Instead of having to inspect large components in two steps, GT Tooling invested in a portable arm with a reach of two metres. The Freedom arm from LK Metrology provides accurate results when the company is measuring dimensions to general drawing tolerances of ± 0.1 mm and accelerates the inspection process at the same time.

Highly complex contour areas required the smallest cutter diameters with 5-µm accuracy on 384 measuring fields, and extremely long machine runtimes: The Spe-Chip microfluidic sample carrier mould was in a league of its own. The toolmaking department at Erwin Quarder Systemtechnik in Espelkamp in Germany's Eastern Westphalia managed the project — with support from Moldino.

When it comes to solutions for plastic parts, Rodinger Kunststoff-Technik is a first address. From the idea to the construction of the injection moulding tool to the production of the individual part or the assembly, RKT offers complete solutions from one source. In toolmaking, Rodinger relies on tools from OSG.

The virtual commissioning of customer-specific machines has the greatest leverage in terms of improving product quality, costs and throughput time. Until now, model creation has been costly and uneconomical due to the lack of mechatronic modular building block systems. Let's take a look at the effects of digital twins for virtual commissioning.

Alsameca from the French town of Lutterbach has made a name for itself in these industries with high-quality cutting tools. When it comes to finding solutions for special cutting applications, the company works closely with the coating expert Cemecon — for example in the field of diamond-coated cutting inserts.

NSK has developed a new type of ball screw that exhibits reduced motion errors to deliver higher surface finish quality for machine tools used in mould and die machining and other surface-critical applications. By eliminating or reducing the time needed for secondary burnishing or polishing applications, the new ball screw also contributes to higher productivity, while simultaneously reducing the amount of drive torque to save energy.

Taipei International Machine Tool Show, also known as Timtos, will return in 2023 from March 6 to 11 at Nangang Exhibition Center. With 1,000+ exhibitors in nearly 6,100 booths, the 2023 edition will be the largest trade show ever recorded after Taiwan has recently lifted all its border controls since the Covid-19 outbreak.

Orders for German machine tool manufacturers have held up well so far, despite all the adverse factors. Although the growth is clearly slowing, both September and the third quarter as a whole were positive, says Dr. Wilfried Schäfer, Executive Director of the German Machine Tool Builders' Association (VDW).

Despite all the headwinds in the economy, manufacturing has had a buoyant 2022, if Hurco's experience selling its machine tools is anything to go by. Order intake in monetary value was close to a record high, beaten only just by the exceptional figures posted in 2018.

On Saturday 15th October, BI-MU, the biennial exhibition of machine tools, robotics, automation, digital and additive manufacturing closed its 33rd edition. Ucimu-Sistemi Per Produrre, the Italian machine tools, robots and automation systems manufacturers' association, and the organiser Efim report high visitor numbers and satisfied exhibitors.