high-speed automated packaging machinery, which was the challenge faced by a manufacturing packaging medical products. For a solution, it turned to Contrinex’s family of transparent-object detection sensors which utilise UV light.

4th April 2022