NEWS
MOVINGON
Relocations and expansions across Europe
Freightex opens new branch in Poland Multimillion pound design centre to
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reightex has officialy opened its first Polish branch in the city of Wroclaw. The city is strategically positioned for European logistics as it is close to the German and Czech borders and with prime access to motorways in all directions. Kris Koronkiewicz, branch manager, says: “Wroclaw is a great city for logistics with many established businesses such as LG and Amazon already here plus a lot of investment in logistics parks in the surrounding area.” The branch will build on existing strong customer relationships offering a wide range of intra-Europe routes and in addition will fast track new supplier development. Kris continues: “We will be growing our staff numbers quickly to build our account management team and have been impressed with the quality of people we have recruited so far. It is an exciting time to be here.” Visit: www.freightex.com
SKF builds to last
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KF is currently building the world’s most powerful large size bearing test centre on its Schweinfurt ‘Werk 3’ site. This pioneering project is now one major step nearer completion – weighing in at around 3000 tonnes, it took just two days to cast the foundations for the larger of the two new test rigs. Around nine metres wide, six metres deep and 22 metres long, the pit that had to be filled for the base of the future SKF test rig was the size of two detached houses. It had to be filled quickly to ensure the concrete could set correctly. The base is such a huge block because of the enormous forces likely to be unleashed by the test rig that will be anchored to it. The colossus among test rigs is intended in particular for the testing of gigantic rolling bearings for wind power. “It will be the first test rig in the world capable of testing not just a single main bearing but a complete bearing unit all at once,” says SKF’s senior vice-president, Technology Development, Bernd Stephan, hinting at the dimensions of this unique installation. “The bearings themselves can have an external diameter of anything up to six metres, being intended for turbines in the 10 megawatt class. The test rig can subject structures of that kind to dynamic forces in all directions that, when combined, are many times greater than on the strongest test installation currently available.” Visit: www.skf.com
Siemens opens facility for 3D printing metal components
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iemens has opened a production facility for metal 3D printed components in Finspång. The investment of around 200 million Swedish Krona (€21.4 million) is the first step in the company’s plans for the mass manufacture and repair of metal parts with additive manufacturing.
18 Industry Europe
bolster UK innovation in transport
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new multimillion pound centre of design excellence to support UK innovation in the transport industry and boost efforts to bridge a shortfall in essential creative skills will be opening at Coventry University in 2017. The announcement of the National Transport Design Centre (NTDC) comes as a new report from the Automotive Council UK identifies a need for improved education provision for the vehicle design sector to meet urgent demand for creative roles such as modellers. State-of-the-art features of the NTDC, which forms a key facility for the University’s existing Centre for Mobility and Transport, include:a six-metre interactive power wall which allows users to explore detailed design and engineering concepts in virtual reality; and a projection mapping system which can cast digital images onto 3D objects below, helping designers to assess how multiple options would appear on full-scale models. Visit: www.coventry.ac.uk
Vygon Group opens subsidiary in Finland
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ygon, the specialist single-use medical devices group, has opened a subsidiary in Finland. Vygon has already been present in Finland for more than 30 years via a network of distributors “The new subsidiary will increase sales and offer a wider range of quality medical devices. In line with Vygon’s ethos, value life, we aim to improve the standard of care in Finland by partnering with clinicians,” said John Yates, vicepresident for central, northern and eastern Europe. Finland, a country of 5.5 million people, has seen health expenditure increase steadily over recent years. “After creating Vygon Sweden in 1999, Vygon Denmark in 2005 and Vygon Norway in 2012, the opening of a Finnish subsidiary as we enter 2016 will further strengthen Vygon’s Nordic presence,” said Stéphane Regnault, chairman of the Vygon managing board. “The Nordic and Scandinavian regions currently make up 9% of the area turnover for northern, central and eastern Europe for Vygon. The sales goal for Finland is 10.4% of the Nordic and Scandinavian region total turnover,” he continued, “This new development will speed up the group’s international growth as part of the VygView 2022 project. Our overall goal within the northern, central and eastern European area is to return with a consistent overall double digit percentage growth year on year in line with our 2022 objectives.” Visit: www.vygon.com
Siemens already uses rapid prototyping as a standard procedure and rapid repair in some commercial applications. This is a long-term investment to build up the skills and experience to lead to new ideas and developments in the field. The facility features Direct Metal Laser Sintering machines from German AM leader, EOS, which cost around $850,000
each. Electro Optical Systems was founded in 1989, and diversified into laser sintering of thermoplastic powders in 1994. EOS currently believe metal 3D printing has the biggest potential, particularly in aerospace and medical, and consequently, are focused on the development of their metal 3D printing portfolio. Visit: www.idtechex.com/3dmetals
