Food Manufacturing

3D printed plastic grippers save packaging manufacturers 85% on costs

Mechanical grippers – used, for example, for attaching lids to jars – have very restricted ‘closed/open’ dexterity. When a new product is introduced, a new gripper to match that product can take weeks to design and manufacture.

18th March 2021

Sick goes flat out for performance with mini smart sensors

Sick has launched the versatile W4F family of miniature smart sensors, developed to achieve next-generation detection performance and incorporating powerful new optical technologies, each purpose-designed to master common sensing challenges with complete reliability.

18th March 2021

Actuator steps in to protect safety systems

Sidestepping interlocking devices remains a troubling issue

16th March 2021

Threadlocker resolves quality challenge

HUOT is a century-old French company that specialises in the manufacture of pipe fittings and components for drinking water supply. The adhesive that the manufacturer had been using to seal its threaded products was causing quality issues, in that once it was cured, it became brittle. As a result, the seal would break if the fitting was accidentally dropped or suffered a relatively minor impact, for example when the fitting was thrown into a steel storage box

9th March 2021

Omron launches next generation SCARA robots to handle heaviest payloads

Omron’s latest industrial robot, the new i4H SCARA is designed to meet the demands of mass customisation, allowing manufacturers to produce high mixes of products at low volume to offer a wider array of goods to people. The i4H SCARA follows the recent release of the i4L light duty SCARA robot.

8th March 2021

Overcoming the top four pumping challenges of the brewing and distilling industry

The many challenges faced throughout the brewing or distilling process can be divided into three major areas: raw materials handling, production and waste handling. In each, accurate control of product flow is essential to ensure the final product quality is consistently high. Pumps are therefore integral to brewing and distilling operations. Here, Peter McGarian, managing director at Seepex UK, demonstrates how switching to a progressive cavity (PC) pump can deliver efficiency, productivity and energy gains to help brewers and distillers thrive.

2nd March 2021

Get the right recipe to leave the others behind

Businesses that build, handle, and ship products are looking for ways to increase productivity by raising output without compromising accuracy. It’s the key to delivering the best possible value and the fastest turnaround to maximize customer satisfaction and maintain the competitive edge.

2nd March 2021

Strategic partnership enhances magnetic levitation shuttle

ABB is partnering with Canada’s PMI to expand its machine automation offering, saying that the integration of PMI’s magnetic levitation technology into the company’s Machine Automation Division’s (B&R) portfolio will accelerate industry’s transition from strictly linear production to an open, adaptive manufacturing space. This will support B&R customers in the transition to highly flexible and precise manufacturing in response to the fundamental shift to batch size one production and shorter product lifecycles. Furthermore, ABB has taken a significant equity stake in PMI as part of the agreement.

15th February 2021

Compact safety switch protects personnel within industrial and processing applications

Euchner has launched a new range of compact and highly secure locking switches ideally suited to applications in the manufacturing, processing and packaging industries with special variants for hygienic areas in food and beverage plants. The new CTM transponder–coded safety switch with guard locking is ideal for the protection of medium-weight guarding often used on manufacturing and automation equipment, including packaging lines, filling systems, component loaders, or almost any situation where a compact, high integrity switch is required.

15th February 2021

Cutting-edge performance and portability

ESAB Welding & Cutting Products has launched Rogue ET 180i and 200iP PRO, its new series of portable, powerful TIG/MMA inverters.

4th February 2021