Editorial

 Gorenje Orodjarna d.o.o. was founded more than 20 years ago by company Gorenje Gospodinjski aparati, which remains the sole owner to this day. The toolshop was built on solid foundations – 60 years of experience in toolmaking in scope of Gorenje Group. It has established since an international reputation for manufacturing the most complex tools for the automotive industry and the household appliance industry. Gorenje Orodjarna was founded in order to continue 40 years of tradition as a key supporting activity for the development of new household appliances. The goals were high from the very beginning, as the management has worked towards establishing multiple sources of revenue: the toolshop offers its services and solutions both to its owner/main customer and to external customers.   

 2012 Detroit Auto Show revealed the new looks of luxury Nissan Infinity Q50, including the LED fog lights developed by Hella Saturnus Slovenia. In addition to receiving a makeover, Q50 is fitted with most state-of-the-art technology currently available to Nissan. The aggressively moulded new infiniti was designed at the Atsugi-based studio in Japan and received a technical rejuvenation of its innards to compete with the greatest premium-class vehicles from BMW and Audi. The Infiniti management announced some time ago the car would not only be a mini version of technically and stylistically prestigious but also conservative cars. It is designed to look like nothing seen before in the premium compact class. 

 After launching six years ago, Schuler’s crossbar robot has found use in more than 70 installations around the world to automate press lines, “by combining the benefits of a robot with the flexibility of crossbar technology,” explains Torsten Schwab, sales director at Schuler Automation in Germany. “In addition to the improved throughput the technology provides, it also offers improved access to the space between the presses, and results in quicker tooling changes.” Schuler Automation offers three different robot models for varying loads: larger Fanuc and Kuka models for loads weighing as much as 90 kg, and a smaller Kuka model designed for loads to 60 kg. In development is the next generation of crossbar robot using a Kuka Quantec model—Kuka introduced its Quantec series in mid-2010, which, say company officials, “use lighter components to allow greater dynamic performance and shorter cycle times, as well as being stiffer than before.” 

 Gorenje, d.d. is planning to relocate its refrigerator manufacturing operations to a new location, where the planned capacity of intermediary storage for painted semi-finished products prior to the preassembly lines will be reduced by a factor of 6 and a half compared to the existing manufacturing system. The manufacturing process demands that the painting line always prepares an adequate quantity of painted products, so that the pre-assembly lines never stop. A simulation model of painting line and preassembly was created to enable monitoring of inventory in intermediary storage according to the adopted production plan.   

 LOTRIČ Certificiranje is the youngest member of the LOTRIČ Metrology group. At the beginning of 2013, the operations of Iskraemeco, d.d.'s laboratory centre was transferred to company LOTRIČ Certificiranje, including the staff and equipment. The business premises remain at Savska loka 4 in Kranj. The laboratory is accredited for testing and was granted an authorization for water monitoring. Accreditation is the highest level of confidence in a laboratory and the tests/analyses conducted therein. We are testing and determining the composition and properties of materials, including the chemical, metallographic, mechanical, physical, electric, manufacturability and thermal properties. We are also testing the surface protection and chemical composition of metals and polymers. 

 The festive 2012 Republic of Slovenia Award for business Excellence (PRSPO) ceremony took place at Brdo Congress Centre on 19 March 2013. For the first time, the PRSPO Committee has recognised two excellent organisations among the finalists in respective categories that fulfilled the high criteria. The winners of 2012 Republic of Slovenia award for business excellence are Kranj-based ELEKTRO GORENJSKA, d.d. in the category of private companies with more than 250 employees, and LOTRIČ meroslovje, d. o. o. from Selce in the category of private companies with less than 250 employees. Vesna Vilčnik 

 Saxonia - Franke, d. o. o., is a manufacturing company employing 56 people, focusing on the automotive industry, construction and electrotechnical industry. The company was founded in 1995 in Tržič. As a result of fast growth, the company has overgrown the premises in Tržič and decided to build a new manufacturing, warehousing and office building in Žirovnica business park. In six months, the land was bought and the blueprints were prepared, and then another 12 months were spent from the commencement of building operations to the relocation of manufacturing to the new factory occupying 5900 m2. Essential parts of the technological equipment in the factory are centralized material preparation for the injection-moulding machines and a cooling system utilizing waste heat.   

 Efficient infrastructure is indispensable not only for personal safety and environmental protection, but also for reducing the running costs. This fact applies to power plants, industrial facilities, traffic networks and water-supply systems. If the infrastructure is outdated and no funding is available for thorough reconstructions, sophisticated modernization programs can help. Most cities, even those that grow and are being developed, are plagued by obsolete infrastructure. As no city dispenses with an unlimited budget, the investments into traffic and energy networks, proper expansion of waterworks infrastructure and the individual industry facilities are inadequate. This is hard to understand, as modern infrastructure not only improves the quality of city life, but also brings savings. What may seem to be simple changes can significantly improve the performance and operation of older systems, facilities and infrastructure.   

 The 15. anniversary SolidWorks World conference took place end of January 2013, attracting some 4500 participants to Disneyland in Orlando, Florida. In addition to the three main lectures, the attendees also visited more than 280 technical workshops and 100 companies in the partner pavilion. General manager Bertrand Sicot emphasised another milestone related to the SolidWorks users. In December 2012, the customer base has exceeded 2 million. SolidWorks is also present in 25 000 schools around the world and has 61 000 certified users. The first novelty presented was My.SolidWorks.com, which serves as a one-stop-shop for the most interesting information intended for a growing number of users. The website is designed for the users to network, research and share information related to SolidWorks in a simple way. 

 Parker Brothers Concepts, featured on Syfy's high-octane reality series Dream Machines, has added a Flow Mach 3 abrasive waterjet machine tool as a key element in their fabricating process. Marc Parker states: "The FlowJet gives us outstanding flexibility in both design and materials. And Flow's Dynamic Waterjet allows us to cut parts very accurately, saving us a lot of time because we rarely need to do any secondary processing," 

 Improved milling technologies, higher quality of machined surface, increased processing power and smarter controls boost the economic efficiency of modern toolmaking industry. The latest system software for CNC-machine tools SINUMERIK enables high-quality surfaces and shorter machining cycles. CNC-machining centres have already set a standard of high quality. Improved motion control, operating and programming console and processing power bring the competitive edge to the toolmaking sector.