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The five co-located shows to be held at the NEC, Birmingham, from October 4th to 6th are once again "Must go" events for all those engaged in manufacturing in the UK. As well as the usual stand exhibits, DES - the Design Engineering Show, TCT, Inspex, Tooling and Interplas each come with a plethora of free advice clinics to help designers do a better job leading creating more cost effective products. The Advice Clinic at DES is sponsored by Envirowise, stand 1015, which for those who don't know, is a government funded organisation based on the AEA Technology site at Didcot. The goal of Envirowise is to improve environmental friendliness in manufacturing, but the main way it does this is to address the problem of reducing waste, whether it be material or energy related. Less waste not only means less potential pollution and less energy consumption but also lowered costs, so waste reduction is a policy that benefits everyone. Reduction in wasted money and time is also the theme of TCT, which stands for Time Compression Technology. The TCT clinic is styled a 'Surgery' and will cover the topics of 3D and Analysis from 10am to 12.30pm on Tuesday October 4th and Collaborative Development from 1.30pm to 4pm. On the Wednesday, the morning topic will be Rapid Prototyping and Tooling and the afternoon topic, 5-Axis Machining. On the Thursday, the topics will be Rapid Manufacturing in the Morning and Materials in the afternoon. Attendees will receive a bundle of specially commissioned relevant articles, which can be studied at leisure and kept for reference. Within the surgeries, industry experts will be on hand to address specific questions on a one-to-one basis. Attendees can also expect to meet like minded peers from across industry with whom to discuss pertinent issues and add to their lists of useful contacts. Attendees are welcome to attend as many surgeries as they wish. At Interplas, the British Plastics Federation will be presenting the findings of DTI funded research on the future of automotive plastics recycling. Working with motor manufacturers, first-tier suppliers and recyclers, PRoVE - Plastic Reprocessing Validation Exercise - has developed industry wide standards and demonstrated that plastics sourced from old cars can meet required specifications. The findings of the second stage of the project will be revealed in a seminar at the exhibition. This will explore the extent to which the findings of the earlier stages of the project have been validated and will also focus on the viability of collecting sufficient material to make the recycling of plastics from cars economically feasible. In addition, the Polymer Machinery Manufacturers and Distributors Association (PMMDA) will be revealing results from the Ultramelt Research and development project. Now in its final year, this three year project has been investigating the application of ultrasonic vibration to improve polymer flow during processing by lowering the melt viscosity with a prototype platen mounted system. The project has been co-ordinated by the PMMDA in association with Assocomoplast (Italy), AVEP Polymer Processors Association (Spain) and The Danish Plastics Federation. Based on case studies currently being undertaken, a fully working demonstration of the platen mounted system will provide evidence of the results achieved during development: up to 200% increase in flow length, 45% decrease in injection time and up to 60% decrease in melt viscosity. At time of writing, there were no details of the Free seminar programme to form part of Tooling, except that it is to cover latest research and practical case study examples of the latest machining and materials technology. Topics are to include: difficult to cut machining solutions, fast metal removal, deep grinding, high speed machining plus content geared to the automotive, aerospace and medical industries. DES is sponsored by The Institution of Engineering Designers. Interplas is supported by the Institute of Materials Minerals and Mining, PMMDA, BPF, and GTMA. Manufacturing Show Websites Interplas Show Solve plastic fastening problems Providing solutions to typical fastening problems faced by plastics processors will be the theme of Tappex Thread Inserts' stand 5240 at Interplas. The company has been designing and manufacturing threaded inserts for plastics for over 40 years, and based on this experience will be launching a guide that examines ten key points to consider when choosing the optimum threaded insert to ensure high performance, reliability and cost-effectiveness. One of the key points concerns selecting the correct insertion method. To illustrate this, Tappex will be demonstrating its new Heat Inserter machine that enables fasteners to be installed much faster and with improved performance. It will also be exhibiting more than 20 different types of standard fasteners for use in thermoplastics, thermosets, composites and structural foams. New slides and bearings Ondrives, Interplas stand no 5400, will be exhibiting a new linear slide system and a new flanged bearing, based on Igus UK's unique polymer bearing technology, stand 920 in the DES show. In the new 'Drylin' linear slide system, the rail, carriage place and end blocks are all made from aluminium, the carriage blocks are die cast zinc and the bearings are self lubricating 'Drylin'. They are insensitive to dust and dirt making them ideal for applications where this is a problem. They are wide and flat for supporting high moments and allow flexible use of design space. They have a low friction value for dry running and are rugged, corrosion-free and wear resistant as well as low noise. In a addition, a new flanged bearing comes complete with two mounting holes, made from highly wear resistant 'Iglidur', which makes it corrosion resistant as well as light weight. The bearings are easy to install and maintenance free, and are ideal for hygiene conscious environments such as food processing plants. Collars hold with firm grip Rino Industries, Interplas stand no 5400, has recently launched a range of collars into their 2005 product range which are said to boast the shortest possible changeover times. These feature a clamping pintle and cone with a plastic knurled adjuster for ease of assembly. They are suitable for static applications and the modular system ensures simple application with no tools required as they can be operated with just one hand. They have high tensioning forces on a plain round shaft and are also suitable for use with driven shafts. The compact, symmetrical design means a simple transmission of braking moments to roll or spool, allowing a secure emergency stop. They are maintenance free and resistant against vibration. Make it in Malaysia The Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation, MATRADE, may be found on Interplas stand no. 5642. The Corporation's primary function is to promote and develop the export of Malaysian manufactured and semi-manufactured products and services. It is a focal point for both exporters and foreign importers seeking trade related information. Ballscrew combines high force and precision (colour print) The 25mm diameter drive on a new ballscrew drive is rated at up to 16kN. The latest addition to the Hepco's Heavy Duty range is designated HDCS, standing for Heavy Duty Compact ballScrew. It is build on an aluminium beam with T slot fixings. Two types of carriage, 64 and 95 are available for high and very high loads. They are respectively rated: up to 16kN for 500km travel/5895N for 10,000km and 40kN for 400km travel/13680N for 10,000km. Moment loads are 1.8kN at 500km and 5.4kN at 400km respectively. Units can be supplied with different types of motor or specified with flanges and couplings for own motor fitting. The slides can be precision ground or commercial quality. Other options include a bellows cover for the slideways and end plate fitted with tooling grippers. The HDCS system is compatible with HepcoMotion's MCS aluminium framework systems and its full range of driven products including the HDLS Heavy Duty Linear System, the HDFS Heavy Duty and DLS Driven Linear Systems. DES Stand no. 840. New testing frames have smaller load footprint The new MTS 'Insight' range of electromechanical testing systems offer a full range of testing capabilities, with a smaller load frame footprint. A choice of ten single and double-column load frames are available with a range of load capacities up to 300 kN. The systems are constructed with a solid steel cross head and table for stiffness. Using 'Testworks' 4 software, the systems dependably perform standard tests such as peel, tear, sheer, tensile, compression, and flex/bend. More advanced tests can also be performed, such as creep, stress relaxation, and multi-cycle. The can analyse a wide array of materials, including: biomaterials, plastics, metals, elastomers, paper products, adhesives, and foam. And anti-rotate feature improves alignment, prevents accidental drops, and provides for repeatable positioning. The controllers feature up to 1000 Hz DAQ and control rates, 20-bit resolution and Built-in USB 2.0 for PC communication. The first public showing of this model range in the UK will be on the Nortest stand, Interplas 4164.