A new laser measuring system will be given its UK debut at MACH 2018 and is promising to reduce the time taken to measure cutting tools by 60%.
Blum-Novotest, which claims to have 95% of the global machine tool market for this technology, will provide live demonstrations of the LC50, the next generation of the laser and the latest addition to its successful DIGILOG family.
It will be fitted to a Fanuc Robodrill on stand H18-420 and delegates will be able to witness how the premium laser optics, new design shutter protection system and HPC nozzle reportedly provides ‘ultra-reliable’ in-machine measurement data.
The East Staffordshire-based company expects this new product to generate more than £500,000 of new orders over the next two years, with the main interest coming from manufacturers supplying high value parts to the automotive, aerospace, F1 and aerospace sectors.
Managing director of Blum-Novotest in the UK, David Mold explained: “This is the first time anyone in the UK will have seen this laser measurement system in action and I’m sure interest is going to be huge.
“By evaluating the analogue signal rather than the digital one, we can take thousands of measuring values of all cutting tool edges per second, resulting in highly dynamic measurement of all tool parameters.
“In essence, this technology is 60% quicker than conventional in-machine measuring”.
He went on to add: “Even the coolant influence is bypassed by automatically filtering out dirt and the coolant residue on the tool.”
Blum-Novotest is one of the global leaders in production metrology, employing 534 people and turning over £77m across its 16 subsidiaries.
Its UK operation was founded in 2000 by David and originally started life in a small office in Lichfield. As the firm’s reputation grew in aerospace and automotive, sales started to increase rapidly and a move to bespoke offices and a state-of-the-art demonstration room in Burton-upon-Trent followed in 2015.
Today, the company delivers its solutions to some of the world’s largest aerospace primes, car manufacturers and a host of CNC machine tool suppliers, including the Engineering Technology Group, Whitehouse Machine Tools and Yeovil Machine Tools.
Mold, who oversaw a record performance in 2017, continued: “LC50 is targeted to customers who really need to control the whole machining process and who want to implement Industry 4.0 standards in their manufacturing operations as it allows them to control the variables of cutting tool, workpiece and temperature.
“Laser control systems accounted for 65% of our turnover last year and I would expect this to increase with this new technology being rolled out across existing and new clients in the UK.”
He concluded: “There’s no reason why we can’t do in excess of £500,000 of orders between now and 2020.”
