Mastering core multiaxis concepts can help increase a shop’s output. The fundamentals of 3+2 machining, placement, tooling, tool control, and cutting motion will help you get the most from multiaxis.

When traditional machining methods reach their limit, electric discharge machining can be the answer. The EDM process allows for high accuracy and is applicable for any conductive material.

Bio-resins can be very challenging to process compared to the common resins they typically aim to replace. This of course can make producing good parts very difficult and sometimes impossible. What are the most important considerations?

Germany — For the sixth time, the international Formnext Start-up Challenge has recognised young companies from the world of additive manufacturing for their innovative business ideas and cutting-edge technical developments.

Rarely have the differences between companies in the industry been as obvious as they are now. Success and failure are often close together — so close, in fact, that it is not uncommon for a company that is drowning in orders and another that is on the verge of bankruptcy to have exactly the same product range and even to be in the same region. The differences lie deeper. We have compiled the ten biggest challenges for tool and mould makers in Europe.

Italy — Within the framework of an official agreement, Oerlikon Nonwoven and A.Celli Nonwovens want to kick off a collaboration for the production of solutions dedicated to festooning technology.

USA — The Plastics Industry Association released its annual Global Trends report at the 27th Fakuma International trade fair for plastics processing. The report, which analyses trade data from all of 2020 and the first six months of 2021, paints a complex but promising portrait of the US plastics industry in the international market.

UK — Just two years after the launch of its range of Powerstir “dual weld-head” friction stir welding machines, UK-based Precision Technologies Group (PTG) reports achieving double-digit sales of these specially developed FSW technologies for electric vehicle OEMs.

In 2022, Stuttgart will be the venue of a new trade show: The first edition of the new trade fair for grinding technology, Grinding Hub, will be held from 17 to 20 May 2022. At the event, leading manufacturers will present their solutions for current trends in grinding technology.

Italy — EMO Milano 2021 closed on 9 October. Promoted by Cecimo, the European Association of Machine Tool Industries, and organised by the operational structures of Ucimu, the Italian machine tools, robots and automation systems Manufacturers' Association, EMO Milano 2021 registered more than 60,000 participants coming from 91 countries.

Sweden — The Tooling 2022 will take place from 25 to 27 April 2022 in Örebro, Sweden. The organiser have now extended the call for papers that can be submitted to the scientific committee of the conference.

Germany — For the sixth time, the international Formnext Start-up Challenge has recognised young companies from the world of additive manufacturing for their innovative business ideas and cutting-edge technical developments.

Absolute cleanliness is required in production under cleanroom conditions such as in the food or pharmaceutical industries. Of course perfect cleanliness is also essential for temperature regulation. The new low-leakage couplers from Meusburger provide the optimal foundation for this.

Chinese car manufacturer Geely has selected specialty chemicals company Lanxess as supplier of choice for an innovative front end carrier (FE) structural component, which will be used in a coming passenger car model.

The standard parts specialist Fibro is showing product innovations for toolmaking at Blechexpo in Stuttgart, including the Polystrip stripper unit, the electric transporter for the removal of solid materials such as stamped and waste parts and the second generation of Wireless Pressure Monitoring (WPM), as well as new products from the group of slide gates.

DLC coatings are increasingly applied in industries that need to minimise the use of lubricants. For mould making, Hasco offers a comprehensive range of DLC coated components.

AM company XJet will present its portfolio of equipment for ceramic and metal end-to-end additive manufacturing at Formnext 2021, featuring the European debut of the Smart station.

Sweden — For companies to be able to fully utilise the strength of the technology, support is needed in every step along the supply chain ranging from development of new business models to product design and testing in a real production environment. Therefore, Rise is opening up the Application Center for Additive Manufacturing together with industrial and academic partners.

Stratasys is set to return to Frankfurt with a bang, using Formnext (16-19 November 2021) as its European debut for the largest line-up of new technologies, printers, materials and software in the company's history. At the same time, the company continues to pursue its strategy of moving from prototyping to mass production using polymer 3D printing solutions.

Design and engineering business CALLUM can swiftly produce low volume, bespoke production parts in-house for its limited-edition Aston Martin CALLUM Vanquish 25, thanks to the capabilities of the MakerBot METHOD X.

Used machinery dealer Gindumac will be co-exhibiting with KraussMaffei at Fakuma — International Trade Fair for Plastics Processing — in Friedrichshafen, Germany, from October 12-16, 2021. The two companies have already been linked by a strategic partnership for the used machinery business for several years.

Renishaw's Revo 5-axis measurement system delivers high-performance scanning, non-contact inspection and surface finish analysis on a single CMM.

Austria — With the MMV 3200, Emco's customers can define the machine design that suits them best by choosing from the many options. The travelling-column machining centre is available in 3- or 4-axis versions with a B-axis and is designed for heavy chip removal and precision cutting of large and heavy parts.

Italy — The manufacturer of roll grinders, Pomini Tenova, has successfully concluded the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) analysis of Pomini Digital Texturing (PDT) – a technology for surface texturing of rolling mill work rolls.

In an aim to respond to the complexity and growing demand in the sheet metal sector for increasingly heterogeneous tube designs and different formats, Lantek launched its latest software for this application.

Germany — WZL of RWTH Aachen University support companies in identifying proven success factors for the implementation of digital product development.

Italy — At EMO Milano, Umati was connecting more than 50 machines from all over the world, almost half of them remotely. Using the updated Umati dashboard, anyone interested could follow live to see what these machines, connected via the standardised OPC UA for Machine Tools interface, were doing and how they were working.

Intelligent software algorithms are essential for real-time collision avoidance, but they are only half the story. The other half is a well-designed user interface that enables operators to drive the software effectively. In their latest cooperation Module Works, technology providers for digital manufacturing solutions, and the Chiron Group, CNC machine tool manufacturers, put operator experience at the center of a new GUI for the Module Works Collision Avoidance System (CAS).

Italy/Germany — With HRS cool Evo, Oerlikon HRS flow presents a further development of the HRS cool hydraulic cylinder system for hot runner injection moulding, which, thanks to its sophisticated temperature management, does not require active liquid cooling of the actuation unit.

At Fakuma, Mold-Masters introduces a wide range of new technologies in the field of hot runners, controllers, auxiliary injection and co-injection systems.

In this free on demand webinar Husky expert Emmanuel Armand sheds light on the challenges faced by manufacturers of medical products. In particular, the online session focuses on the ability of Integrated OEM Systems — such as machines, hot runners, moulds & controllers — to reduce cost associated with wastage while ensuring performance.

Austrian company Elmet is attending Fakuma 2021 as a one-stop shop supplier for the entire field of injection molding two-component liquid silicone rubbers (LSR).

Seco Tools has announced a new family of flexible, highly productive solid end mills, the Seco JSE510 series. Redesigned to offer the rigidity, chip control and tool life to achieve the lowest possible costs per meter machined in steels, stainless steels, cast iron, titanium and some types of aluminium, these solid end mills provide exceptional process reliability across a broad application range.

Italy — Turkish tool manufacturer Turcar dominated the field of Anca's Tool of the Year competition with its multi-functional tool with axial and radial cutting features to machine five independent operations in one cycle.

Engis Corporation Bore Finishing Division has developed advanced tooling and processes for the precision finishing of dual-diameters in components, enabling step-bores to be finished simultaneously while holding diametrical tolerances under one micron in a production environment.

The circular milling portfolio of Paul Horn was expanded by a productive thread milling up to hole diameters of 8 mm (0.315"). Type 304 precision tools are available as partial and full-profile versions for the production of threads.