News Industry Drives & Controls 2014 to be held in April at the NEC
DFA MEDIA, ORGANISER of the Drives & Controls exhibition, has announced that the next show will be taking place in Hall 3/3A at the NEC, Birmingham, on 8th to 10th April 2014, and is already optimistic that both exhibitor and visitor numbers will exceed those of the 2012 show. At the last event, visi- tor numbers totalled 11,146 – an increase of 29% over the previous one in 2010. In 2014, the exhibition is expected to feature over 300 exhibitors covering the latest in mechanical power transmission, motion con- trol and automation, with products on display ranging from motors and drives, motion con- trol, and mechanical components, to machine safety solutions, programmable controls, sensors, and test and measurement equipment. Of additional benefit to visitors, the event will once again be co-located with Plant & Asset Management and Air-Tech, together with the Fluid Power & Systems Exhibition, the newly launched European Offshore & Energy Exhibition, and MACH.
There will also be a full programme of
UK car manufacturing on the increase
ACCORDING TO SMMT – Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders – UK manufacturers built 91,282 cars in August, up 12,705 units on 2012. This third successive monthly gain pushes year-to-date volumes up 3.1% to 984,545 units.
“UK car manufacturing is continuing to grow with global automotive brands building on UK-based design, R&D and engi- neering expertise to produce some of the world’s most dynamic, dependable and desirable vehi- cles,” said Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive. “Despite August typically being one of the year’s quietest months due to summer breaks, the past 12 months has been the most productive since late 2008.”
www.smmt.co.uk Wire parts overmoulding
SPRING AND WIRE components manufacturer, William Hughes, has introduced an overmoulding capability for wire parts. The new process dispenses with the need for metal retaining clips in assem- blies such as car seats – providing an assembly that is both strong and fast to manufacture.
The components are brought together using special tooling designed by William Hughes and two vertical injection moulding machines perform the moulding process to complete the assembly.
www.wmhughes.co.uk
Design Solutions OCTOBER 2013
technical seminars, with speakers offering expert insight and practical advice on impor- tant and topical issues.
New to Drives & Controls 2014 will be the
Motor Driven Systems (MDS) programme, which brings together the varied strands of legislation, standardisation, system strate- gies and technological developments that affect motor driven systems. Featuring representatives from the UK Government, the EU, research bodies, trade associations, manufacturers and end users, MDS focuses on practical solutions to real-life industry requirements. MDS presents a series of live events that focus on ways to make savings a reality by applying a systems engineering approach to reduce energy, improve perfor- mance and ultimately save money. Doug Devlin, exhibition sales director, said: “Already, we are up on bookings for 2014 and have increased space to accommo- date the demand. And, with the launch of our new exhibition, European Offshore & Energy, this will substantially increase the ‘footfall’.
The impressive visitor numbers for Drives & Controls and its co-located shows in 2012 confirmed increasing growth and confidence within manufacturing and engineering.” Ian Atkinson, managing director of event organiser, DFA Media, added: “For 2014 we will build on the success of our 2012 shows by further improving the look and layout of each exhibition within our co-location of events, as well as making it as easy as possible for visitors to navigate their way around each separate event.”
www.drives-expo.com
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New 3D software portfolio launched
DASSAULT SYSTÈMES has introduced SolidWorks 2014, a 3D software portfolio featuring 3D CAD, simulation, product data management, technical communi- cation and electrical design. According to the company, this will help product designers trans- fer their creative ideas from design sketches and images into 3D models faster than before. Michael Lewis, senior mechani- cal engineer, Rethink Robotics, commented: “SolidWorks 2014 is the quintessential example of developers listening to what the users want and need, and making that a reality.”
www.solidworks.com
Cable transit seals help ensure offshore rig safety
ROXTEC HAS completed a deal to supply a series of drilling rig upgrades at the Able shipyard in Hartlepool. The company’s multi cable transit seals will be used to protect the jack-up drill rigs (operated by Ensco) from the risks of jet fire, flooding and explosion.
“Roxtec is an integral safety component on an offshore rig such as this,” commented Roxtec’s UK managing director, Graham O’Hare.
www.roxtec.com Steering wheel design for
supersonic car unveiled A SPECIALIST TEAM of Cambridge Design Partnership (CDP) engineers have been working on the Bloodhound Project since January 2013 – and have now unveiled the final steering wheel design for the supersonic car.
Karl Hewson, usability and design engineer, said: “With the Bloodhound car travelling a mile every 3.6 seconds, efficiency is of paramount impor- tance and the smallest details could mean the difference between success and failure. “We retained the original geometry derived from the clay model of the grip area and reposi- tioned the forward facing button locations to fit within Andy’s thumb pivot points. The new layout now allows a single fluid rotation movement of the thumb to transition from the power grip used when driving into an activa- tion grip required to press but- tons. This revised position could save between 0.5 and three foot- ball pitches of distance during the deceleration phase of each run; time which is vital when prepar- ing the car for its return run.” The final steering wheel will be manufactured using the latest titanium additive manufacturing technology.
www.cambridge-design.co.uk
In brief
Amplicon has become the official technical distributor of INSYS icom’s industrial data communication prod- uct portfolio. The new partnership will provide customers with a wider spectrum of innovative telecommuni- cations solutions whilst reinforcing Amplicon’s competence as the one- stop-shop for data communications products.
www.amplicon.com
Intertronics has announced the availability of the UV LED Phoseon product range in a new UK and Ireland agreement. Intertronics’ MD Peter Swanson, commented: “We believe that by adding Phoseon’s offerings to Intertronics products we can provide our customers with sig- nificant options for their UV materials and curing equipment needs.”
www.intertronics.co.uk
Invensys has acquired InduSoft, a provider of HMI and embedded intelligent device software for the automation market. “The acquisition of InduSoft repre- sents the continuing execution of our strategy to strengthen our portfolio through inorganic means,” said Ravi Gopinath, president of Invensys’ soft- ware business.”
www.invensys.com
Molex Incorporated has completed the acquisition of FCT Electronics Group, a specialist in the design and manufacture of custom mixed-layout connectors and cable assemblies.
www.molex.com 5
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