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Collaboration Key to Driving SA’S 4IR Progress

Collaboration across industry, public and private sector and among civil society will be crucial for driving Fourth Industrial Revolution progress, speakers said at the opening day of Africa Automation Fair and the Connected Industries Conference in Northgate recently. Assessing South Africa’s state of readiness for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, experts said that while South Africa currently lagged the world, there were significant opportunities to transform the industrial sector and move into a globally competitive space.

However, collaboration would be crucial to transforming industry, government and civil society to position South Africa to capitalize on the opportunities the Fourth Industrial Revolution and Industry 4.0 offered, they said.

Ilse Karg Chief Director – Future Industrial Production Technologies in the Department of Trade and Industry, said, “Industry 4.0 is about partnerships. We aim to partner with business and to collaborate with education to transform industry and develop the skills we will need to move into the Industry 4.0 era.” Karg said that in order to create the enabling environment necessary to support Fourth Industrial Revolution progress, at least 12 government departments were currently aligning their policies and plans. “It’s not easy, but to make progress, we will need integrated planning across national departments and all spheres of government,” she said. She highlighted the DTI’s work on developing a digital industrial policy framework focusing on building capability and capacity, a supportive legal and regulatory framework and digital industrial transformation.

Karg noted that South Africa had been deindustrializing in recent years. “Manufacturing output volume has increased marginally since 2004, while retail volume has boomed by more than 60% in the same period. Therefore, we are importing more and making less.” In the face of growing unemployment, she said South Africa had to focus on growing manufacturing capability, particularly as each job directly created by manufacturing indirectly creates a further three to five jobs.

While the country faced challenges, she believed its strengths and opportunities lay in the fact that South Africa is an innovative nation, its cultural dynamics, a good economic infrastructure, the potential for incremental change, potential for investment in the education system and development of the country’s young talent base and a fastgrowing small and informal business sector.

Dr. Daniel Visser, Group Manager – Planning & Knowledge Management at the CSIR, said South Africa was making strides in some areas of IIoT and 4IR innovation, with multiple programmes underway to stimulate progress. “South Africa is developing innovation platforms and there is a lot going on in this space,” he said, highlighting initiatives such as the African Centre for 4IR, to be launched later this year and hosted at CSIR, as well as new learning factories – mock production environments for testing and training and regional collaboration networks.

He said South Africa needed to focus on areas such as policy regulation, the ethics of AI and 5G, state support instruments to develop new technologies and an enabling environment for innovation. To achieve this, public-private partnerships would be key. The CSIR itself was taking a more industryfacing focus in line with this, he said.

Echoing these sentiments, Prof Mandla Makhanya, Unisa’s Principal and Vice- Chancellor, said, “when you talk automation, you are talking the future. The future is bright, but collaboration will be key.” With this in mind, Unisa was collaborating with SAIMC to introduce a new automation programme, to address the skills that would be necessary in a 4IR era.

SAIMC’s Annemarie van Coller and IIG’s Barend Niemand also noted that industry role players had to work more closely together to drive 4IR progress.

Africa Automation Fair and the Connected Industries Conference are the African platform for the industrial automation and control industry, working closely with industry associations including the IIG and SAIMC. Presented alongside the second UNISA NRF African Operations Management Conference, the event is the key technology showcase and thought leadership exchange for local and pan-African government representatives, academics and industry.

Ford South Africa’s Growth Strategy Targets Crucial Exports

A struggling economy, political uncertainty, fragile consumer confidence, mounting pressure on disposable income and diminished purchasing power as a result of higher interest rates and fuel price hikes, have all taken their toll on domestic new vehicle sales in South Africa.

However, it’s not all doom and gloom for the automotive sector. According to the latest new vehicle sales statistics released by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA), export sales continue to perform exceptionally well.

In April 2019, export sales at 33,090 vehicles reflected a substantial increase of 11,571 units, or a gain of 53.8 percent, compared to the 21,519 vehicles exported in the corresponding month last year.

NAAMSA predicts that the momentum of vehicle exports over the second half of the year should increase further and industry export sales for the year could reach close to 400,000 units, compared to the record 351,139 vehicles exported last year.

Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa believes that the expansion of already thriving export programmes for locally built vehicles holds immense potential for job creation and an opportunity for long-term sustainability of the sector.

“While domestic vehicle sales are an essential component of business for us, I believe that the real success and sustainability of the original equipment manufacturing (OEM) sector as a whole, relies on expansion of South Africa’s global export opportunities,” says Neale Hill, Managing Director of Ford Motor Company of Southern and Sub- Saharan Africa.

“Over the past two years, we have invested over R3-billion to expand the production capacities of our Silverton Assembly Plant in Pretoria and our Struandale Engine Plant in Port Elizabeth, to meet the growing international demand for our Ford Ranger,” he continues. “We have carefully and strategically mapped our revenue pipeline to target exports and drive export-oriented growth.” Currently, two-thirds of Ford SA’s total vehicle production is exported to 148 global markets, including Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

“Around 400 vehicles leave our Silverton plant each day, destined for local dealers or shipment around the world via 15 to 20 vessels a month,” says Hill. “Up until recently, all incoming and outbound Ford vehicles were shipped through Durban harbour’s Roll On Roll Off terminal. However, this facility has become increasingly congested, so we have adopted a multi-port strategy. We now also ship Rangers to European markets through Port Elizabeth’s harbour, to support our increased export volumes, in order to improve efficiencies and shorten delivery times.” The Ranger is one of South Africa’s top vehicle exports, with volumes reaching an all-time high of 68,364 units in 2018. The bulk of these were destined for EU markets, with Ford of Europe notching up a final tally of 51,500 sales in the 20 traditional EU markets, which represented a gain of 15.7 percent from the corresponding month the previous year.

Latest Vehicle Sales Reflect Welcome Surprise – NAAMSA

The National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa [NAAMSA] said that the latest vehicle sales reflected a welcome surprise on the upside with export sales continuing to perform exceptionally well. The declining trend in the new vehicle market since the beginning of the year came to a halt in April 2019. Reflecting on the new vehicle sales statistics for the month of April 2019 released recently for public consumption via the website of the Department of Trade and Industry NAAMSA confirmed that aggregate domestic sales at 36 794 units showed an improvement of 266 units or 0,7% from the 36 528 vehicles sold in April last year. Export sales had again registered strong growth reflecting a substantial improvement of 11 571 vehicles or a gain of 53,8% compared to the 21 519 vehicles exported in April last year.

Overall, out of the total reported Industry sales of 36 794 vehicles, an estimated 31 945 units or 86,8% represented dealer sales, an estimated 6,5% represented sales to the vehicle rental Industry, 4,1% to industry corporate fleets and 2,6% to government.

The April 2019 new passenger car market had registered an improvement of 935 cars or an increase of 3,9% to 24 989 units compared to the 24 054 new cars sold in April last year. The car rental Industry’s contribution accounted for 8,0% of new car sales in April 2019.

Domestic sales of new light commercial vehicles, bakkies and mini buses at 9 810 units during April 2019 had recorded a decline of 866 units or a fall of 8,1% from the 10 676 light commercial vehicles sold during the corresponding month last year.

Sales in the medium and heavy truck segments of the Industry performed well and at 577 units and 1 418 units, respectively, reflected a gain of 95 vehicles or an improvement of 19,7%, in the case of medium commercial vehicles and, in the case of heavy trucks and buses, an improvement of 102 vehicles or a gain of 7,8% compared to the corresponding month last year.

The April 2019 export sales number represented another admirable performance with export sales at 33 090 vehicles reflecting a substantial increase of 11 571 units or a gain of 53,8% compared to the 21 519 vehicles exported in the same month last year. The momentum of vehicle exports over the course of 2019 should increase further and industry export sales for the year could reach close to 400 000 units compared to the record 351 139 vehicles exported last year.

Although the ABSA Purchasing Manager’s Index increased slightly, for the first time after three successive months of decline, the PMI remained below the neutral 50-point mark which means that factory conditions stabilized at fairly depressed levels. Demand for domestic new vehicles, particularly the new car market, would continue to remain under pressure in the coming months affected by numerous constraining factors. Consumer and business confidence levels are low, household disposable income remains under pressure due to rising costs of living and lower domestic and global economic growth forecasts which continues to signal moderation in new vehicle sales. However, constructive political and economic reforms after the country’s general election on 8 May 2019 could see an improved second half performance in terms of new vehicle sales. The upward momentum on the export remains strong and industry vehicle production levels would continue to benefit from strong vehicle export sales.

Engineering Inspired by Nature

New tram vehicle body concept. Photo: Panik Ebner Design

EMO Hannover 2019 to showcase exciting start-ups. There is an established tradition of young entrepreneurs presenting their new business models at EMO Hannover. CellCore, a company founded by Andreas Krüger and two of his colleagues at the end of 2016, is one of the exhibitors on the joint start-up stand supported by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. Their business model is based on biomimetic engineering in which highly efficient natural structures, optimized by evolution over millions of years, are imitated (mimesis). The inventors develop these structures technically to enhance various components or products. This can make them lighter, more stable or more rigid – or all three simultaneously. CellCore supports SMEs from different sectors in all aspects from idea development through to the production of actual prototypes.

Bionics experts, engineers and software developers in the Berlin-based start-up CellCore GmbH have jointly developed new software that optimizes technical structures based on the internal structure of bones. This helps improve existing components or create entirely new solutions.

Travelling light into space

A good example is the injection nozzle for small satellite thrusters. Contributing their software and classic topology optimization, CellCore employees joined forces with Trumpf Laser- und Systemtechnik GmbH and the Institute of Space Systems at the University of Stuttgart to design a prototype on the computer by calculating the optimum structures.

Optimized injection nozzle of a satellite
thruster. Photo: CellCore FmbH

The software identified the parts which had superfluous material because of the low levels of tension acting on them and also calculated the parts where reinforcing structures are necessary. The functions of the nozzle – namely supplying fuel and damping vibrations – were factored in during the development process. Once a functional component with optimum properties had been created on the computer, the technicians could produce the first actual injection nozzle using 3D printing. “It took just two development loops for us to create a component that has since passed the required stress tests,” reports Andreas Krüger, CEO of CellCore. “The new nozzle is an impressive 83 percent lighter than the original component.” In the coming months, the biomimetic injection nozzle will be deployed in space.

Boom in lightweight construction

CellCore also has customers in the racing industry, as innovative manufacturing processes also open new possibilities for the weight optimization of individual components. For example, the company developed new wing elements for the rear spoiler of a racing car for the Formula Student Team at TU Berlin. At the heart of the optimized component was a special honeycomb structure which the young entrepreneurs printed in a single piece. The result was not only a 33 percent reduction in weight, but also a 300 percent increase in rigidity. The racing car with the optimized rear spoiler not only went on to achieve the best performance in the competition to date, it also won first prize in BASF’s Best Use of Fibre Reinforced Plastics design competition. The Berlinbased company designed the honeycomb element as a sandwich construction with a top layer of carbon. “What sets us apart is our broad-based application knowledge,” says Krüger, explaining the success of the startup. “We have engineers from the aerospace, automotive and material science industries, but we also have software development expertise in our team.

Supporting inspiration and creativity

For Krüger, the most fascinating things about his job are the variety of topics and the freedom to try out new things. CellCore’s experts are often called upon to help with specific design issues. Sedus Stoll AG – a classic manufacturer of office chairs – wanted new ideas for their chair bases. Up to now, cross-shaped structures have been used to connect the seat to the legs of the chair and thus hold the seated person.

Andreas Krüger, CellCore. Photo: Robert Frank

The CellCore engineers have now calculated a completely new shape. “In contrast to the old, crossshaped die-cast base, they created a structure that is reminiscent of a pelvic bone. This allows us to use 21 percent less material,” reports the CEO. “The development isn’t ready for series production because it isn’t yet cost-effective. But developments like the chair base highlight just what is possible.”

A contract with IndustrieDesignbüro Panik Ebner required similarly creative and forwardlooking input. CellCore was able to help validate a novel tram concept thanks to its experience in handling various structures and running numerical simulations under different loads. The Panik Ebner concept reduces the weight by a significant amount while maintaining the same stability. This makes the tram car easier to move, which in turn saves energy. The tram is more spacious and offers large window surfaces for passengers thanks to the open honeycomb design. “We were able to provide the necessary theoretical underpinning for our customer’s innovative concept with regard to mechanical strength. They can now take our simulation results and talk to potential clients about the concrete implementation of the tram.”

No limits for bionic concepts

CellCore can provide technical optimizations for all industries. The company is currently working with medical experts on developing new types of orthoses – custom-made orthopaedic insoles, in particular. “We wanted to create automated production methods for insoles that are adapted to individual patients’ needs. 3D printing technology can deliver results which are perfectly matched to a particular foot,” says Krüger. “The current manual method of producing custom-made orthopaedic insoles is relatively cost-intensive, meaning that the higher price of 3D printing is not such an issue here.”

CellCore has developed a bionic design for a chair base. Photo: Sedus Stoll AG

CellCore is also exploring potential areas of optimization in toolmaking. With injection moulds, for example, a clever arrangement of cooling channels and the integration of special grid structures can increase production quantity and quality levels. New cooling techniques are also being investigated. CellCore is actively involved in research networks such as the Nowhum S network for optimized tools.

The sky is the limit when it comes to imagining areas in which biomimetic engineering can potentially be deployed. There may still be a number of drawbacks to additive manufacturing, especially with regard to the price, “…but we’re looking ahead and showcasing both what is already possible today and also the ways in which things could develop in the future.” The young Berlin entrepreneurs are already making use of learning algorithms. Does CellCore also work with artificial intelligence? “A clear yes and no!” replies Krüger. “For my taste, the term AI is very often used in the wrong context and accorded too much importance. One thing’s for sure, though: we do enjoy working with natural intelligence.” Author: Gerda Kneifel, VDW

Airbus Celebrates Delivery of its 12000th Aircraft

This Airbus A220-100 delivered to Delta Air Lines at the A220 final assembly plant in Mirabel, Canada is the 12,000th aircraft delivered by Airbus.

Airbus recently celebrated the delivery of its 12,000th aircraft which was an A220- 100, assembled in Mirabel, Canada and handed over to U.S.-based Delta Air Lines.

The aircraft is the 12th A220 delivered to date to Delta Air Lines since the carrier received its first A220 in October 2018. The A220 started scheduled service with Delta in February 2019. Delta is the first U.S. airline to operate the A220 and is the largest A220 customer, with a firm order for 90 aircraft.

This milestone delivery of a Canadianmade Airbus aircraft to a U.S.-based airline highlights the growing presence of Airbus in North America. Since Airbus’ leadership of the A220 programme became effective on July 1st 2018, ground was broken in January this year in Mobile, Alabama for the construction of a second A220 final assembly line, set to start deliveries to U.S. customers in 2020.

Airbus delivered its first aircraft, an A300B2 to Air France, back in 1974. Fast forward to 2010, Airbus handed over its 6,000th aircraft, 36 years after its first. The pace continued to accelerate, taking Airbus just nine years to double that number, reaching 12,000th Airbus aircraft delivery, on May 20, 2019.

NASA Awards $106 Million to US Small Businesses for Technology Development

This illustration depicts how important precision landing is to a successful lunar mission. The identification of level ground near scientifically important and hazardous sites is essential for the success of long-term missions. Credits: Pat Rawlings/NASA

Managing pilotless aircraft and solar panels that could help humans live on the Moon and Mars are among the technologies NASA is looking to develop with small business awards totaling $106 million. In all, NASA has selected 142 proposals from 129 U.S. small businesses from 28 states and the District of Columbia to receive Phase II contracts as part the agency’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.

“Small businesses play an important role in our science and exploration endeavors,” said Jim Reuter, acting associate administrator of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. “NASA’s diverse community of partners, including small businesses across the country, helps us achieve our mission and cultivate the U.S. economy. Their innovations will help America land the first woman and the next man on the Moon in 2024, establish a sustainable presence on the lunar surface a few years later and pursue exciting opportunities for going to Mars and beyond.”

NASA selected the proposals based on a range of criteria, including technical merit and feasibility, as well as the organizations’ experience, qualifications and facilities. Additional criteria included effectiveness of proposed work plans and the commercial potential of the technologies.

The selected proposals will support the development of technologies in the areas of human exploration and operations, space technology, science and aeronautics. The proposals offer a breadth of applications, including:

• Solar panels that deploy like venetian blinds. The technology behind these panels can be used as a surface power source for crewed missions on the Moon and Mars. It offers benefits such as efficient power generation, lower procurement costs and reduced mass and stowed volume.

• Sensor technology for autonomous entry, descent and precision landing on planetary surfaces — a critical advancement for next generation human lunar landers.

• A type of permanent magnet that creates a bonding force between two halves with no moving parts, enabling in-space assembly of large platforms.

• A high-resolution X-ray instrument to analyze surface rocks and core samples on planets and asteroids. This technology could advance our understanding of the Moon, Mars and even Earth by providing unique analysis and reconstruction of samples.

• A suite of technologies for managing autonomous aircraft. The proposed solution aims to have a single dispatcher simultaneously monitor multiple flights, leading the way for future airspace and vehicle concepts.

New Floor Plan for IMTS 2020 Reflects Manufacturing Industry Renewal

Peter R. Eelman, Vice President & CXO at AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology.

IMTS – The International Manufacturing Technology Show has unveiled a new floor plan for IMTS 2020 that dramatically increases the size of the Quality Assurance and Additive Manufacturing Pavilions by more than 10 and 40 percent, respectively. The plan also consolidates the EDM Pavilion into the Metal Cutting Pavilion, which has been renamed the Metal Removal Pavilion. IMTS 2020 runs from Sept. 14-19, will occupy all four buildings of Chicago’s McCormick Place and is poised to offer more than 1.42 million sq. ft. of exhibit space.

“The floor plan for IMTS 2020 reflects a renewal of the manufacturing industry, with growth powered by digitization, additive manufacturing, automation and software,” says Peter R. Eelman, Vice President & CXO at AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology, which owns and produces IMTS. “Emerging technologies represented 38 percent of the exhibits at IMTS 2018, an incredible number considering less than 15% of IMTS exhibits just eight years ago were new technology based. That percentage doesn’t include new product introductions by exhibitors in the Metal Removal Pavilion, where connected and digitally-enhanced solutions emerged as the new norm.”

The Additive Manufacturing Pavilion will continue to occupy the space at the entrance to the West Building, as well as expand into the exhibition area on the west side of the hall, which has higher ceilings. This move allows exhibitors to feature larger and heavier systems, use double-deck booth designs and hang larger signs from the ceiling. The pavilion will occupy approximately 44,765 sq. ft. of floor space at IMTS 2020, which is 40 percent larger than at IMTS 2018 and triple the size of its debut at IMTS 2016.

Complementing this expansion, the West 375 Ballroom directly across the concourse from the pavilion will host the Additive Manufacturing Conference on Sept. 15 and 16. Presented by IMTS partner Gardner Business Media, this technical conference runs concurrently with IMTS during show years. It attracted more than 575 registrants at IMTS 2018, the most in conference history.

“Locating the conference and the pavilion in proximity to each other will boost traffic,” says Eelman. “At IMTS 2018, Additive Manufacturing technology providers demonstrated highvolume production capabilities and other solutions that appeal to mainstream industrial manufacturing, and this trend will grow even stronger at IMTS 2020.”

The number of exhibitor booths in the Quality Assurance Pavilion, located in the East Building, grew from 90 to 144 in eight years. We anticipate an 11 percent expansion for a total of 128,975 sq. ft. at IMTS 2020

“The capabilities of quality assurance systems and software continues to expand as manufacturers seek to reduce waste and bring products to market faster,” says Eelman. “Rather than a discrete activity that ends a process, metrology equipment has become an essential component of closedloop systems.”

AMT’s Emerging Technology Center demonstrated the benefits of physically and digitally connected systems with a robot arm that autonomously transferred a milled part from a CNC milling machine to a CMM. Using data from the CMM, the CNC compensated for tool wear by recalculating its offsets to maintain tolerances closer to the median of the specification.

HANNOVER FAIRS USA, produced alongside IMTS since 2012, will remain in the East Building. The number of companies exhibiting as part of HANNOVER FAIRS USA has grown from less than 100 to more than 500.

New Technologies Help the Shift Towards Circular Economy in the Manufacturing Sector

The manufacturing sector can become more sustainable thanks to new technologies. The CECIMO Conference on Advanced Production Technologies for Circular Manufacturing indeed proved how additive manufacturing, laser technologies, digital and other advancements help saving resources and contribute to circular economy. On the other hand, policymakers should continue supporting industry in its effort, also in the next political cycle.

Innovative and cutting-edge technologies, such as Additive Manufacturing, automation, digital or laser technologies provided by the machine tool sector help in achieving a more sustainable and circular manufacturing sector. This was the main outcome of a conference organized by CECIMO recently in partnership with the 2019 EU Green Week and the European Economic and Social Committee.

The machine tool sector, as explained in the new CECIMO Report on the European Machine Tool Sector and the Circular Economy, has been dealing with sustainability for quite a long time. Juha Mäkitalo, Chair of the CECIMO Technical Committee, underlined that indeed “repair, refurbishing and recycling of products are already a reality in our sector, but the role of machine tools and related manufacturing technologies as key enablers of the circular economy is as important as these aspects.”

Companies speaking at the conference showcased concrete examples of how their applications can help to achieve more efficient and sustainable manufacturing processes and products.

One technology is laser surface texturing, as Stefan Dahl, Head of Advanced Manufacturing at GF Machining Solutions, explained. More than 80% of textures in manufacturing are done by chemical etching process. Laser texturing technologies provide a cleaner alternative to etching processes and create 3D textures directly out of digital data. It means no use of chemicals, a simplified process, no manual work, a reduced scrap level and a full digital process all contribute to a more sustainable production and products.

The role of new digital technologies was highlighted by several companies. Digitization can also help in the remote servicing of machines, meaning a faster solution of problems, reduction of downtime and saving resources. According to the speakers, 30 to 50% efficiency gains can indeed be achieved through software improvements. Philippe Reinders Folmer, General Manager of Renishaw Benelux, explained that machine tools are blind, they do not know exactly where the piece or the tool is.

Though in process-monitoring and control, the operator can oversee the whole process rather than checking the piece at the end of it. The process can be then corrected while still running, which results in less waste and more efficiency. Monika Šimánková, CEO of Hestego, gave an example of how automation helped her company to reduce the environmental impact, while cutting down power consumption by nearly 30% and CO2 by more than 400 tons/year.

Additive Manufacturing (AM) can contribute too to sustainability by using only the needed materials and by consolidating the number of components within an assembly. Both Philippe Reinders Folmer from Renishaw and Erik de Zeeuw from Materialise highlighted how AM helps to save resources and in some cases, to produce lighter parts. Such a characteristic helps to reduce energy consumption during the use phase of the product, which is especially important in sectors like transport. Looking at the future, Materialise pointed out that further research should be done on material uses and efficiency for AM.

An important conclusion of the event was that technologies are key for circular manufacturing, but policy makers should facilitate the transition. They should provide a technology neutral framework, support digitization of European industry and allocate funds for research and development of manufacturing technologies. During the event, representatives of the European Commission and of the current and next EU Presidencies assured that sustainability and circular economy will continue being a top priority in the next political cycle.

Changing from Conventional Milling to CNC Milling

Akira Seiki Milling Machine.

In a market where skilled artisans are becoming more and more scarce, it has become necessary to look at alternative ways of machining, whether it be for general engineering, tool-making or production work. CNC machining is quicker and certainly more accurate than conventional milling machines and there is no need for constant monitoring while in use. Taking this into account, MJH Machine Tools have a solution to suit customers’ needs. Featuring an entry level CNC control, our Ctek CNC milling machine is the first step to CNC machining.

As long as the operator has basic knowledge on using a DRO, he can, within a few hours, be taught how to program and run the machine. There is no need for G code knowledge as the control is conversational, using a question and answer format. The software is simple to use with graphic input in basic machinist language. The control has options for standard operation modes such as drill, tap, bore, contour and pocket programming, which is ideally suited to general engineering work without a need for external programming packages.

Ctek CNC Milling Machine.

The latest Ctek’s come with linear guides on all three axes for better accuracy and speed, as well as a direct spindle drive motor and an improved Z axis motor with inline break which eliminates the need for a counterbalance. The Ctek can be fitted with a 4th axis within a matter of hours and programmed from the standard Ctek control.

The Ctek range has six x-travel sizes, 800mm, 1000mm, 1500mm, 1800mm, 2000mm and 2500mm. These machines are available in open type or fully enclosed depending on the customer’s requirements. All spares are available ex stock at a fraction of the cost compared to other controls. With hundreds of these machines sold throughout South Africa since 1997, it is not surprising that Ctek CNC milling machines have been the first step to full CNC machining in many workshops.

Should there be a requirement for a high performance machining centre for super fine finishing and accuracy, the Akira Seiki is the machine to consider. Spindle power ranging from 15HP on the Junior series to 42HP on the Super Vertical range and spindle speeds from 9000rpm to 15000rpm guarantee high quality surface finish.

Akira Seiki machines come standard with spindle oil chillers, inner spindle air chiller, coolant through spindle, pneumatic counter balance, chip screw conveyor, quick change ATC and 4th axis preparation.

The Mitsubishi Mi745 is the preferred control on these machines, however, Fanuc is an option but not always available ex stock. So, whether you need a machine for small batch jobs or production work, the Ctek and Akira Seiki machines are certainly to be considered.

For further information, please contact MJH Machine Tools – Tel: (031) 705 7514.

Neway CNC Vertical Machining Centres

Neway Vertical Machining Centre VM1150.

Neway CNC Equipment Co offers a cost effective range of vertical machining centres, which are manufactured at the company’s modern manufacturing plants in Suzhou China. Neway’s excellent manufacturing and quality control capabilities are maximized by the use of latest equipment from wellknown international brands including Zayer, Kellenberger, Starragheckert, Swiss SIP, Renishaw and Shenck. They hold ISO and CE certification.

Neway’s Chinese manufacturing operation is supported by the group’s head office in Texas USA and a sales and support centre in Germany.

Neway CNC Equipment currently offers a range of moving table vertical machining centres which range in table size from 750 x 420mm to 1800 x 800mm. This range is available in the following table sizes, VM740 – 750 x 420mm, VM950 – 950 x 520mm, VM1150 – 1100 x 520mm, VM1260 – 1200 x 600mm, VM1360 – 1350 x 600mm, VM1580 – 1500 x x800mm, VM1780 – 1700 x 800 and VM1880 – 1800 x 800mm.

The VM740, VM950 and VM1150 models are fitted with BT40 spindle tapers. These three models are available as a lower specification S series with a Fanuc 0i-Mate-MD controller or a higher specified H series which are supplied with a Fanuc 0i-MD controller. The VM1260 and VM1360 models are fitted with BT 40 spindle taper as standard and can be supplied with a BT50 spindle taper as an option. The VM1580, VM1780 and VM1880 are only available as H series specification with Fanuc 0i-MD controllers and have BT50 spindle tapers as standard. With the exception of the VM740, which has a 20 tool magazine, all models in the range come with a 24 tool magazine and arm type tool changer.

The complete series of models from VM740 to VM1880 in the S and H range have linear guideways on all three axis. The additional HR series which is available in sizes from VM950 to VM1780 feature box guideways as opposed to linear guideways. Full enclosure guarding and chip conveyors feature as standard equipment across the entire range.

The complete series of models from VM740 to VM1880 in the S and H range have linear guideways on all three axis. The additional HR series which is available in sizes from VM950 to VM1780 feature box guideways as opposed to linear guideways. Full enclosure guarding and chip conveyors feature as standard equipment across the entire range.

To complement the range of vertical machining centres, Neway CNC Equipment offers the VM640D drilling and tapping machine. This machine has a table size of 650 x 400mm, a 16 position cam type tool changer with a 1.6 second tool change, a spindle speed of 15,000 rpm, X and Y axis rapid feed rates of 48 meters per minute and a Z axis rapid feed rate of 60 meters per minute. They come fitted with the Fanuc 0i MD controller.

For more information, please contact Machine Tool Promotions – Tel: 016 931 1564.

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