Manufacturers are increasingly requesting maximum flexibility from their OEM suppliers. Plants where products are moved with rigid timing between coupled subsystems do not provide this flexibility, whereas independently controlled workpiece carriers (WPC) can make all the difference. The added flexibility can bring enormous benefits for both manufacturers and their OEM suppliers.
At busy container seaports, Contrinex's C23PA photoelectric sensors help ‘get a grip’ of shipping containers on straddle-carriers, the purpose-designed container-handling vehicles which operate around the clock, loading, unloading and stacking containers.
KEB has been supplying spring-applied brakes for the theatre and stage industry for more than 40 years. From deck winches and turntables, to line shaft hoists and orchestra lifts, a range of factors should be considered when specifying brakes, says Jonathan Bullick of KEB Automation.
Engineers at the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) have saved a knife manufacturer valuable time and wasted energy by simulating the manufacturing process and estimating the production costs of introducing additive manufacturing (AM) in its production process.
When Emma Sisman joined Niftylift two years ago she had ‘little to no experience or knowledge’ of engineering and manufacturing. She’s now the second highest skilled person in her department heading up a waste reduction project that cut the cost of lost-in-production parts by 80 percent, saving the company on average £29,000 per month.