What is going on in the neighbourhood? We all want to know, whether we admit it or not. Applied to the whole of humanity and Earth, the question is: What is going on in the Milky Way? We know surprisingly little about this, because we literally have a hard time seeing the wood for the trees. But the MOONS project initiated by British astronomers aims to change this. Technology from FAULHABER will play an important role.
Multiple light beam safety devices are used for access guarding at machines and systems. The required arrangement for these protective devices is described in the harmonized standard EN ISO 13855, which replaced the previous version EN 999 in 2010.
From before the Industrial Revolution until the present day, manufacturers have shared common goals: producing a certain number of parts, in a certain amount of time, at a certain cost. Manufacturing processes evolved from craft-made single-item methods to mass production lines and output of increasingly greater numbers of identical parts: a high-volume/low product mix (HVLM) scenario. Most recently, digital technology in programming, machine tool controls and workpiece handling systems are facilitating a manufacturing environment known as Industry 4.0 that enables cost-efficient manufacture of highly diverse parts in small batches: high-mix/low-volume (HMLV) production.
When planning and implementing machining processes, manufacturers generally focus on manipulating elements of their internal operations and may lose sight of the end purpose of their work: assuring customer satisfaction.
The European REACH regulation, which aims to ensure a high level of protection for human health and the environment, imposes strict rules on the use of chemical substances. In order to protect employees in its production sites in Champagné and Marolles en Brie, SOURIAU is adapting its electroplating processes in response to these new regulatory constraints and at the request of its customers. MARIE LE SCAON, Technical Manager of Surface Treatment at the Champagné, factory, provides an update on the solutions envisioned by the company as substitutes for hexavalent chromium.