Stéphane Itasse

The German mechanical engineering industry continues its downward trend: In May 2019, incoming orders fell again by 7% in real terms, the German Mechanical Engineering Industry Association (Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau e.V.) reported in Frankfurt am Main. The association’s outlook for the entire year 2019 is pessimistic.

The big neighbor China is no longer growing as usual. Taiwan's machine tool manufacturers are therefore reorienting themselves not only towards new sales markets, but also towards new products.

Berlin, too, has understood it: Lightweight design opens up new technical possibilities. Undersecretary Werner Loscheider of the Federal Ministry of Economics called it a "gamechanger" at the 9th Landshut Lightweight Construction Colloquium.

Higher chip removal rates, shorter cycle times — and this includes carbide machining: Precision tools are in high demand. Tool coatings make a significant contribution to meeting these user requirements.

For the development of a new helicopter model Airbus had to machine large gear components. To this end Rösler Oberflächentechnik designed a drag finishing machine with automatic workpiece clamping and manipulator for part handling.

Electric mobility is keeping forming technicians on their toes. The changes of the automotive market and their effects on the industry were discussed at the 13th Forming Technology Colloquium in Darmstadt.

The Indian machine tool industry has positioned itself on the world market. The current market size for 2016/2017 is estimated at around $ 1.78 billion, of which domestic production accounts for around 47 % of total consumption. The industry recorded a growth of 23 % in the fiscal year 2016/2017, the Association of Machine Tool Manufacturers (IMTMA) reports.

Electric cars or vehicles with other alternative drives are still more of a niche product. However, automobile manufacturers are already pushing ahead with these new drives — and are thus placing new demands on lightweight design and production.

Lightweight components require adequate surface finishing for subsequent processing steps. However, since these components are more sensitive, the machining methods must be adapted. One trend is ferrite-free blasting.

The Industry 4.0 platform or the Industrial Internet Consortium? RAMI or IIRA? Observe the standards meticulously or just do it? In the matter of procedures to be followed for manufacturing in the future and the Internet of Things, the differences between Germany and the USA may not be unbridgeable, but they are definitely conspicuous.

The latest cluster meeting at the Landshut University of Applied Sciences, hosted by the Automotive Cluster, the New Materials Cluster and the University's Lightweight Cluster, focused entirely on magnesium as a lightweight metal. The speakers showed the lightweight construction potential of magnesium castings and sheet-metal parts.

There are two aspects that contribute to the increasing significance of aluminium for manufacturers of blast machines: For once, workpieces are more frequently made of aluminium and secondly, aluminium is also popular as a blast abrasive.