SouthMACH 2013 Highlights
SouthMACH 2013 is now in the last afternoon of the two day event. Below are pictures from the show. Cold weather was everywhere, but enthusiasm was high.
SouthMACH 2013 is now in the last afternoon of the two day event. Below are pictures from the show. Cold weather was everywhere, but enthusiasm was high.
Miyachi now offers remote services for high end resistance welding modules, reducing total cost of ownership thanks to maximised uptime and reduced travel cost. Available for the Peco ISQ20 series with programming pendant AWS, AWS3 systems, MG3 standard, as well as most customised resistance welding systems, this new business service is ideal for customers with high system uptime demand. Remote services minimise support efforts and avoid planning and cost for on-site technical support. Specific AWS3 and MG3 products can be upgraded to remote access capabilities. Remote access is achieved with the use of a PC and the installation of a VPN connection that serves as an interface between the Peco product and the remote service expert. The new business service increases uptime as it allows for fast and efficient diagnostics remotely. It eliminates traveling time to the site and reduces development time by providing remote application support. Customers can also take advantage of core and peripheral system device monitoring, convenient and efficient process adjustments, and availability of continuous process data for long term on-site process statistics.
A comprehensive range of Free-Form Headlamp conversion kits allow owners to upgrade the lighting on their work vehicles, or for use in new applications. Free-Form technology utilises a specially designed and complex reflector to precisely control the light. In each case, the reflector has an important relationship with the globe filament to maximise the light output and pattern of light on the road. Because of the precise design of the reflectors within each headlamp unit it is critical to the lamps performance that only E approved globes are used. The new range of Free-Form Headlamp conversion kits covers all popular round and rectangular sizes used in many vehicles, from utes and SUVs to trucks and buses. The smaller round and rectangular lamps are each fitted with a glass lens with no optic function itself. Larger rectangular units such as the 200 x 142mm and the 7 round headlamp inserts each have virtually unbreakable polycarbonate lenses, which effectively reduce the weight and add to the durability and active life of the lamp. The full range of these stylish and attractive headlamp inserts includes High and High/Low beam functions and incorporates the popular 7 (178mm) and 5 (146mm) round, plus the all new 165 x100mm and 200 x 142mm rectangular units. Each headlamp insert is ADR approved and is ideally suited to upgrade applications in popular vehicles or fitted as original equipment or upgrades in buses, trucks and special vehicles.
X4 is a new multi-edged, tangential tool for parting off and grooving of small components. Available in cutting widths from 0.5 – 3.0 mm (.031 – .093), X4’s inserts minimise material consumption in parting off and enable precise grooving and copying of small and medium-sized, complex parts. Performance is further enhanced through X4’s tangential insert bodies that ensure high rigidity, stability and productivity. To increase flexibility, every specific X4 insert seat can accommodate all X4 insert types, allowing for reduction of tooling inventory. Depending on the cutting edge width, the tool’s maximum cutting depth ranges from 2.6 – 6.5 mm (.102 – .256) and can cut off maximum bar diameters from 5.2 – 13 mm (.205 – .512). X4 inserts are available in neutral, right-hand angled and left-hand angled cutting edge options. Ideal for a wide variety of common workpiece materials, X4 uses CP500 and CP600 insert grades. CP600 features a mix of toughness and wear resistance suitable for most general applications, while CP500 provides increased wear resistance for more challenging applications. To further increase X4’s performance, inserts with the MC chipbreaking geometry can be applied. This versatile geometry achieves excellent formation of comma and clock-spring chips in a variety of materials and uses a straight front edge line to guarantee a straight bottom within a groove. All toolholders provide the unique Jetstream Tooling Duo technology to further enhance productivity, lengthen tool life and improve chip control. By delivering coolant from two outlets to optimal points in the cutting and heat zones, Jetstream Tooling Duo contributes to efficient cooling, improved chip control and high part quality. X4 is offered in shank sizes metric 2020 and 2525, imperial sizes .63, .75 and 1.00, and Seco-Capto C4, C5 and C6.
New low profile L.E.D strip lamps have been specially styled to complement modern caravan and motorhome interiors. Featuring the latest SMD L.E.D technology, the interior lamps deliver a smooth, yet powerful light output. Ensuring complete versatility, the lamps are supplied with three interchangeable end caps, allowing them to be surface or corner mounted for a neat, unobtrusive finish. Multiple lamps can also be interconnected to create continuous lengths of lighting, adding elegance with a professional touch to the interior of a caravan or motorhome. All lamps are fully sealed to IP66 rating and each draws ultra-low current of 0.09A at 12V or 0.05A at 24V and 0.15A at 12V or 0.07 at 24V. The strip lamps come in 150mm and 300mm lengths in both 12 Volt and 12/24 Volt.
BusinessNZ Chief Executive Phil O’Reilly has been elected Chair of the Business and Industry Advisory Council (BIAC) to the OECD. The BIAC is the voice of business at the OECD – the world’s foremost provider of integrated statistics and fact-based policy recommendations. The BIAC network includes national business, industry and employer associations from OECD members and observer countries, as well as international sector-specific associate experts. Mr O’Reilly said it was an honour to serve the BIAC, whose advocacy was vital for growth and employment internationally, and a great opportunity for New Zealand business to contribute to this work. Mr O’Reilly has been a member of the Board of the BIAC for three years. He will continue in his role as Chief Executive of BusinessNZ in addition to serving as BIAC Chair.
Jordan Thomson from Weta Workshop Ltd in Wellington reflects on their experiences of using Delcam software. Which Delcam software products are you using? Current Delcam software multiple Licenses of Artcam Pro and Powermill 5 axis with Robot interface as a plugin. Why have you chosen this particular software? We originally purchased 3 sets of Artcam to do relief based machining from STL data and were impressed by its features and easy to use interface. We decided to also purchase Powermill when we moved into multi axis machining. Powermill was, at the time, one of the few packages which supported machining from any type of digital model. We need to mill from CAD data from a number of different CAD packages some of which are unique to the film industry. For this purpose, we can use Delcam’s exchange software which can convert pretty much any type of file format to something which it can machine from. It also made sense to choose software from the same vendor to help with maintenance issues if they happen and Delcam has a reputation for being the best in the business. Why have you chosen Delcam? We originally purchased Delcam software through their agent Camplex who represented Delcam in New Zealand and Australia; I am excited to hear about their company expanding since becoming Delcam Australia and Delcam New Zealand. I have a lot of respect for how Delcam operates it’s business and its continued focus on R&D. Delcam has made our job easier as we rely on many of the unique toolpath strategies and tools that exist only within Powermill and Artcam to get it done. They are capable of matching the software to a specific customer’s needs. They pay attention to customer feedback and every upgrade comes with big improvements. How has the […]
*By Kim Campbell Manufacturing in New Zealand has always been a vital, misunderstood and major component of our economy. Nothing seems about to change that. While various sub sectors of manufacturing might come to be labeled ‘food and beverages,’ ‘biotech’ or ‘marine,’ the new names don’t alter the activities described, which international analysts, economists and statisticians refer to as manufacturing. That’s no surprise; each of these sectors is involved in the transformation of goods to satisfy consumer and industry customer needs and they typically offer a range of back up professional consultancy and expertise to support their value proposition. For some, the value from the services they offer has overtaken sales of hardware. Manufacturing in New Zealand traditionally faces powerful forces: the need to process our commodity goods for buyers that often, ironically, want to import raw and undifferentiated. Many countries want to use the raw materials of others to keep their own populations employed. But as producers of them we should understand our own resources better than anyone else, and we stand to win the most value from them, provided we keep on investing sufficiently in the R&D that leads to a deep understanding of them. Besides the price earned from commodities is often volatile and fluctuates more than for highly transformed goods, hence contributing to our currency’s volatility. The second big challenge is we’re a long way from markets. Our products spend a long time on the water, and this together with a strong currency threatens our competitiveness. In responding to these challenges our manufacturers have adopted not one, but three routes to the future. These are first, to automate processing and handling. This has led in particular to expertise in efficient stainless steel fabrication, drying, canning, refrigeration and some extraction technology. The capability to produce a wide […]
Michael Bloomberg, mayor of New York and an astute and highly successful businessman, commented recently on the merits of a university education as against gaining trade qualifications. He says that being a tradesman is an integral and highly required skill these days because there is surety in the work to come. Be the trade electrical, building, engineering, painting or whatever…there is always a need for tradespeople. Houses are always being built and businesses have an on-going need for skilled staff to run the Factory Floor in manufacturing companies. With mounting student-loan debt and increasingly high unemployment, some people might question whether a university degree is still worth the cost. Mayor Bloomberg suggests that mediocre students skip university altogether and become plumbers instead. Of course, a university degree provides a student with a lot more options. A job as a plumber might cut down on student loans and time, but it may keep a person restricted in the longer term. In today’s economy it helps to have a wide range of skills. Even a lot of basic jobs require higher education, and while it might take more time for the job to start paying back, it will be ultimately worth it. A university education can be expected to pay back in the long term. Picking the right course to doÊis very important. With the thousands of graduates coming through our universities in New Zealand each year it is a question of where and when they can be employed to maximise the time, effort and money invested in achieving the qualification. This is where our manufacturing companies and business leaders come into play. To create the level playing field so that available positions across the country are known. Might not be a bad idea to have a National Barometer of growth and […]
The Commerce Commission has released its draft determination of the amounts telcos will pay towards the $50 million Telecommunications Development Levy for 2011/12. The government uses the annual levy to pay for telecommunications infrastructure including the relay service for the deaf and hearing-impaired, broadband for rural areas, and improvements to the 111 emergency service. Telecommunications Commissioner Dr Stephen Gale said the levy‚”about one percent of revenue”, is paid by companies, or groups of companies, earning more than $10 million per year from operating a component of a public telecommunications network (fixed or wireless). Dr Gale said the levy allocation process was still relatively new and the draft determination explained the process used to identify ‚”qualifying liable persons”, and the methodology used in the Commission’s calculations. For the 2011/12 year, the Commission has identified 26 companies as likely to contribute. Submissions on the draft determination are due by 5 June 2013. A copy of the draft determination is available on the Commission’s website: http://www.comcom.govt.nz/tdl-2011-12/.