Editorial

 PM7 is one of the most powerful machines in the production of publications. Its dimensions seem like it has to swallow the whole trees to satisfy its hunger for raw materials, however, without the expertise to maintain it, even this giant can go awry.
Perlen Papier AG, the traditional family-owned company that manufactures paper for newspapers and magazines recently installed PM7, a machine that is not only the most modern, most effective and most powerful machine for the production of paper for newspapers in the world, but with its 230 meters in length, 55 meters wide and 25 meters high is the one of the largest of its kind as well. 

 A leading automotive manufacturer is benefiting from increased production in its engine block assembly thanks to the use of automated guided vehicles (AGV) to transfer components to different stations within the assembly process. Key to the design operation of the AGVs are the modular MELSEC L series PLCs from Mitsubishi Electric.
Engine block assembly is a sophisticated process that brings together a number of complex and often heavy components for a mixture of manual and robot assembly processes. The competitive nature of the automotive industry means that manufacturers are continually striving to drive up productivity and economy whilst optimising logistics and, of course, minimising floor space requirements.

 The worldwide manufacturer in the field of standard parts for tool and mould making is celebrating an its 50-year-anniversary. Meusburger’s customers benefit from the decades of experience the company has in working with steel. Continuing investments in enlarging the facilities, expansion of the product ranges and a targeted sales policy have generated a huge increase in Meusburger’s turnover, year after year. After five years of apprenticeship and travel (1957-1962) throughout America, the toolmaker Georg Meusburger returned to Austria and established in 1964 a one-man-business in Dornbirn. At first he was the only employee, but the business has slowly grown in time. Business was good, new employees were hired; it could have gone on like this. But after 14 years of business, Georg Meusburger restructured the company fundamentally.   

 In the previous issue we generally presented composites or fabrics that are used for making composite products. For each product, however, required a mold - a tool and a process of hardening the resin. Tools are different considering the process of making a composite product (procedures will be described in the next issue). Some tools are made of aluminum, steel or composites. Toughest tools are made of steel, but they are also among the more expensive, because their own making significantly more expensive compared with making aluminum tools. Tooling is expensive, because it must first be designed, then manufactured using CNC machining centers. Considering the production procedures, it is necessary to take into consideration the properties of the tool regarding the temperature (different coefficient of thermal expansion), and especially if the tolerances are essential for the product.   

 Lighter weight with equal or higher performance – this is the challenge facing the automotive industry, caused by the demand to reduce the emission levels and fuel consumption of motor vehicles. This is why innovative, extremely hard-wearing plastic parts of superior quality are becoming more and more important. Winkelmann Powertrain Components, a company based in Ahlen / Germany, recognized this trend at an early stage and has relied on thermoset materials for the production of belt pulleys ever since. WITTMANN BATTENFELD supplies the machines for this purpose. The company today known as the Winkelmann group was founded in 1898 by Heinrich Winkelmann and Caspar Pannhoff to manufacture kettles, coffee pots, wash basins, dustpans and milk cans. It has developed into a group of companies which now employs more than 3,000 associates worldwide, of whom about 700 are working in Ahlen, realizing some 500 million Euros per annum in sales. 

 Large tasks are waiting for the Kaiserslautern pressing plant. To keep up with the growing volume of orders, even more efficient, faster, more precise, but still reliable processes and development are needed. The new "ScanBox" in the press shop is almost imperceptible in the midst of gigantic machines - and allows a quantum leap in terms of measurement technology. Measurement technician Rafael Schmitt is enthusiastic: "Just world class." Through the window of "ScanBox" he looks at the oneof the components immersed in the futuristic blue light - "it does not create interferences beacuse of the reflexion." Component is thoroughly inspected by a robot whose head resembles a likeable tin friend of SF classics "Short circuit". His eyes are cameras that send images that turn in the screen into impressive animations that can be arbitrarily rotated. 

 Fronius reportedly has expanded the capabilities of its Cold Metal Transfer (CMT) welding process, introducing a new algorithm that makes it possible to use joining technique for applications that typically have required pulsed-arc or gas-metal-arc (GMAW) welding processes. By developing the new algorithm, the Fronius researchers revisited the forward-and-back motion of the wire electrode that is so typical of the CMT process. As a result, they increased its frequency to as much as 130 Hz. In addition, the welding specialists re-engineered the current-profile of the characteristics. Depending on the filler metal and wire diameter, this raises the operating limit of the CMT process up to 40%. 

 Cyber criminals this year targeted primarily at our privacy and money, evaluates Kaspersky Lab. For protection against malware in companies it is important that all employees, regardless of their position, try to understand how their actions may affect safety.
As demonstrated by last year's survey of the analytical enterprise B2B International for Kaspersky Lab, a leading developer of software for anti-virus protection and Internet security, one of the main reasons for security incidents in corporations is the mistreatment of employees with software that is used every day. Four of the five types of security incidents that have occurred within the company, in fact, are closely linked to the inappropriate treatment of employees.