News Industry In brief…


Industrial Tooling Corporation (ITC) has launched of its new website (www.itc-ltd.co.uk). The website has user functionality at its core with a number of new features that will enable existing and potential customers to browse with ease. New features include ‘page turning’ technology, so users can browse through the complete product range and a 'technical help' section that gives conversion and hardness charts through to cutting data and parameters for all cutting tools and material types. www.itc-ltd.co.uk


Midlands-based Made in the Midlands is seeking female engineers and local businesses to enter and sponsor its annual Made in the Midlands Awards. By introducing the ‘Women in Engineering’ category for the first time ever, the network is targeting women working within manufacturing who act as role mod- els and encourage more females into the sector. The Award will recognise engineering ability and competences and can be entered by any woman working within a Midlands manufac- turing role, ranging from shop floor to boardroom level. www.madeinthemidlands.com


The Manufacturing Institute has made a number of new appoint- ments to its senior team. Mike Price has been appointed MD – TMI Enterprises and will lead all commercial activity at the Institute, including consultancy services, education and training. Chris Wilkinson has been appointed MD for Fab Labs, the digital manufac- turing facilities which enable peo- ple to design and make prototypes of all descriptions. Donna Edwards joins as head of administration and shared services. They join Mike Innes, who has been appointed to the role of Growth Champion. manufacturinginstitute.co.uk


Fortress Technology has strengthened its business develop- ment/ sales development team. Donna Brown takes on the role of Sales Co-ordinator for UK & Eire. Fiona Wilkins has been appointed in a Business Development role responsible for covering the Midlands and North. Mark Lester takes on a business development role while Kevin Shackell is the Business Development Engineer responsible for Fortress OEMs. www.fortresstechnology.co.uk


Schaeffler takes action against counterfeit bearings


Following a similar operation in 2007 in which 40 tonnes of counterfeit rolling bearings were seized, Schaeffler has destroyed a further 26 tonnes of counterfeit bearings with a value of more than one mil- lion euros. On this occasion, the bearings were destroyed at the premises of Interseroh Franken Rohstoff, a metal


recycling company in Schweinfurt, Germany. A large proportion of the counterfeit Schaeffler bearings were seized in raids on bearing distributors across Europe, including Italy, Germany and the UK. “Brand and product piracy is not something that is limited to China or South East Europe. It also takes place right on our doorstep,” said Ingrid Bichelmeir- Böhn, leader of the Global Brand Protection Team at Schaeffler. “The German and European markets are


no longer flooded with just counterfeit luxury and consumer goods, there has also been an increase in counterfeit safety-critical industrial products such as rolling bearings.” The recent seizure and subsequent process of destroying the various sizes and types of counterfeit rolling bearings involves crushing the bearings in a scrap press.


The press breaks up the bearings into smaller pieces, damaging them so much that they are rendered unusable. Larger-sized bearings with an outside diameter of more than one metre, which were too large for the scrap press, were destroyed manually using a blowtorch.


The spindle bearings, spherical roller bearings, ball bearings and needle roller bearings scrapped during this operation were part of a larger seizure of confis- cated counterfeit products. The majority of these products were disposed of locally under the supervi- sion of the relevant German national authorities. www.schaeffler.co.uk


Metal pressings specialist secures £1m JLR contract


West Bromwich based Berck, spe- cialist in quality metal pressings and metal and plastic subassem- blies, has won a £1m contract with Jaguar Land Rover (JLR).


Having previously worked as a second tier supplier for JLR, the new order marks a continuation in their business relationship, with Berck producing compo- nents for the car manufacturer’s new line of vehicles.


The new contract will see Berck making cable harness assemblies, battery terminal contacts and cable management solutions to eliminate the over-heating of wires in the engine. The extra work has enabled the firm to expand its 63 strong workforce with another two members of staff, adding to their overall number of apprentices and championing the next generation of engineers at the same time.


Already employing two appren- tices in their press show who are undergoing training to qualify as press setters, Managing Director Darren Yates said: “We are really pleased to have taken on another apprentice who is being trained in quality control and in our tool room, as well as a post-graduate who is working in the product design department.” www.bercklimited.co.uk


Sensors & instrumentation showcase next month


Sensors & Instrumentation, a new, dedi- cated exhibition, conference and seminar programme, is taking place in Hall 3 at the NEC, Birmingham on Wednesday 25th and Thursday 26th September 2013. The free-to-attend show, organised by Datateam Business Media in partnership with Trident Exhibitions, combines the solid industry foundations cemented by previous shows Sensing Technology and Sensors and Systems. The result: a single, focused, bigger and undoubtedly better event.


The exhibition will showcase sensors, test and measurement equipment along with a variety of other types of instrumen- tation and will play host to a range of seminars aimed at professionals from areas including: automation; calibration; cases and enclosures; condition monitor- ing; control systems; data acquisition; displays; environmental analysis; flow and level; gas detection; inspection and measurement; instrumentation, thermal imaging and many more.


Just some of the companies that will be exhibiting at this important trade event include: Dewetron; Infratec Infrared; Michell Instruments; Techni Measure;


Factory Equipment JULY/AUGUST 2013


Optris; Rose Plastic; Kistler Instruments; National Instruments; Keller UK; PCB Piezotronics; Global Sensor Technology and FUTEK Advanced Sensor Technology, along with many others.


As well as an exhibitor list featuring a comprehensive collection of market leaders, the show will offer visitors the opportunity to enhance their professional development with a wide-ranging semi- nar programme and an array of innovative workshops. Papers are being submitted and discussed from National Instruments; Kistler Instruments; NPL; The Profibus Group and Techni Measure. In particular, Andy Mangel, Managing Director at Bronkhorst, will be discussing the manu- facturer’s new ultra flow coriolis meter. Visitors to the show will also benefit


from an exciting event co-location, pro- viding easy access to nearby shows Micro | Nano | Mems 2013, The Machine Building Show 2013, TCT Live and


Mediplas. Due to the significant overlap in technology usage within these sectors, more visitors than ever are expected to attend the UK’s only event of this kind. The National Physics Laboratory is also endorsing the event. Pete Moores, Business Development Manager, NPL Training, said: “The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is pleased to be exhibit- ing and presenting at Sensors & Instrumentation 2013. It is a great oppor- tunity for us to meet and network with all the key players in this sector at one event. This year we will be providing a preview of our new Instrumentation and Sensors training course, so delegates can get a taster on the underpinning principles of measurement good practice, which can really make a difference within their work- places, giving them the opportunity to generate a return on investment and improve measurement capability.” www.sensorsandinstrumentation.co.uk


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