The 23rd edition of the international sheet metalworking technology exhibition has closed its doors in Hanover, Germany, after five successful exhibition days. A total of 59,600 trade visitors came to visit the show.
The organiser also reported a record number of 1,573 exhibitors from 38 countries. Together, they put a wide range of innovative solutions, cutting edge technology and an enormous amount of live machine demonstration on display, on a total net floor space of 86,500 sq m.
While the exhibitor numbers were up by five percent compared to the previous show, and the exhibition space increased by three percent, the visitor numbers remained basically the same. The results of the preliminary visitor survey showed a further shift towards highly qualified trade visitors.
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US: August manufacturing technology orders totaled US$356.69 million in the US according to AMT — The Association for Manufacturing Technology. This total was up 0.4 percent from July but down 6.0 percent when compared with the total of US$379.26 million reported for August 2013. With a year-to-date total of US$3,076.98 million, 2014 is down 2.4 percent compared with 2013.
“US manufacturing activity remains at a brisk pace, and especially encouraging for manufacturing technology orders was a recent uptick in durable goods orders, particularly in aerospace, automotive, and several other key industries,” said Douglas K Woods, president of AMT.
“There has also been good news in factory employment as more manufacturers add workers to their payrolls. With AMT’s Global Forecasting & Marketing Conference taking place this week in Detroit featuring some of the top industry analysts and economists, we believe we will be hearing more positive news from their forecasts for the manufacturing technology industry over the next few years.”
Staying in the US, the country’s cutting tool consumption was down 2.7 percent in August, totaling US$166 million, according to the US Cutting Tool Institute and AMT. This figure is also a 3.0 percent drop on the y-o-y numbers.
“August has traditionally been a period of slower sales for the cutting tool industry due to summer holidays and automotive model change-overs,” said Tom Haag, president of USCTI. “The three-month rolling average actually shows the sales as fairly steady throughout the summer. The third quarter should close much stronger with September bringing the industry back to full speed and the IMTS exhibition driving new interest with record attendance.”
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Singapore: Honeywell has announced its new global partner program for its scanning and mobility business. According to the company, the program is designed to allow for simplified processes, improved ease of doing business for partners and increased opportunities for collaboration. The program will begin January 1, 2015.
“The new performance partner program is designed to empower our vital network of channel partners to drive continued growth and support for our mutual customers in a dynamic business and technology environment within Asia Pacific,” said Dino Koutrouki, VP & GM, Asia Pacific, Honeywell Scanning & Mobility.
“Partners will be able to benefit from the comprehensive solution offerings based on our newly integrated business offerings. We recognise all of our partners for their exemplary efforts on our behalf and look forward to another great year.”
Read more...Kyeong-Ju, South Korea: Delcam’s South Korean joint venture, Hankook Delcam, held its 25th user group conference at the Hyundai Hotel in Kyeong-Ju recently. With over 1,300 attendees at the event, it set a new record number for the event, reinforcing its position as the world’s largest meeting for CAM users.
The meeting was the first major event to be held for South Korean users since the acquisition of Delcam by Autodesk in February. The audience was, therefore, especially interested in the presentations from Delcam president, Clive Martell, and Buzz Kross, senior VP for Design, Lifecycle and Simulation products at Autodesk.
Mr Martell said that the acquisition represented the company’s own ‘Big Jump Up’. “Autodesk brings to Delcam increased financial strength, unparalleled expertise in design, and a long history of making technology accessible to broad audiences. Through sharing our technology and expertise, this transaction will transform industries and improve how the world is designed and made,” he commented.
The meeting also featured the awards ceremony for the winners of the South Korean section of 3rd Global CAM Skill Competition, who have qualified for the World Championships to be held at the company’s headquarters in Birmingham early next year. This competition, which was open to local high school and college students, is held each year as part of Hankook Delcam’s support for the development of CAM software skills to meet the needs of the country’s manufacturing industry.
Read more...Singapore: Thales has inaugurated the Thales Innovation Hub Singapore, which represents the Group’s first multidisciplinary innovation centre outside of Europe.
The concept behind this Hub is to seek inspiration from Asian concepts, Asian innovation and Asian thinking, to arrive at a deeper understanding of the operational needs of clients in the region, and design new products and services that address these specific requirements.
The Thales team will engage customers in user centered innovation, codesigning, prototyping and testing new ideas and concepts across domains ranging from defence, maritime security to aerospace, air traffic management and smart cities.
For Jean-Bernard Lévy, Chairman and CEO, Thales: “Innovation is in our DNA. Thales invests more in research and technology than most other industrial groups and with this inauguration we reaffirm this commitment to innovation. By leveraging the multi-cultural and multidisciplinary Thales teams in Asia and across the world, the entire technology and research portfolio of the Group can be accessed by local clients to meet their needs in each of our strategic countries like Singapore.”
Read more...Japan: The total value of machine tool orders in August was JPY128.19 billion (US$1.2 billion). This was an increase of 0.3 percent compared to July and marked the third consecutive month-on-month growth. In addition, this figure represented an increase of 35.5 percent compared to the same month of the previous year, with August posting the eleventh consecutive month of year-on-year growth.
The total amount of orders has now topped JPY100 billion for 12th consecutive months and has also passed JPY120 billion for six consecutive months.
Both domestic and foreign demands are expected to be driven by a recovery trend in the future. Foreign orders rose by 1.4 percent over July to JPY86.25 billion. This marked the third consecutive month-on-month increase. At the same time, foreign orders showed an increase of 45.7 percent over the same month of the previous year, with August posting the 10th consecutive month of year-on-year growth.
Finally, orders from Asia rose by 7.6 percent over July to JPY48.70 billion. This was an increase of 107.3 percent over the same month of the previous year. Orders from Europe suffered a reversal of 17.2 percent from July to JPY14.09 billion. Despite weaker figures, it was still an increase of 31.7 percent over the same month of the previous year. In North America, orders rose by 3.6 percent over July, amounting to JPY22.41 billion, a decrease of 6.0 percent from the same month of the previous year.
Read more...Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: ABB has inaugurated its second factory in Malaysia in the Sungai Way Free Industrial Zone in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
The facility will manufacture the company's next generation ACS880 drives to support increasing demand for energy-efficient motor driven systems in South Asia and Oceania industrial sectors such as pulp and paper, metals, mining, cement, power, chemical, oil and gas, and food and beverage.
"As the world's largest supplier of variable speed drives, the new factory will allow ABB to harness opportunities in one of the most promising growth regions," said Pekka Tiitinen, head of Discrete Automation and Automation division. "Our investment in this factory reflects the importance of Malaysia as a strategic base for ABB. Its location in the heart of the region, cost effectiveness, business-friendly environment and modern infrastructure provide easy access to exciting new markets."
The factory will initially produce over 5,000 units of drives per annum, up to 500kW, in voltages from 415V to 690V.
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Chicago, US: A 3D-printed, drivable vehicle called the Strati has been unveiled at IMTS. The Strati was built in three phases during the six-day show. In phase one the car was 3D-printed on a Cincinnati Incorporated BAAM (Big Area Additive Manufacturing Machine) over 44 hours using additive manufacturing. Phase two, known as subtractive manufacturing, included one day of milling on a machine provided by Thermwood. Once complete, the third and final phase was rapid assembly, in which a team led by Local Motors put the finishing touches on the world's first 3D-printed car.
"Using 3D printing, we have reimagined how cars are created using modern manufacturing techniques. The results are astounding. We have reduced the amount of car parts from 25,000 to less than 50, proving that we can take a car from designed to driven in less than six months. That is the game changer in the automotive world," said John B. Rogers, Jr, CEO and co-founder of Local Motors.
A team of industry experts also came together to build the Strati, including Sabic Innovative Plastics who provided the carbon reinforced ABS Plastic used to 3D print some of the first iterations of the car. Renault donated the powertrain from the Twizy. Siemens provided the Solid Edge software for the structural design elements and Fifteen52 built custom wheels to match the design.
Read more...St. Michael, the US: Jet Edge celebrated its 30th anniversary on September 3, 2014 with a special open house celebration.
“We’ve come a long way since 1984,” said Jude Lague, Jet Edge president. “We’ve seen waterjet technology evolve from its 36,000 psi (2,500 bar) water-only past to today’s sophisticated and highly precise five-axis and robotic systems that can reach pressures exceeding 90,000 psi (6,200 bar). Back in 1984, or even in 1994, waterjet was such a niche technology that many people hadn’t even heard of it. Today, it’s as common as any machine tool, and is used to manufacture countless everyday items, from sliced fruit to titanium joint implants.”
Read more...Norfolk, UK: Group Lotus has announced a proposal to restructure its worldwide workforce as a result of the need both to reshape its organisation and to reduce costs. The proposal was made following very careful consideration and may involve the loss of up to 325 jobs.
Jean-Marc Gales, CEO of the group, said: “We understand the concerns that this proposal will create. We deeply regret the potential impact any reshaping of the business may have on our employees and their families.”
“Once the reshaping has been undertaken, and with its strong and experienced management team, Lotus should be a leaner, more competitive organisation, focusing on both producing class-leading sports cars and innovative engineering. We will also build upon the improved sales results seen over the last few months,” he added.
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