Technologies

Determining water levels in lubricating

2008-06-13T03:32:00.000-07:00

is impoirtant to determine the presence of water in machinery lubricating oils, which is why Metrohm is offering its 831 KF Coulometer to give reliable results over a long period.

Metrohm said that moisture is considered a chemical contaminant when suspended or mixed with lubricating oils It presents a combination of chemical and physical problems for the lubricant and machinery, respectively

Failure due to water contamination may be catastrophic, but it may not be immediate.

Many failures blamed on lubricants are truly caused by excess water, said Metrohm to manufacturingtalk.

Some of the effects of water on equipment include the following.

Shorter component life due to rust and corrosion.
Water etching/erosion and vaporous cavitation.
Hydrogen embrittlement.
Oxidation of the bearing.
Wear caused by loss of oil film or hard water deposits.

The level of water in these matrixes needs to be determined quickly and accurately, said Metrohm.

Metrohm said that its 831 KF Coulometer has proven time and time again to be excellent for the determination of these very small amounts of water.

Improved coulometric generator cells and reagents ensure an interruption-free operation and reliable results over a long period.

The 831 KF Coulometer has two principle working modes.

The expert mode allows it to use all different features of this high tech device.
The standard mode needs just a few keystrokes to start your analysis.

All unwanted keys can be locked out securely.

Machine tool energy systems are ready to fit

2008-06-12T01:07:00.000-07:00

Using purpose-made parts and systems, pre-harnessed energy supply systems igus UK gives the machine tool industry tools that will help increase competitiveness, writes Justin Leonard.

The machine tool industry in the UK holds a key position in general mechanical engineering Everything from space telescopes to toy trains, from artificial hip joints to mobile phones are manufactured directly or indirectly using machine-tools

The focus is increasingly on cost reduction driven by competition from the Far East.

With their purpose-designed parts and systems, especially pre-harnessed energy supply systems ('ReadyChain'), igus UK gives the machine tool manufacturing industry tools that will help increase competitiveness for the future.

* Speed is crucial for competitiveness - the demands of machine tools in terms of flexibility and productivity are ever increasing.

These challenges can only be resolved by intelligent automation concepts.

The trend is increasingly aimed at an integrated approach.

This extends from the acquisition costs to the total costs for the complete service life of the machine, and includes the availability and the ease of operation.

This means that early cooperation between the subsystem supplier and the machine manufacturer can be crucial for market success.

* Short assembly times, no storage costs - the solution lies in standardisation.

With the help of pre-harnessed energy supply systems, assembly times decrease and storage costs drop to zero.

Capacity fluctuations can therefore be easily managed.

The machine manufacturer passes on the entire procurement process for all of the necessary special parts, sheet-metal panels, machined parts and hydraulic components, to allow provision of the full turn-key system on the required delivery date.

The machine tool manufacturing industry, which mainly consists of small and medium-sized companies, can use the ReadyChain energy supply systems to reduce assembly times of several months to a few days, and can thus keep ahead of the competition.

* igus at MACH 2008 - Igus is exhibiting at the UK's MACH 2008 machine tool exhibition at the NEC, Birmingham.

The company is supporting the UK machine tool industry.

The igus stand is situated in hall 5; stand number 5080 where examples of igus ReadyChains are on display.

Fully qualified igus engineers are on hand to discuss energy chain and polymer bearing requirements, as well as demonstrating the latest products from igus.

* About Igus - Igus is the largest producer of injection moulded polymer bearings and reinforced plastics Energy Chains in the world.

These seemingly unrelated products are linked together through the belief in making functionally advanced, yet affordable polymer components and assemblies.

The company employs over 1,000 people in Germany and 24 subsidiary companies and works with representative partners in more than 21 other countries.

igus products have been consistently field and value proven.

The company has extensive experience and technical data, gleaned from testing between 1,500 and 2,500 new products under extreme conditions in the igus test laboratories every year.

* About the author - Justin Leonard is Energy Chain Systems director at igus UK in Northampton.

Igus motion unit is compact, lightweight

2008-06-09T09:30:00.000-07:00

Igus said that its DryLin EasyTube lubrication-free, compact and lightweight linear motion system for adjustment applications up to 150N vertically or 500N horizontally.

igus said that its DryLin EasyTube linear adjustment system can be used fup to 150N vertically or 500N horizontally The system is temperature-resistant up to 80 deg C and offers the option of a corrosion-free stainless steel leadscrew

Potential industries for this product include the following.

Machine tools.
Food manufacturing and packaging.
Camera and sensor positioning.

DryLin EasyTube is a completely lubrication-free, compact and lightweight system, consisting of just six individual parts: a leadscrew, tube, two clamping rings, an attachment flange and slide block.

The tube guides the slide block and is available in either anodized aluminium or stainless steel.

The trapezoidal leadscrew and nut are integrated into the tube and so are protected against the external environmental conditions.

The entire EasyTube system is kept as small as possible with this space-saving design.

* No second guide shaft - with this compact, single-tube system, any applied moment is supported by the tube, and therefore a second guide shaft is not required.

The slide block, moment support and leadscrew nut are made from a single moulding of the igus-developed polymer iglidur P.

Igus told manufacturingtalk that this material has extremely high wear resistance, low friction and minimal moisture absorption.

The two end blocks used to attach DryLin EasyTube also act as radial and axial bearings for the leadscrew.

These multifunctional components are also made of lubrication-free iglidur P, which guarantees minimal wear.

* About Igus - Igus is the largest producer of injection moulded polymer bearings and reinforced plastics Energy Chains in the world.

These seemingly unrelated products are linked together through the belief in making functionally advanced, yet affordable polymer components and assemblies.

The company employs over 1,000 people in Germany and 24 subsidiary companies and works with representative partners in more than 21 other countries.

igus products have been consistently field and value proven.

The company has extensive experience and technical data, gleaned from testing between 1,500 and 2,500 new products under extreme conditions in the igus test laboratories every year.

Low cost gas mixers work pneumatically

2008-06-04T08:06:00.000-07:00

Witt Gas Techniques has released low cost gas mixers that require no power supply as they are pneumatically operated, have no electrical connections and handle flows from 2 litre/min to 100m3/h.

Witt Gas Techniques' MG 25/35/45/95-2 FIX and MG 25/35/45/95-2 FLEX low cost gas mixers require no power supply The mixers are being pneumatically operated with no electrical connections and have flow capacities ranging from 2 litre/min up to maximum of 100m3/h

These gas mixers have been designed for use with all technical gases including carbon dioxide (CO2) and Nitrogen (N2) in a number of industrial applications.

The MG 25/35/45/95-2 FIX has factory pre-set tamper proof gas mixtures, whilst the gas mixture in the MG 25/35/45/95-2 FLEX is adjustable using a control knob and %-scale to provide infinitely variable gas mixture settings.

Typical applications would be the pressurisation of beverage dispensing systems, such as beer kegs as well as welding and food packaging (MAP) applications.

Features of these gas mixers include the following.

* New mixing technology patented by parent company Witt Gasetechnick, whereby no receiver is required producing both a space and cost saving, they also eliminate the need to stock costly, multiple pre-mixed gas.

* They have a high mixing accuracy better than +/-2% abs.

and are provided in a panel for wall mounting.

These mixers also have high process reliability in that they are independent of any pressure fluctuations in the gas supply.

They have a fail safe device, whereby they will shut down immediately on failure of the gas supply.

An optical alarm will alert the operator, an option is an audible alarm.

LED spot projectors aid image processing

2008-06-02T05:05:00.000-07:00

To aid image processing, Moritex LED spot projectors are designed to replace conventional halogen point light sources as well as fibre optic illumination to provide stable, uniform illumination.

Specialists in machine vision and inspection, Moritex, has introduced its MSPP Series of LED Spot Projectors to replace conventional halogen point light sources as well as fibre optic illumination solutions Available in two versions, for narrow and wide lighting area applications, MSPP LED Spot projectors provide stable, uniform illumination improving the performance of image processing applications

Compact and lightweight in design, MSPP LED Spot projectors offer amazingly bright illumination over a wide range of working distances (500-2000mm) and lighting areas, said Moritex to manufacturingtalk.

Consequently, the LED light sources allow for a wide range of movement within the working distance and can be used even when robots are close to inspection targets.

Using proprietary technology, MSSP LED Spot Projectors achieve low temperature emission and low energy consumption making it possible to save energy and reduce environmental impact.

Constructed to IP67 standards to stop the ingress of water droplets or oil mist, MSSP LED Spot Projectors can be installed in most machine vision working environments.

The LED light source cover glass is replaceable making maintenance easy to perform.

MSSP LED Spot Projectors offer a long operating life and are designed to be RoHS compliant.

MSSP LED Spot Projectors use a versatile connector, making it possible to use cables that support spatter.

* About Moritex - benefiting from over 30 years experience and expertise in the creation, manipulation and control of light, Moritex has earned an international reputation for top quality, high performance lenses, fibre-optic illumination and optical lensing systems for various machine vision and inspection applications.

Plasma-arc system cuts intricate

2008-05-30T23:54:00.000-07:00

Wilkinson Star launched at this week's MACH 2008 exhibition a multi-gas mechanised plasma-arc cutting power source shown performing simulated cutting of complex and intricate components.

Wilkinson Star, sole UK representative for Cebora welding products, launched the Plasma Prof 164 HQC (High Quality Cut) multi-gas mechanised plasma-arc cutting power source at the UK's MACH 2008 machine tool exhibition this week The company showed the machine was interfaced with a SMS (Smart Machine Systems) SmartPLASMA plasma-arc cutting table, simulating the cutting of complex and intricate components

Available in capacities of 220/230V, 380/400V and 415/440V, the 50/60Hz Plasma Prof 164 HGC power source is fully microprocessor controlled.

It has a 22kVA input power and a maximum rating of 120A at 100% duty cycle with a infinitely adjustable current range between 20-120A.

The machine includes a HV18 ignition unit, PGC-1/2 synergic parameter setting gas console, PVC secondary gas valve console and CP250G cutting torch.

Wilkinson Star told manufacturingtalk that the Plasma Prof 164 HQC is designed for use in the fabrication industry to cut complicated highly intricate quality components in a multitude of steels using different gases including oxygen, nitrogen, argon-hydrogen, nitrogen-hydrogen and compressed air.

All the process parameters including material to be cut and its thickness, the gas and current required, the optimum cutting speed and cutting torch nozzle diameter are set using the PGC-1/2 gas console.

The user is able to access system updates as they become available, direct from the Cebora website using the RS232 port on the power source to update the equipments software.

Moog drives package is multi-axis

2008-05-29T03:02:00.000-07:00

Moog has introduced an advanced multi-axis motion control and servo drive package, which combines ndividual MSD servo drives with an MSD motion controller for up to 30 axes.

Moog Controls has introduced an advanced multi-axis motion control and servo drive package to make set up easier for machinery builders as well as offering better performance and greater precision For multi-axis drives up to 30 axes, the modular MSD motion control servodrive combines individual MSD servo drives with an MSD motion controller to give highly precise, highly dynamic control

A freely-programmable motion controller delivers speed and position control for up to 30 axes.

The use of high speed EtherCAT communications between motion controller and servo drives ensures fast response.

Moog told manufac turingtalk that the package can provide significant reductions in cycle times and so boost machine performance.

The MSD supports IEC61131 programming, as well as programming of custom control loops using MathWorks/C/C++.

It also provides a simple user interface for parameter input and data programming.

For communication with remote I/O, PLCs and other control components, the MSD supports a range of different communications protocols as standard.

They include the following.

SERCOS.
EtherCAT.
CANopen.
Profibus.
Customer-specific protocols.

The MSD series can be used with the widest range of servomotors, including synchronous, asynchronous, linear and high-torque motors.

The frequency of the pulse with modulation is programmable, allowing the MSD servo drives to be optimised for different motors under different operating conditions, increasing performance and efficiency.

For precise position control, the MSD can take inputs from up to three position feedback sensors simultaneously, with support for both single and multi-turn encoders.

About Moog - Moog's Industrial Business Unit designs and manufacturers high performance motion control systems combining electric, hydraulic and hybrid technologies with expert consultative support in a range of applications including plastics, metal forming, textiles, power generation and simulation.

We help performance-driven companies design and develop their next generation machines.

Moog's Industrial Business Unit, with 2007 fiscal year sales of US$436 million and 33 locations worldwide, is part of Moog Incorporated.

In 2007, Moog Inc's revenues amounted to US$1.558 billion.

Drives, motors and power transmission, couplings, clutches

2008-05-28T16:01:00.000-07:00

Gear couplings, described in Rexnord's latest literature, are available in various designs - standard flanged sleeve, continuous sleeve, large flanged sleeve and shrouded bolt.

'LifelignR' is one of three new coupling lines added to Rexnord's range of power transmission products from FalkT and is now supported by new literature Features of Lifelign couplings include the following

* Competitive pricing against equivalent duty units.

* Superior bore capacities permitting smaller sized units to be specified against alternative units.

* Flexible inter-changeability with installed couplings.

Lifelign gear coupling is available in various designs including: standard flanged sleeve; continuous sleeve; large flanged sleeve and shrouded bolt.

All are covered in the Rexnord catalogue with guidance on appropriate application information.

Dimensioned drawings of Lifelign couplings together with a selection guide are also provided.

Test and measurement firms gain UK

2008-05-27T02:18:00.000-07:00

Measurement and testing systems manufacturers featured strongly among the recently announced winners of the UK's Queen's Award for Enterprise.

A select group of firms working in testing and measurement celebrated this week after winning the UK's most prestigious annual prize for business success - The Queen's Award for Enterprise This year's Queen's Awards winning companies include the following

Image Processing Techniques (image testing and measurement for TV and film industries).
KP Technology (scientific measurement instruments).
Metryx (monitoring of semi-conductor chip manufacturing).
Online Electronics (monitoring and data comms systems for pipeline industry).
Transmille (electrical and electronic calibration instruments).

In this, the scheme's 43rd year, Her Majesty The Queen announced 139 business Awards - the second-highest total for 10 years.

85 Awards are for outstanding achievements in International Trade, 42 for Innovation and 12 for Sustainable Development.

In addition, 11 outstanding individuals receive The Queen's Award for Enterprise Promotion (QAEP) for their inspiring efforts to encourage UK entrepreneurship.

Overall, this year's winning firms range in size from three firms with only three employees up to an international giant that employs 106,200 people.

34% of winning firms employ less than 50 people and 33% are from the service sector.

The business benefits of winning a Queen's Award include publicity, enhanced recognition and employee pride.

In a recent survey of 2007 business winners, 80% of respondents believed their Queen's Award had added commercial value to their firms, and 82% reported boosts to staff morale.

55% of respondents said it was the most valuable award their business had ever won.

Each winning company receives an engraved crystal bowl and is now entitled to use the coveted Queen's Award Emblem on packaging and marketing materials for five years.

During the year, winners will benefit from a visit to their premises by a representative of The Queen, and be invited to a reception at Buckingham Palace in the summer.

The UK's Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, said: "Queen's Award winning companies are standard-bearers for the very best of British business.

These firms embody the spirit of enterprise and innovation that is so vital to the future of Britain's economy.

Whether large or small, every one of this year's winning organisations has achieved outstanding success in its field".

"I congratulate them all on their diverse and remarkable achievements".

He continued: "I also congratulate the individuals receiving The Queen's Award for Enterprise Promotion.

Each of them has played a vital role in helping unlock Britain's entrepreneurial talent.

They have given their time and energy to equip others with the skills, knowledge and attitude to succeed as entrepreneurs.

I applaud and admire their efforts.".

Laser drilling machine offers more

2008-05-25T11:07:00.000-07:00

Mitsui Seiki has developed a small, vertical, Nd:YAG laser drilling machine for 300mm3 parts for aerospace engine parts makers who wanted a higher-speed and more accurate laser-drilling machine.

Mitsui Seiki has introduce a 5-axis CNC laser drilling machine for high-speed, precision holemaking in tough alloys The VLD-300 laser drills 12in3 parts (300mm x 300mm x 300mm)

Mitsui Seiki developed the machine in cooperation with several aerospace engine component manufacturers.

They wanted a higher-speed and more accurate laser-drilling machine than what was currently available on the market.

Some workpieces, such as jet engine high temperature alloy parts, require about 3,000 small diameter cooling airflow holes.

These are drilled.

each at a different angle, in a non-contact manner.

Laser is often the best option for speed and for minimising material stress.

Typical materials are Inconel, Waspalloy, Hastalloy and nickel-based titanium alloys.

Mitsui Seiki told manufacturingtalk that it had spent some three years in research and development of the VLD-300.

The machine offers positioning accuracy and repeatability in X-, Y-, Z-axis of 0.00004in (0.001 mm).

A-axis positioning accuracy is +/-6 arc sec; repeatability is +/-3 arc seconds.

C-axis accuracy is +/-4arc sec; repeatability is +/-2 arc sec.

X-, Y-, Z-axis cutting feed rate is 0.004-0.787in/min (0.1-20,000mm/min) and X-, Y-, Z-axis acceleration rate is 1.5G.

Mitsui Seiki partnered with a European laser company for the Nd:YAG version of this new machine.

The VLD-300 is designed to also work with CO2, diode pump, and fiber lasers for different aerospace and other industry applications, such as certain electronics, medical, and automotive parts.

Vice president, Mitsui Seiki USA, Tom Dolan, said: "What is unique about the Mitsui Seiki laser drilling machine is that it takes our traditional, highly precise and extremely repeatable machine tool building methodology and applies a laser rather mechanical drilling tools".

He continued: "That's what customers wanted: a Mitsui Seiki machine with a laser, not a laser with machine tool features as secondary.

Laser technology has come a long way over the past ten years, but precise motion control and high accuracy was lacking until now.

Our innovative approach to machine tool building is applied to this small footprint machine, and this allowed us to incorporate a fairly simple, effective beam delivery system.

The optic system has just one axis of motion, 'Z', and one bending mirror for easy maintenance and beam alignment simplicity".

For rigidity and stability, the VLD-300 has a cast iron bed and linear motor drives.

A dust collection system, combined with an interior work area of smooth, highly sloped surfaces, keeps cutting debris from contaminating the work zone and equipment.

The Nd:YAG system offers a focal length of 200mm or 300mm with a height sensor for scanning and work offset probing.

The machine is "automation ready" for devices such as pallets and robotic loading/unloading equipment.

A Fanuc 310iM control features the Microsoft Windows-based platform and seamlessly controls the machine, laser, and the auxiliary equipment.

Wire joiner firm gains Queens Award

2008-05-24T12:55:00.000-07:00

Manufacturer of a wire joiner, Gripple, has received a second Queen's Award for Enterprise - this time for the growth of its international business.

Sheffield, UK-based manufacturer of the unique Gripple wire joiner, Gripple, the has received a second Queen's Award for Enterprise for the growth of its international business Twenty years after the invention of the patented Gripple, approaching 300 million have been sold into the construction, viticultural and fencing markets to more than 2,000 customers across 85 countries worldwide

Between 2003 and 2006 international sales grew by 53% and represented more than 80% of turnover.

The employee-owned company's growth has been achieved by identifying wire joining, tensioning and suspension problems and solving them with innovative products.

This focus on innovation led to a Queen's Award for Innovation in 2000 and a Prince of Wales Award for Innovation back in 1991.

Investing in new markets, strengthening the company's position in established overseas markets and choosing international partners carefully have also been key to Gripple's success.

While maintaining its primary manufacturing base in the UK, Gripple has an established industrial sales operation in France, and in the USA, where the company has had a sales presence for six years,.

The company will be opening a new factory in the USA shortly.

which will incorporate the warehouse and sales office.

Gripple has more than 220 employees worldwide, many of them multi-lingual.

It has achieved a 15% share of the worldwide viticultural market.

The company told manufacturingtalk that since the industrial division was set up in 1998, worldwide sales of its hanger system to the construction industry have seen an average annual growth rate of 26%.

Gripple managing director, Mark Edmonds, said: "This award is a tremendous honour, and a huge milestone in Gripple's development as a world-beating, customer-focused company.

We are delighted and proud that our ongoing efforts to expand our international business have also been recognised in such a highly prestigious way".

He added: "Gripple is founded on defying convention.

This philosophy, which also encompasses a commitment to people, excellence, partnership and community, combined with our ability to communicate in 14 of the world's most commonly used languages, has not only enabled us to compete with foreign competitors but also to leave them standing.".

Equipment moving/positioning reorganised

2008-05-24T01:01:00.000-07:00

The management of services solving movement and positioning problems, in precision handling equipment and industrial and commercial turntables and air film technology has been unified.

British Turntable has brought together a range of machinery moving and positioning services into a single operating division and re-branded it as BTI There is a comprehensive range of literature describing the range of product and technical know-how available

Combined under one corporate umbrella are the following.

BTI's core expertise in precision handling equipment and industrial and commercial turntables.
Hovair air film technology, which includes air bearings, air skates, air transporters and associated handling devices.
Jung heavy duty machinery skates, lifting jacks and purpose built handling equipment.

BTI told manufacturingtalk that integrating these activities will allow BTI to provide, from a single source, a multi-faceted approach to customers' requirements.

These can typically include the following:

Moving a new printing press into position.
Presenting components ergonomically to an operator feeding a production line.
Moving marine engines through various stages of assembly.
Positioning precisely a military vehicle undergoing radar cross section examination.
Speeding up delivery vehicle turnaround times.
Setting up a stunning hospitality area with the design and installation of a revolving bar or revolving restaurant.

Expansion of the business in recent years has largely been driven by the addition of the Hovair air film business to the portfolio and the acquisition of the UK distributorship rights for Jung machinery skates and jacks.

The company's ongoing research and development programme has also generated advancements in the core turntable business, however, resulting in the recruitment of new staff and the acquisition of new skills.

The re-branding of BTI has been carried out by Fire Creative in consultation with Chapelfield Associates.

The new literature can be downloaded from the BTI Web site.

About BTI - BTI is an operating division of British Turntable Co, which has been developing and manufacturing movement solutions for a wide range of industries since 1959 and exports to more than 120 countries world wide.

In 2004 the company bought Hovair Systems to strengthen its position in air film movement technology and in 2005 acquired the business of Cawley Marine Industrial, including exclusive distribution rights for Jung lifting equipment in the UK.

These businesses were incorporated into a single operating division, BTI, in September 2007.

Typical industrial and commercial applications include revolving stages for nightclubs and other leisure markets, car revolves to solve inner-city parking problems, HGV access turntables, materials handling carousels, transporters and lifting equipment, and large revolves capable of carrying a military tank or an aeroplane.

A hire service is available on many units.

Customers include major high street names and wide range of independent retailers, world renowned museums and heritage centres, exhibition contractors, TV and film companies, government agencies, national standard test laboratories, multi-national organisations and all the major car manufacturers world wide.

British Turntable is accredited to BS EN ISO 9001: 2000.

Improved air tools have low vibration

2008-05-23T02:50:00.000-07:00

A guide gives easy-to-do tips and advice on issues not usually covered on Lean training courses such as helping employees to get right behind the initiative without generating stress.

The Arden Partnership has released a guide for any manufacturer about to implement 'Lean Production' It's called 'Becoming A Lean Enterprise; Commonsense Advice To Get Your People Engaged And Overcome Resistance'

The guide gives easy-to-do tips and advice on issues not usually covered on Lean training courses such as helping employees to get right behind the initiative.

Or how to reward a team or individual that make every effort to make the transition to Lean Processing work.

It also addresses difficult issues such as the following.

* How to maintain productivity and quality during the planning and transition phase.

* How to overcome resistance from managers, team leaders and supervisors.

The Arden Partnership told manufacturingtalk that the guide uses straightforward 'down-to-earth' language and is easy to put into practice.

Tooling automatically vended and controlled

2008-04-14T00:27:00.000-07:00

Industrial vending systems from Tooling Intelligence allow users to control, track and manage critical assets and consumable inventories when and where they need it most

Supplier of industrial vending systems, SupplyPro has entered into a channel partner agreement with Tooling Intelligence in the UK to expand its market presence in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The alliance provides a 'one-stop' service for industrial vending systems including pre-sales consultancy, configuration of equipment, installation, training and on-going maintenance services.

Industrial vending systems control, track and manage critical assets and consumable inventories - such as tooling - when and where they need it most.

SupplyPro has developed innovative, breakthrough systems that drive costs out of operations while increasing overall productivity, said Tooling Intelligence.

President and CEO of SupplyPro, David J Simbari, said: 'The UK market is a strategic focus for SupplyPro.

In the past year, SupplyPro has seen significant gains in the European market for our Point-of-Use solutions.

Having Tooling Intelligence as our dedicated partner in the UK and Ireland sets a firm in-country foundation with which to build on our initial success in the region'.

Director of Tooling Intelligence, Mike Swaffield, said: 'This elevated position with SupplyPro gives us further opportunity to expand our presence in industrial vending with the support of their world-class organisation.

There are many opportunities in the UK and Ireland markets for Point-of-Use dispensing and our one-stop solution is ideally tailored to fast system implementations so our customers can start gaining immediate payback on their investments'.

* About Tooling Intelligence - Tooling Intelligence Limited is an independent UK company based in Coventry that is owned and operated by engineers and business improvement specialists who are experts in improving the Return-on-Investment that customers can achieve through their spend on non-production materials such as cutting tools, safety equipment, general MRO and assets.

* About SupplyPro - SupplyPro Incorporated delivers the technology and support for implementing Point-of-Use automation and control programmes with confidence to improve productivity and drive costs out of a business.

The company's consultative services provide all of the support and project management expertise needed to make an implementation a success.