November 2011 Thousands of lipsticks are produced every hour, all around the world. In the manufacturing lines built by Weckerle GmbH, the Rexroth VarioFlow chain conveyor system supplies input materials without interruption. The first lipstick was presented by French perfumers at the 1883 World’s Fair in Amsterdam. The mixture of castor oil, beeswax and deer [...]
March 2011 Standardized aluminum profiles simplify assembling solar systems. That saves time and money. Using Rexroth aluminum profiles speeds the mounting of solar panels by twenty-five percent. And anyone can use these “off the shelf” profiles without extensive training. No special tools are required. LG Energy Solutions, an American company that engineers and installs renewable [...]
March 2011 High-tech entertainment electronics – from diminutive MP3 players to large LED screens – are what Blusens Global Corporation manufactures on its new, automated line. And it has to be one thing above all: flexible. At Blusens, located in Santiago de Compostela in Spain, the spirits are high. This manufacturer of modern entertainment electronics [...]
October 2010 Maintenance-free and quiet — the TS 5 transfer system uses a king shaft to transmit drive energy. This newly developed line optimizes production at Škoda. Škoda Auto is setting out on new paths in axle manufacturing at the components plant in the Czech town of Mladá Boleslav. There the automaker turns out a [...]
March 2011 The Dogumoba and the endless slot – conveyor systems in times of change. Engineers at the Bosch corporation recognized a move toward industrial automation even in the early 1930s and knew how to make use of this insight. In the company’s own development, repair and maintenance shops the staff devised ways to move [...]
April 2010 Photovoltaic panels are made of thin and extraordinarily fragile sheets of glass. To ensure their safe movement and precise positioning, the company Heckert-B.X.T. Solar, situated in the state of Saxony, puts its faith in the TSsolar transfer system made by Rexroth. These are the characters in Jens Bonitz’ nightmares: splintered glass, ruined PV [...]
October 2009 Piping hot coffee at the push of a button. The modern packing systems made by Paal are needed so that consumers can enjoy coffee with the convenience of pre-packed pods. And that company banks on the versatile, high-performance VarioFlow conveyor system built by Rexroth. Nowadays, Grandma’s wooden coffee grinder will be found only [...]
October 2009 The mood in Europe’s board rooms is by no means as gloomy as the current world economic situation might have us suppose. This was the somewhat surprising result of a poll of 2,600 companies, conducted by Simon Kucher & Partners corporate consultants. In spite of declines in orders received and the credit crunch, [...]
The new EU Machinery Directive went into force at the end of 2009 and imposed new safety requirements. How should these regulations actually be implemented when designing machine controls? A guideline. On December 29, 2009, the new 2006/42/EC Machinery Directive went into effect. In addition, a new standard on functional safety, ISO 13849-1, became binding [...]
October 2009 Less and less energy in, more and more production out. Can that work? It can. And it must. The good old-fashioned incandescent light bulb will soon go out forever. Thrifty consumers and demanding legislators have banned it from Europe’s shelves as of 2012. And many more products and technologies are likely to suffer [...]