production world
Since the launch of the Haas Technical Education Centre (HTEC) programme at
EMO 2007 the company has set up a number of collaborative CNC teaching
facilities at universities, colleges and technical schools across Europe.
Haas Technical Education Centre in Belarus
IN October a new HTEC facility opened at the
Minsk Technical Vocational College of
Mechanical Engineering, a branch of the
Republican Institute for Vocational Education
(RIPO), Belarus. Attended by more than 300
guests from Belarus, Russia, Germany and the
US - including representatives from more than
50 technical educational institutions and 68
manufacturing companies - the grand opening
was a seminal moment for all concerned and
marked the beginning of what the Belarus
Minister for Education, Alexander Radkov hoped
would be a new era of cooperation between
manufacturing and education in the country.
‘We have made a positive step towards achieving
high quality vocational training,’ he said. The
Rector of RIPO Arkadi Shkliar added:
‘Vocational education has to keep pace with
Deburring: free money saving calculators
DEBURRING Centre, the Poole based thermal deburring specialist, has
commissioned some simple to use calculators to illustrate that sub contracting
deburring can be cost effective. Martin Bridges, Deburring Centre’s Marketing
Manager, explains: ‘This idea is based upon an Excel spreadsheet. It was
commissioned to address the concerns that companies have to contracting out
Small footprint factory
automation proves popular
SINCE launching the concept last year Mazak
has received orders for five Erowa Robot Multi
systems connected to Variaxis 500-5X II
machining centres and a further one for a
Nexus 5000-II horizontal machining centre.
‘Most enquiries are from customers who are
looking to run their machines lights out
overnight, but need a flexible system that will
easily handle a range of component sizes,’ says
Steve Richardson, European Development
Engineer at Yamazaki Mazak. ‘Typically competitor systems only allow a
single pallet size and cannot be extended to multiple machine or a mix of
machines. With the Mazak/Erowa combination, however, it is perfectly
feasible to interface different machine types within the same system, as the
Erowa interface is identical for all Mazak machines.’
www.mazak.com
www.remsystems.co.uk
production demands. But this challenge can not
be met without introducing true innovative
production machines into the training process’.
The new Minsk HTEC has four Haas
machines, including a Haas Mini Mill, an SL-40
CNC turning centre, a VF-1 machining centre
and a TL-1 Toolroom lathe and is also employing
Keller CNCPlus-TRAINING software. The
facility is close to more than 200 local
engineering firms - including the Minsk Tractor
Company - and will help to ensure students are
fully familiar with the latest CNC technology
when they leave full time education and begin
their careers.
‘Since the launch at EMO, we’ve seen a
tremendous response to our HTEC program
across Europe,’ says Haas Automation Europe
Managing Director Peter Hall. ‘The Minsk
CNC Mini Mill £21,995
Simple. Innovation.
For details, or to view this machine locally call 01603 760539 or visit www.haas.co.uk
08 MWP march 2008
facility is one of several important and highprofile
HTECs we opened at the end of 2007. For
2008 we plan to have 40 HTECs open and
operational, across Spain, Italy, Germany and
Easter Europe.
The HTEC concept was established by Haas in
the USA in 1996, originally as a school-based
programme, so that teachers and students could
experience the latest machine tool technology.
Today in the USA and Canada there are over 635
HTECs, including almost 100 high schools, over
100 vocational schools, almost 300 community
colleges and close to 200 universities, with well
over 1500 machines installed. www.HaasCNC.com
- batch sizes, transport, economics, extra paperwork etc. Engineering
companies always raise serious concerns but are rarely able to quantify them.
I’m always using spreadsheets to work out break even and profitable scenarios,
and this was seen to be a way of empowering clients to answer their own
questions.’ Topics addressed are in-house hand deburring vs sub-contract,
automated, machine deburring; the cost of rework vs dedicated machines
getting it right first time; and ‘free’ deburring in cycle. www.deburr.co.uk
Pre-harnessed
cable carriers cut
assembly times
CROSS Hüller has integrated igus
energy chain systems at its
Ludwigsburg branch near Stuttgart
to guide and protect its moving cables
or hoses. The energy chains are pre-assembled cable harnesses marketed by
igus under the ‘ReadyChain’ brand.
Typically, the only considerations for igus when supplying its energy
chain systems as preassembled cable harnesses are the energy chain, cables,
hoses, connectors, mounting brackets, and any steel attachments. However,
both igus and Cross Hüller decided that, for this project, the right solution
could only be achieved at the desired cost by delivering the complete
machine top section to Cross Hüller. By using this tested, ready-to-install
system, Cross Hüller realised it could significantly reduce the assembly
time for the complete machine. www.igus.co.uk www.mag-powertrain.com
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