Rosemarie Stahl

Plastic doesn't have a good reputation, and there are plenty reasons for this. However, our everyday life today would be inconceivable without plastic. Is it too easy a thing to condemn the material?

Last year, Dormer Pramet in Šumperk, Czech Republic, inaugurated its Experience Centre. During a tour of the new and old buildings, the manufacturer of indexable inserts presented itself as an innovative company with a comprehensive R&D department and state-of-the-art technology.

Gotools is a British company located in Rotherham, a 90-minute drive from Birmingham. In only a little over five years of existence, the company has managed to record a growth of around 50% per year. All that success started with the decision to buy a new EDM machine.

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.

In most cases, technical innovations that have a great impact on many areas of everyday live also have an impact on the language we use to talk about them. Sometimes, new words are introduced. Think of the internet or the smartphone, for example. In some cases, it is a little bit more difficult, especially when words that describe the new phenomenon already exist. But are they always fitting?

Günther Hot Runner Technology is known to most toolmakers. Even though the company has a sales and service network all over the world today, the company still manufactures exclusively in Germany. ETMM spoke with Managing Director Siegrid Sommer and Head of Sales and Technical Consulting Horst-Werner Bremmer about what distinguishes Günther from other hot runner providers.

At the recently held ISTMA General Assembly in Brazil, Bob Williamson was elected President for the next three-year period. Williamson is the representative of TASA (Toolmaking Association of South Africa) at the International Special Tooling and Machining Association.

While many manufacturers are already automating their processes, or at least some of them, they may have bigger problems inviting their employees on the journey towards Industry 4.0. Many workers in the industry fear for their jobs. But do they have to? And how can manufacturers prepare their workforce for digitalisation?

Walther Wolf is one of those mould makers that is constantly optimising manufacturing processes. When they wanted to further perfect their automation in machining electrodes, they turned to Zimmer & Kreim to build an automated 23-metre-long machining centre: A Chameleon.

Somewhere in the Portuguese no-man’s land between Lisbon and Porto there are two cities simply brimming with plastic injection mould makers. With 150 companies, Marinha Grande is home to one of these clusters. Some streets here are lined with nothing but mould makers.

Is globalisation a blessing or a curse? During the last year, everything pointed towards the latter. The influence of politics on the European economy has been particularly strong in 2016. The future impact on European tool and mould makers is uncertain.

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.

Compared to other materials, aluminium is rather simple to machine. At least it seems much more effortless than steel, for example. Nevertheless, there are several mistakes that can be made when machining this material, including the choice of the wrong tool, that impact productivity.

Günther Hot Runner Technology is known to most toolmakers. Even though the company has a sales and service network all over the world today, the company still manufactures exclusively in Germany. ETMM spoke with Managing Director Siegrid Sommer and Head of Sales and Technical Consulting Horst-Werner Bremmer about what distinguishes Günther from other hot runner providers.

When joining metals together, the usual method is welding. This, however, leads to changes in their structure as well as their appearance. Researchers have now developed an alternative that is able to join aluminium alloys with each other and with polymers.

The fax and telephone era in the steel and metal trading business is coming to an end. The winners will be the traders who have been quick and purposeful in the digitisation of their processes. The development will lead to fully automatic steel supply via the Internet of Things – with or without steel traders.

The Purmundus Challenge is looking for smart 3D printing technology: At the next Formenxt powered by tct exhibition, the winners of the Purmundus challenge will be announced.

No, additive manufacturing will not replace mass production processes any time soon. However, as a supporting technology, it can improve mould-making processes drastically, upgrading manufacturing efficiency.

For the tenth time, Control will be held at the Stuttgart Exhibition Centre. 538,000m² of exhibition floor space will attract visitors from all over the globe to learn about the latest developments and innovations in measuring, testing and analysing.

How will the supplier industry develop once the combustion engine becomes obsolete? Experts give the all-clear: Electric motors continue to rely on castings. Yet foundries and die-casting companies still need to prepare themselves for the transformation.

Eleven years after its accession to the EU, Bulgaria faces a political challenge; in the first half of 2018, it holds the EU presidency for the first time. Prime Minister Boiko Borisov wishes to use the presidency to drive the EU integration of the entire region of South-Eastern Europe.

Conventional chucks or face plates reach their limits in cutting applications where thin walled parts are concerned. the parts are deformed in the clamping process, shaping and geometric tolerances are difficult to adhere to and the interference contours of the clamping devices restrict the accessibility. However, there are alternatives.

Aircraft manufacturers, automotive OEMs and designers: When rapid production of small batches of complex parts is required, more and more companies are turning to 3D metal printing. However, there are ways for traditional foundries to make friends with the competing manufacturing method.

Germany - At the annual press conference of VDW, Dr Heinz-Jürgen Prokop, chairman of VDW, was optimistic about future trends in the German machine tool sector. Political insecurities in UK and US, however, dampen the enthusiasm at the beginning of the year.

The future of tool manufacturing is a smart one: Industry 4.0 is advancing quickly and demands not only smart factories but also smart tools. Data analysis and adaptability are key for keeping up to date.

Somewhere in the Portuguese no-man’s land between Lisbon and Porto there are two cities simply brimming with plastic injection mould makers. With 150 companies, Marinha Grande is home to one of these clusters. Some streets here are lined with nothing but mould makers.

Gotools is a British company located in Rotherham, a 90-minute drive from Birmingham. In only a little over five years of existence, the company has managed to record a growth of around 50% per year. All that success started with the decision to buy a new EDM machine.

Plastic doesn't have a good reputation, and there are plenty reasons for this. However, our everyday life today would be inconceivable without plastic. Is it too easy a thing to condemn the material?

Cost pressure and fierce global competition are nothing new to toolmakers. Still, the industry is constantly changing and 2018 comes with other problems than those of 2008. What does 2018 have in store for tooling and moulding?

VDW, organiser of Metav 2018, has invited journalist to an international press conference hosted by Phoenix Contact. Main topics of this event were digital process chains, additive manufacturing, and Industry 4.0.

Last year, Dormer Pramet in Šumperk, Czech Republic, inaugurated its Experience Centre. During a tour of the new and old buildings, the manufacturer of indexable inserts presented itself as an innovative company with a comprehensive R&D department and state-of-the-art technology.