Food Manufacturing

One-stop coding shop for Hotel Chocolat

Hotel Chocolat, which owns more than 70 stores in the UK and is engaged in an expansion programme in the USA and Middle East, is a leading premium chocolatier and the only UK company to grow cocoa on its own plantation. Working with Markem-Imaje, Hotel Chocolat has recently installed eight new coding machines at its factory in Huntingdon as part of a project to further improve print quality on the production line and overall operational efficiency, as well as improving environmental performance and reducing waste.

10th October 2014

Festo's CPX platform - complete automation

Much like the mainland UK, Guernsey has been ravaged by the forces of nature this year. But thanks to a remotely controlled, pneumatically operated pumping station that was completed last year, one area of the island has escaped damage from the resulting floods.

8th October 2014

XYZR gantry scanning system design and build by LG Motion

A novel motorised XYZR gantry scanning system with a combined vertical and rotary positioning axis that includes the ability to measure its force, position and velocity has been supplied to the Imperial College Non-Destructive Evaluation Group by LG Motion for a research project to evaluate critical aspects of a high-temperature strain-monitoring technique for use in power station steam lines and associated components.

15th September 2014

adi Group delivers sweet success for Daim

adi Group has completed a full turnkey control system upgrade at the Mondelez, Daim factory in Stockholm, meeting an ambitious 4-week plant shutdown to ensure uninterrupted supply.

5th September 2014

Linear chain proves a grand design

Push-pull actuation of heavy loads using the Linear Chain Actuator from R. A. Rodriguez is gaining wide application appeal across all walks of engineering. Indeed, one of its main selling points is the compact nature of the drive which means it is often selected for tasks where technical performance and aesthetics are of equal importance. And it proved to be perfect for a project on the television programme, Grand Designs.

27th August 2014

Just in time maintenance via remote service

Machine operators such as NestlÃ© and Unilever expect 100 per cent system availability. Therefore, machine builder Big Drum Engineering sees demand-oriented maintenance and fast troubleshooting via remote service as key to this increasingly critical success factor. In providing these, the company places great emphasis on safety and security.

21st August 2014

Non-contact torque monitoring brings benefits to ship unloaders

A ship at sea is earning its owners money; a ship in port is costing its owners money. Rapid loading and unloading are therefore critical to the success of a shipping company, hence dockside technology continues to develop to provide more speed and efficiency.

20th August 2014

Altra solves vibration issues for pumps in water treatment plant

A large raw water pumping station in Malaysia was suffering from severe vibration problems with the drivetrains on a number of large pumps which resulted in regular failures and downtime. When an update to the original parts was unsuccessful in solving the issue, the plant's managers turned to Altra Couplings to offer a solution. Fortunately the power transmission specialist was able to design a bespoke system using TB Wood's Form-Flex shafts which substantially reduced vibration.

8th August 2014

Sercos drives innovative robotics design

Sercos International, supplier of the Sercos automation bus, powers the drive construction and rotation options of the Penta Robotics' Veloce parallel robot with its technology.

23rd July 2014

CC-Link partner Festo is using nature to inspire automation

In a recent video made in partnership with the CC-Link Partner Association (CLPA), Festo explains how they take inspiration from nature to offer innovations in automation. A specific example of a robot dragonfly that soars and hovers just like the real thing has been inspiring engineers visiting exhibitions around Europe.

17th July 2014

Applications