For over two decades, Premier Precision Tooling, a Hampshire-based company, has supplied the F1 industry with a range of meticulously crafted components. However, maintaining a competitive edge in such a fast-paced sector requires not only expertise but also the right technology, such as modern EDM machines from Mitsubishi.

Digitisation efforts in metal cutting manufacturing tend to come from machine, control or software providers. This time, a tool manufacturer is presenting new approaches to process optimisation: Hufschmied Zerspanungssysteme offers acoustic inline quality control and an associated cloud platform.

Manufacturers wishing to progress from manual metrology to using a CNC coordinate measuring machine (CMM) have a new option to consider — the new Alto 6.5.5 from CMM manufacturer LK Metrology. Appealing to the entry-point of the CMM market, the machine has guideways made from aluminium, lowering the capital cost compared with making those components from ceramic.

In its 20,000 sq ft, purpose-built factory in Hayes, near London Heathrow airport, subcontractor Wellington Engineering uses 45 CNC machine tools to produce parts for sectors as diverse as aerospace, medical, semiconductors and cryogenics. The latest machine to arrive on the shop floor, in mid-2022, was a Hurco VC500i machining centre.

One of the key measures of sustainable manufacturing is the reduction or elimination, where possible, of waste. How can CNC simulation and optimisation software minimise or eliminate the various types of waste within a manufacturing business, with an underlying aim to reduce, re-use and recycle?

Facing rising production costs, scarcity of skilled labor, and a demand for lower manufacturing prices, WTO, a precision toolholder manufacturer, takes a groundbreaking leap into the future. Partnering with workholding technology manufacturer, Hainbuch, WTO launches a fully automated Smart Factory where all processes are robot-controlled, revolutionising the manufacturing industry.

With its own press shop serving the production facility of a major automotive plant in Eastern Europe, Essex-based Alpine Tools recently entered the market for a new wire EDM machine. Faced with a requirement to manufacture tools for its in-house press operations and various subcontract customers, the company selected a Sodick VL600Q CNC.

Software company CG Tech will showcase its expanded range of software applications for the aerospace industry in Hall 4, Booth E92, at the Paris Air Show between 19th – 23rd June 2023.

From 13 to 16 June, Messe Stuttgart will once again be staging the Moulding Expo. With almost 400 exhibitors, the international trade fair offers the top manufacturers all about innovative processes and services in the field of tool, model and mould making. Speedpart from Hasloch/Main will also be there and will be presenting its innovative mould making process complemented by 3D printing.

European manufacturing companies are faced with multiple challenges when competing internationally. However, these very same difficulties are also giving rise to some remarkable innovations. The smart use of digitalisation — including artificial intelligence — in combination with robotics and automation solutions can bring about major leaps in productivity and help raise competitiveness on a long-term basis.