Industrial Technology

Powerful braking in a compact and lightweight package

The XS-series of spring actuated, electrically released brakes from Warner Electric - part of the Altra Industrial Motion Corporation - has been developed specifically to meet stringent space and weight requirements, providing reliable braking performance in a package weighing as little as 27g. Designed as statically engaged holding brakes, the XS units can also be used to stop a moving load in exceptional situations.

17th May 2017

Smaller, lighter air preparation units

IMI Precision Engineering has advanced its portfolio of air preparation products with the introduction of the lighter and smaller IMI Norgren Excelon Plus. The latest generation of air preparation equipment, Excelon Plus is a modular filter, regulator, lubricator (FRL) range suitable for all industrial applications. Designed with safety in mind, it combines great performance and is compact and lightweight.

17th May 2017

In-line wash flow safety screens take filtration to a higher level

Protecting components from contamination is essential in critical fluid control applications, such as those found in the aerospace, power generation and automotive industries. While many systems are designed to be relatively immune to low levels of small size contaminants, single larger rogue particles can cause blockages which could result in system failure and downtime.

17th May 2017

Kanban without the cards

Werma’s Stocksaver is a simple to retrofit to existing FIFO flow racking that solves many typical Kanban issues, increases significantly the floor space for value adding activities and increases cash flow. Stocksaver automatically calls up material replenishment requirements and thereby reduces the margin for human error and will significantly cut the amount of line-side safety stock being held.

17th May 2017

Data holds the key to refining processes

Nathan Sheaff of Sciemetric Instruments highlights five things you can easily do with your process data right now.

17th May 2017

Value through visualisation

Big data is one of the most talked-about technology trends of the past decade. Lee Sullivan of Copa-Data explains the value of big data in the manufacturing industry and the best practice for industrial data acquisition and visualisation.

17th May 2017

The forces and moments of rotating wheels

The automotive industry uses computer aided design (CAD) and computer aided engineering (CAE) widely to reduce design and development time and costs whilst improving quality and durability of the end product. Almost every aspect of a new design, from manufacturing processes to dynamic performance, can be verified before any metal is cut. One area where this is not true is in the tyre performance arena where the ability to model tyre performance is far less well developed. Jaguar Land Rover is one company taking steps to close the gap by using the best available technology to generate the real world data essential for accurate tyre modelling.

17th May 2017

Safety refurb improves machine efficiency

One of the UK’s most prestigious food packaging companies has implemented a full machine refurbishment on one of their busy production lines. The refurbishment included the complete upgrade of the functional safety system. Elobau safety switches had been providing trouble free operation for over 15 years on the original machine, so naturally, the company was again approached to assist in selecting the appropriate replacement safety switches that would offer the required improvements to the design and efficiency of the line, and would also meet the requirements of the new, more stringent, environmental conditions. After initial design consultations, Elobau’s 171 range of M30 stainless steel switches was chosen.

17th May 2017

Custom enclosure lets public interact and play with robot

ABB has supplied a custom enclosure for the inaugural exhibition at London’s brand new Design Museum. The exhibition includes an installation by artist Madeline Gannon with an interactive 1,200kg ABB industrial robot that is separated from visitors by ABB’s Jokab Safety Quick-Guard safety fencing. The fencing provides a protective and transparent barrier that allows the public to interact and play with the robot in safety while giving clear and uninterrupted visibility.

17th May 2017