Germany — From 12 to 16 October, companies from the plastics industry will meet in Friedrichshafen for Fakuma. Almost 1500 exhibitors will present their product ranges at the international trade fair for plastics processing. The Association of German Tool and Moldmakers (VDWF) will also be present with its joint stand in 2021.

Germany — Formnext, the international trade fair for additive manufacturing and industrial 3D printing, is all set to welcome industry players from across the globe in November. Showcasing the next generation of intelligent industrial production, this year’s hybrid show will take place in Frankfurt, Germany.

CAES, provider of mission critical electronic solutions for aerospace and defense, has announced the construction of its new additive manufacturing (AM) operations in Exeter, New Hampshire. The dedicated 3D printing laboratory supports CAES’ partnership with SWISSto12, provider of 3D printed technology for RF applications in the aerospace and defense industry, to bring additive manufacturing solutions and services to US-based customers.

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.

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

When long-established cutting tool manufacturer AA Tools was acquired by new owners in 2014, the objective was to modernise the shop floor equipment with the very latest CNC machine tool technology. For the bespoke cutting tool manufacturer, the acquisition trail included a CNC tool and cutter grinder, a 4th-axis machining centre, a live tooling turning centre, an EDM drilling machine and a Mitsubishi MV1200R wire EDM machine from the Engineering Technology Group (ETG).

USA — For its upcoming space projects, Lockheed Martin plans to extend its use of Makerbot 3D printers to produce parts and designs of a lunar rover. The AM solution is to enable the engineers to design, develop, and test autonomous systems and processes.

Birmingham-based company Robo Challenge bring robots such as fighting bots to live in popular TV shows. In the entertainment industry, it's not only important to impress the audience but also to meet strict deadlines. To be able to come up with even more impressive innovations, and meet these demands, the company recently invested in a Quasar Machining centre.

EDM machines offer precision accuracy, however, the process can be challenging. It is vital that the machine's systems are equally efficient, especially it's fluid management and filter efficiency. This is where magnetic filters come in as it is capable of filtering fine-particles and micron-sized particles from dielectric fluids in EDM machines which makes sure that the fluid is clean and protected from contamination.

The system supplier for machine tools, Haimer, is a premium partner and supporter of the Augsburger Panther hockey team in the German Hockey League. The company took this opportunity to demonstrate the performance capabilities of its tools and tool holders by creating a model panther. The CAM specialists at Open Mind took on the challenging programming task using their Hypermill software.