Shows strive to offer recession busting advice and technology

. The manufacturing industry looks towards Birmingham to offer advice and hopefully some solutions to the tumultuous ride it is currently experiencing. “Advanced Manufacturing UK 2009 will be an indispensable weapon in the battle against the pressures of a credit crunch,” says Canon’s events director, Mark Temple-Smith. “Time and again it is evident that companies which adopt advanced manufacturing technologies are better positioned to withstand a financial slowdown.” Advanced Manufacturing UK 2009 is being held in the National Exhibition Centre on 25-26 March and, as usual, it will feature a host of free seminars and workshops for all to attend, a plethora of technology innovations on show and nearly 400 exhibitors on hand to answer questions. The overall show will be made up of seven co-located events; Medtec UK, MTec, Machine Building and Automation, VTX - Vision Technology, 3C – Contamination Control and Cleanrooms, Practical Vacuum and Surfacts UK plus the Green Manufacturing Exhibition and Conference. As part of the show’s free education programme, ‘Wireless Solutions For Automation’ will take place on Wednesday 25 March. It will focus on the progress towards a common wireless standard as well as the various wireless solutions being offered by the major names in the industry. Speakers in the Industrial Networking Theatre are scheduled to include Gareth Johnston from ABB Instrumentation, Andy Wallace from Emerson Process Control, Gary Wedge from Honeywell, Paul Taylor from Siemens and a keynote address from Henk Van Der Bent, Europe field networks marketing manager for Yokogawa. Andy Verwer from Profibus will be discussing industrial Ethernet-based automation architecture for factory and process automation. In addition, a presentation by Peter Cheetham from the ASI-Interface Expert Alliance will cover different aspects of Actuator Sensor Interface. The Medtec conference looks like it will once again provide the inside track on the latest global thinking, development and strategy in the medical device sector. Notable speakers include Jan Pietzsch from Stanford University who will discuss design and development issues as well as verification and product launch preparation on the 25th. And a new Green Manufacturing conference is expected to provide European manufacturers will a unique insight in to best practice when it comes to the environment. It will include advice and case studies that look at how to reduce carbon footprint of a process and introduce sustainable practices. It also specifically plans to cover environmental-friendly best practice in the design process. Martin Charter, director of The Centre for Sustainable Design will discuss Sustainable Innovation: global challenges and opportunities, and Christian Verstraete, a senior direct in Hewlett-Packard will talk about ‘Green’ in the Product Life Cycle. Both will take place on the Thursday. MEDTEC Product Preview Highlights Innovative Design The award winning Industrial Design Consultancy (IDC) will be showcasing its latest medical designs that include an insulin pen. Commissioned for the Indian market, it aims to transform diabetes care. The disposable and reusable pen is low-cost, highly functional and easy to use. The product’s innovative design caught the eye of the judges at last year’s IDEA’s and was awarded best Product Design Innovation and Design Collaboration. Additionally, IDC will showcase a portable heart monitor it developed for Medick, the MHM 100. The device introduces a remote way of recording ECG data for patients having to step foot inside a hospital. It combines conventional techniques found in ECG monitors with neural network technology. It allows users to view their own heart patterns on an integrated LCD screen while being discrete, comfortable, easy to view and simple to use. IDC will also be illustrating how its medical clients have benefited from its dedicated rapid prototyping service, which reduces the time and risk often associated with developing new medical products. MTec Product Preview Optical Colour Measurements Optical sensing supplier, Ocean Optics, will have a new compact colorimeter. The Brontes is capable of 5,500 colour measurements and 18,000 luminance measurements per second making it ideal for situations where speed and stability are key demands. It will also be displaying ColorBug, a pocket-sized wireless colour and luminance-testing device that features an optical transmittance spectrometer. The devices can be used to monitor UV radiation, make health care measurements for medical analysis, chemical research, physical characterisation and biology measurements. Machine Building UK Better Man Machine Interface From Rittal Rittal’s new TopConsole promises to provide a universal workstation that comprises of a pedestal, desk unit and console. From this, a tailored interface between man and machine can be created. It offers easier installation and user friendliness than previous models but connections to other Rittal Systems can easily be made. However, the TopConsole display unit can be deployed as a standalone unit. Innovative Aluminium Connections Showcased for 2009 will be the new PVS Easy aluminium extrusion connection system, the Thinking Space System. Designed to be simple, strong and cost-effective, the Kanya build system offers robust aluminium extrusions for use in the structural design of applications such as machine guards and test rigs. New to the market is a range of extrusions designed specifically for use with the new Easy connector. To allow quick and easy installation of a connector on-site, by hand and with no drilling, Kanya is launching a range of tooling. The self-cutting threaded insert and punch-out extrusion slots mean no machining is required and connectors can be placed within seconds. Practical Vacuum and Surfacts UK Small Instrument Believed to be the smallest Coriolis effect instruments on the market, Bronkhorst is offering a range of purpose-made meters and controllers as well as dedicated liquid dosing systems. Mini Cori-Flow has been specifically developed to precisely measure very low flow rates, down to a few grams an hour with larger models handling 30 kg/hr. Suitable for both liquid and gas flow applications and capable of bi-directional measurement, Mini Cori-Flow instruments are equipped with robust IP65 weatherproof housings and available with ATEX approval for use in hazardous areas. Typical applications include research laboratories, pilot plants, semiconductor and fuel cell processing, food and pharmaceutical industries, analytical installations, micro-reactors, plasma surfacing technology and anywhere requiring direct mass flow measurement independent of fluid properties. Advanced Manufacturing UK 2009 At A Glance Held at the Birmingham NEC on 25-26 March 2009 it includes: · Medtec UK - focused on the needs of product design and manufacturing professionals from the medical device industry. It covers everything from design through to manufacture. · MTec Sensors, Measurement and Instrumentation – includes instrument and techniques for practical measurement in a variety of industries including engineering, processing and utilities. · Machine Building and Automation - products, systems, components and services used by the machine building industry. · VTX, the Vision Technology Exhibition – co-located alongside the Machine Building and Automation, it is the newest event for experts and potential users of vision systems in the UK and Irish industry. · 3C, Contamination Control and Cleanrooms – focused on the protection and prevention of particle infection to personnel, products and the environment. · Practical Vacuum and Surfacts UK – the event will cover all aspects of vacuum technology and surface modification. · Green Manufacturing Conference and Exhibition –sustainable business practices can reduce operational costs and boost profits.