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.

When machining a component, tool wear and the metal removal rate are the decisive factors. Machine learning can provide a valuable contribution to the optimisation of production costs by supporting the decision-making process for tool changes.

On 21 February 2023, at an Open House event held in its Laser Center of Technologies in Geneva (Switzerland) with more than 70 international VIP guests, GF Machining Solutions presented its new Laser S 1000 U fs and Laser S 1200 U fs machines in an exclusive preview. The two solutions are equipped with new ultrashort pulse Laser sources and are available for sale now.

Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, allows Seco Tools to create products that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to manufacture. The advantages include shorter lead times, improved tool life and increased sustainability.

In addition to the M5009 (к 45°) and the M5012 (к 88°), Walter is now launching another Xtra-tec XT face milling cutter in the form of the M5011 (к 75°). All three milling cutters can be equipped with the tough, double-sided SN.X1205 system insert with 8 cutting edges.

The 28th Fakuma international trade fair for plastics processing is being awaited with great anticipation. The trade fair for injection moulding, which also serves as a technology and industry barometer for extrusion technology, thermoforming and 3D printing, will offer information on new solutions and provide fresh impetus for circular economy in Friedrichshafen from the 17th through the 21st of October, 2023.

From the 6th to the 11th March 2023, the international trade fair for the metalworking industry took place in Taiwan. More than 45,000 visitors came to Timtos 2023, including nearly 6,000 international visitors from more than 100 countries.

In micro-injection moulding, the size of the production is increasing as we move forward in time and now often runs into millions. Scientists at the Kunststoff-Zentrum (Plastics Centre) in Leipzig/Germany (KUZ), together with Hasco, developed a technology for economical production on conventional injection moulding machines.

Siebenwurst makes large hydroforming tools for complex automotive parts, among other things. For the automotive supplier Benteler, the efficiency experts are currently building a tool for axle carriers in which three different components are formed. For the cylinders, they are relying on special models from their partner AHP Merkle, which has proven itself for decades.

Poorly implemented factory planning is costly. But those who plan a factory stumble over potential mistakes again and again. Here are five common mistakes in factory planning.