production world
Fortress protects Alcoa
Chinese workers
ALCOA (Shanghai) Aluminium Products has chosen
safety interlocks from Fortress Interlocks for its factory
in Shanghai. Access to potentially dangerous
machinery is closed off by heavy duty gates, to which
the amGard interlocks are attached; they are connected
to the machinery power supply, and only by pressing a
button is the power supply switched off. When the
machinery has completely shut down the amGard
allows the gate to be opened and the machinery can be
accessed. The power supply can only be switched on
again when the worker has vacated the area, shut the
safety gate, and pressed the start button.
www.fortressinterlocks.com
New metalworking consumables catalogue
J&L’s 8th edition catalogue is the first since Kennametal sold J&L to MSC Industrial Direct in June
2006. 20% larger, its 1,392 pages include over 10,000 new products, featuring brands new to J&L such as
Seco, Dormer, and SPI. The catalogue enables users, specifiers and buyers to source most of their
metalworking and consumable products from one supplier. This significant product expansion is in
stock and available for next day delivery nationwide. www.jlindustrial.co.uk
Transformation paves
way for Merc investment
TURNOVER and capacity at Merc have doubled in
the last three years as it has taken on larger
contracts and extended its capabilities, introducing
for example EDM machining and coded TIG
welding departments. To control this rapid growth
company boss Les Nuttall has launched his tailored
version of Corporate Transformation Planning
(CTP), combining established lean principles with
the Investors in Excellence model. Says Nuttall: ‘We
are trying to streamline our entire way of working,
looking at processes and systems, through to
management structure and style.’ www.merceng.co.uk
Free technical advice
on aluminium
THE Power of Aluminium’s new website offers free
advice from experts on product development and
innovation in the use of aluminium and aluminium
extrusions. Experts include Geoff Doyle, with over
25 years experience in the industry – which visitors
can tap into by posting their questions on the ‘Ask
Geoff’ section.
www.powerofaluminium.com
Cutting guides from WNT
CUTTING tool supplier WNT is boosting its
support activities with the launch of Praxis, a
series of metalcutting guides providing
engineers with clear, concise and practical
information on a range of metalcutting issues.
Providing answers to ‘real-life’ questions, the
guides are formulated as an additional
problem-solving tool for cutting tool users
ranging from machine operators to
production engineers.
The first of the guides focuses on solid
carbide high performance milling; the next in
the series will cover tapping and high
productivity turning of steel and cast iron.
www.wnt.com
REACH: now in force
THE biggest single reform of chemicals legislation in Europe came into force on 1 June 2007.
The EU regulation for the registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals
(REACH) introduces a Europe wide system of chemical registration and authorisation
regulated by a new European Chemicals Agency based in Helsinki.
Whilst the Agency will be responsible for issuing registrations and other administrative
parts of the process, REACH places an obligation on each Member State to implement
domestic legislation setting out the penalties for the infringement REACH. The deadline for
this is 1 December 2008 and DEFRA is currently carrying out a consultation exercise on the
enforcement of REACH in the UK.
REACH is intended to ensure that manufacturers, importers and downstream users do
not place on the market substances (or articles which contain dangerous substances) that
would present a risk to the health and safety of persons or the environment. The idea is that
everyone in the supply chain knows how to use the substances without creating risks for
their workers, for the end users and for the environment.
Under REACH, a substance is any chemical element and its compounds in the natural state
or obtained by any manufacturing process. It covers an estimated 30,000 chemicals currently
used in a variety of manufacturing processes - these will fall within the scope of REACH. The
principal obligation under REACH is to register substances (and in certain circumstances
articles which contain dangerous substances), which are imported into or manufactured in
the EU in volumes of more than one tonne per year, unless an exemption applies.
REACH requires one registration for each use of a substance and subject to exceptional
circumstances registrants of the same substances are obliged to share information and may
submit joint registrations.The process aims to encourage the replacement of such dangerous
chemicals with safer alternatives and any authorised substance can only be used in
accordance with the conditions of the authorisation granted to the applicant. www.hse.gov.uk
10 MWP november 2007
New MD for Trumpf UK
AFTER 26 years as managing director of
Trumpf UK Brian Lewis has handed over
the reigns to Hartmut Pannen. Pannen
first worked for Trumpf in the UK in
the late ‘80s, on secondment from
Trumpf Japan with the brief of
observing how a good, customerorientated
subsidiary works and to
shadow his UK counterpart.
www.uk.trumpf.com
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