Manufacturing

Tool storage, management system updates Fastems https://www.fastems.com/ Automation Toolholding/Workholding West Chester, Ohio – New releases of the Gantry Tool Storage (GTS) system and Manufacturing Management Software (MMS) from Fastems are designed to significantly increase manufacturing efficiency, enhance ergonomics, and improve overall user experience. When applied within a Fastems Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS), the GTS system and MMS can achieve machine utilization levels above 95%. In the GTS system, pick-and-place and traveling gantry robots provide access to centralized storage of up to 4,000 cutting tools and perform just-in-time tool delivery to individual machines. MMS software commands automatic cutting tool changes based on...

Big Kaiser's Noventa Optimizes Chamfering Cycle Times Big Kaiser’s new Noventa from Sphinx milling cutter lineup optimizes front-and-back chamfering and deburring, improving cycle time, tool life, surface quality and product finish. Big Kaiser Precision Tooling introduces the Noventa from Sphinx, the latest addition to its milling cutter lineup, useful for 90-degree, front-and-back chamfering and deburring holes up to 4×D. According to the company, the tool can take chamfering the entry and exit of 0.80 mm to 6.00 mm from a tedious, time-consuming process to one with improved cycle time, tool life and surface quality. Similarly, the company also says that the tool can improve finished hole and part deburring operations...

Quick-Change Tooling Improves Swiss Lathe Profits Two of the largest time sinks in Swiss turning are setups and tool changes. Swiss-type lathes make money thanks to the fast production of high-quality parts in large volumes, and any human intervention in that process is bound to cost time. Moreover, the tight work envelope often means that tooling is not easily accessible, which can add additional time to tool changes. These problems are very familiar to Head of Product Management John Kollenbroich of Horn USA. “Changing out a tool often means truing the cutting edge and plumbing the toolholder if there is through-coolant,”...

Tungaloy MillQuadFeed Products Enhance High-Feed Milling Tungaloy has expanded its MillQuadFeed high-feed milling cutter series by adding new grades and cutter body options for its SWMT09 insert range to enhance high-feed milling capability.   Tungaloy has expanded its MillQuadFeed high-feed milling cutter series by adding new grades and cutter body options for its SWMT09 insert range. MillQuadFeed offers two options of insert geometries for various high-feed milling applications. Versatile ZER geometry generates light cutting loads at high depths of cut, enabling increased cutting depths and reduced number of machining passes. This is particularly useful in challenging rough-milling operations of cast iron, where cutting depth can vary greatly on...

8 risks and 8 opportunities that COVID-19 brings for the environment The health crisis may lead to cuts in environmental investments but, at the same time, it may help reduce pollution and naturalize cities The COVID-19 health crisis brings multiple risks and opportunities for the environment. Researchers Mar Satorras and Isabel Ruiz-Mallén from the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3) and Professor Hug March from the Faculty of Economics and Business – all three members of the UOC-IN3's Urban Transformation and Global Change Laboratory (TURBA Lab) research group – have identified eight challenges and eight opportunities posed by this new situation. The sixteen points...