Manufacturing and Engineering Magazine Volume 425 - January 2016 | Page 3

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ISSUE 425

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Magazine Manager
Daniel Beardsley

A World First in Manufacturing

Feature Managers
Tom Waite
Elliott Jenkinson
Kyle Joyce
Bradley Drake
Editor
Ciaran Jarosz
Contributing Editor
Daniel Stephens

A world first. That’s according to Kobe University in Japan. The higher education institution
whose notable alumni includes the Nobel Prize-winning stem cell researcher Shinya
Yamanaka, founder of Japanese petroleum company Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd, and current
Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Sanae Takaichi, claims its School of
Engineering graduate scheme is the first to successfully carry out the automated machining
of a part based solely on start and finish material geometry.
Based on a Kitamura Bridgecenter 6G double-column machining centre, the prototype
development allows the machine tool to carry out the entire operation without the need to
create an NC programme. The process has been likened to a 3D printing version of
subtractive cutting and, through utilisation of a database of machining information and
cutting conditions, takes a 3D model and a material model of the component to determine
the optimum machining process.
It is believed this breakthrough, led by Professor Keiichi Shirase and first exhibited at
the EMO biennial manufacturing show in Milan, will significantly reduce costs, increase
production times and pave the way to the next generation of intelligent manufacturing
systems.
Kobe University, which is located in the foothills of Mount Rokko, is one of the oldest and
largest national universities in Japan. Outside of the country’s “national seven”, formed prior
to World War II under Japanese Imperial rule such as the universities of Tokyo, Osaka and
Kyoto, Kobe is one of the country’s highest rated education institutions.
Its latest innovation sees a machine tool require only minimal information. With just start
and finish data, the prototype doesn’t require any intermediate NC programming to drive.
The developers say the prototype brings with it many advantages by avoiding the creation
of an NC programme and thus reducing labour time and providing the ability to respond to
unforeseen events. Its future use could have groundbreaking potential through the
manufacture of things like dental implants or artificial bones.
The device is one of a number from Kobe University’s “Innovative Design and
Manufacturing Technologies” projects shortlisted for Japan’s Strategic Innovation
Promotion Programme.

Journalists
Jeff Senior
Hayley Toth
Jessica Sansome
Holly Molnar
Art Editor
Stacey Beardsley
Designers
Carla Taylor
Sam Dickinson
Natalia Wysocka
Production
Vicki Lindsay
Lisa Pollinger
Rebecca Scott
Accounts
Nick Charalambous
Hasan Riaz
Manufacturing and
Engineering Magazine
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case of company or product reviews or comments, these
have been based upon the true and honest opinion of the
Editor at the time of going to press.

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