briefs


Sunny idea Belgian sheet metalworking company LVD Company nv last year completed the second phase of a solar panel installation for production facilities.


generate more than 30% of the company’s yearly electricity. In addition to decreasing LVD’s power consumption, the solar cell installation also feeds renewable source power back to Belgium’s national grid during weekends and holidays.


Motor savings Last year, Siemens Financial Services published a study (http://is.gd/fGa3Oy) saying that the adoption of Variable Speed Drives (VSDs) for motors could save UK industry up to £2,512 million of energy cost savings within the next five years. Between 50-70% of industrial processes could benefit from VSD, yet penetration of VSD, as a proportion of installed motors, is still low, it said.


Kasto Open House event On 23 and 24 February, Kasto (01908 571590) will hold in- house seminars and demonstrations, aimed particularly at oil and gas and aerospace sector materials, in conjunction with bandsaw blade manufacturers, Lenox and Wikus. Lenox will supply coated


Efficiently held Workholding specialist Roemheld last year launched an energy- efficient hydraulic power unit with a predictive pressure cut-off switch. The motor only uses electricity to run the clamps in and out, and to build up operating pressure. It switches off at the relevant times, courtesy of a patented intelligent pressure switch, designed by Roemheld (0121 453 1414).


blades, while Wikus, represented by UK agent Harrison Saws, will provide an uncoated variety. The theme will be 'Profit by Performance' and a KASTOtec AC4 will support ‘cost per cut’ trials on titanium and stainless steel bar. http://bit.ly/tELZdr


Thread milling benefits As well as the cost-saving benefits of creating screw threads by thread milling, rather than by drilling and tapping, tooling specialist Vargus (01952 583 222) says it can cut energy consumption levels and, therefore, users’ electricity bills.


Online ordering Bristol-headquartered specialist steel stockholder Woodberry Chillcott, a Barrett Steel Group company, has introduced a new secure online ordering system. The system, says the company, "combines all the benefits of traditional customer service values with up-to-date digital technology and speed of response". http://bit.ly/vzwUI9


Micro-Precision expands Hemel Hempstead–based Micro- Precision Gear Technology has expanded its factory and installed new machinery, investing £2 million as part of the process. Business is booming, both for its precision gear component business and its high precision assembly service, with orders from motorsport teams and subcontract work for civil aerospace and military-related hardware specifically highlighted. The extension added another 15,000 ft2 to the company's facilities, taking it to 20,000 ft2 of factory space and 6,000 ft2 of office space. http://bit.ly/uztTbg


The solar panel installation can


Energy-efficient sliding-head regenerates and more


Launched early last year, Citizen’s latest generation top-of-the-range M32 CNC sliding-head, the M32- VIII, features a variety of energy-saving features (01923 691500). Regenerative technology reduces


overall power consumption by almost 6%, while faster cycle times save up to 30% in normal non- cutting times. In addition, there are increased use of recyclable materials and greater levels of operational flexibility.


Significant in the machine


development was a sole joint venture in Japan between Citizen and electronics giant Mitsubishi on the Cincom control and spindle motors that enables both main and sub-spindles to regenerate power. In addition, an immediate saving of 90% of the machine’s consumption can be made when it is switched on, but not in production. Citizen’s Cincom control incorporates a graphical ECO-


Monitor that reads and displays information, including power consumption, and highlights performance ratios of operational times and set-up, alarmed stoppages, cutting against non- cutting and overall times lost when the machine is not operating. With the overall ECO package incorporated into the M32-VIII, based on the same component


Index and Traub promote Eco technologies


German company Index-Werke and its subsidiary Traub (Geo Kingsbury Machine Tools, 023 9258 0371), both members of CECIMO’s Blue Competence initiative, are promoting their eco credentials under six headings, all prefixed Eco: Energy, Design, Fluid, Cool, Control and Set-up. Under ‘Energy’ are regenerative technology, enhanced efficiency synchronous motors in all axes and spindles, and high acceleration/rapid rates, leading to shortest machining times. Design includes low energy requirements through innovative axis kinematics and reduced-weight moving elements, together with process integration/multi-process machining. Control sees intelligent standby and automatic shutdown of auxiliary components. New is fluid control of coolant,


which sees pressure-driven control of low and high pressure coolant, with pump speed continuously and automatically adjusted to deliver only the amount actually needed.


produced on the previous generation M32, cycle time was reduced from 55.7 secs to 48.5 secs, a saving of 12.9%. In addition to this, machine features such as automatic optimisation of axis overlap not only reduce non-cutting elements by up to 30%, but contribute to smoother action, reducing the likelihood of vibration.


Less to landfill


The UK operation of the world’s leading aircraft landing gear manufacturer, Messier-Bugatti- Dowty (MBD), is on course to achieve its UK ‘zero waste to landfill’ target by 2015. The company’s waste management partner, Cleansing Service Group, says that three years after the introduction of a Total Waste Management (TWM) programme at MBD’s UK base in Gloucester, waste audit figures show the company is now recycling around 76% of its by- products – a rise of 64%. By concentrating on treatment


and recovery, including the use of waste to energy, as well as increasing the segregation of dry waste to maximise recycling, CSG believes the target will be reached.


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May 2013 www.machinery.co.uk


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