Editorial

In 2013, the sales of industrial robots grew by 12 % compared to the year before. With 178,132 units delivered, this has been a record year in the whole history of robotics. The upward trend in sales to the automotive and chemical industry, plastics and rubber processors and food industry continued in 2013.

Record sales of industrial robots (.pdf 1.2MB) 

Lightweight design is often considered a solution for several problems. It is by all means an important topic for the future, considering the increasing fuel prices and limited availability of electric vehicles. The goal is to replace metal with plastics, and this is where long-fibre direct injection moulding opens brand new possibilities. The principle is straightforward: the longer the fibers, the more resistant the material.

Long-fibre moulding (.pdf 525KB)  

Getting the tool perfectly right for complex sheet metal parts used to involve a long trial-and-error process. But now the Bernecker Group has combined a CAD/CAM solution with GOM simulation software and optical metrology. Thus, the company achieved a substantial reduction in the number of tool iterations.  

Defined thinning - combining CAD/CAM (.pdf 348KB)  

Many manufacturers working with aluminium wonder which filler material is suitable for welding different aluminium alloys. The selection depends on the base material, application and filler material properties. The following criteria facilitate picking a proper filler material for welding different aluminium alloys. 

Selecting the right filler material (.pdf 0.9MB) 

Technologies for efficiency improvement have never been as important as today considering the climate change, the scarcity of resources such as carbon fuels and metals, and high costs due to excessive complexity of processes. These technologies bring material, energy and cost savings, leading to new opportunities on the global market.

Technologies for efficiency (.pdf 1.0MB)