Editorial

 Another promising Slovenian company sprouted this January in the Technology Park Ljubljana. INTRI, d. o. o. offers services and creates solutions with advanced 3D-technologies, including 3D-printing, 3D-digitizing and the use of 3D-software, combining high-technology knowledge and equipment for unique solutions. The unification of imagination and high efficiency in the practice is proven by the creative studio and pattern shop as two indispensable parts of the company.
Andrej Žužek, founder of INTRI d.o.o., has been in the 3D-technology business since 2005. In this time he has assimilated several skills and gained certificates for the use, training and maintenance of 3D-printing hardware, as well as realised several research and development projects. It was exactly this expertise in different 3D-printing and digitizing technologies which shaped the company's core business.   

 Advantages and opportunities must be sought in our know-how, competences and abilities. We have to promote innovation and entrepreneurship, while the state must enforce fair rules of the game for everyone. This is the only way for us to reach a long-term and sustainable vision of industry as a prerequisite for the successful development of society and the well-being of its individuals. This was just one of the messages from the traditional 5. Industrial Forum of Innovation, R&D and Technology (IRT) 2013, which took place in June in Portorož.
This year the forum spanned over three days for the first time, as the European toolmakers, associated under the European International Special Tooling and Machining Association ISTMA Europe, gathered in Portorož on the third day. The whole event was in the sign of the latest developmental achievements and knowledge of domestic and foreign industry, discussions on burning topics, a professional exhibition, networking and making new business partnerships. The professional socialization in Portorož was once again well received by more than 400 participants, who awarded the organisation and the programme of the event a very good mark. Nataša Vodušek Fras

 Robotized application of materials is well established in the automotive industry. It is a complex task because of the need to coordinate the operation of dosing system, precise robot motion and low allowed deviations. The article presents a robot cell where the edge surfaces of mobile home windows and doors are first pre-treated with plasma, followed by the application of an adhesive-sealing compound.
The application of adhesive-sealing compound is a complex process with two essential conditions for a good result: uniform application/dosing of material and a uniform motion of application tool without shaking. What also needs to be taken into account are the trajectories of application, which are not necessarily composed of straight sections, and short application cycles. Bojan Primc
Žiga Majdič 

 In 2011, Steve Jobs announced the end of the era of personal computer. That year, the global sales of smart phones and tablet computers surpassed the sales of traditional personal and desktop computers. Personal computers are in no way obsolete, but it is clear that mobile technology is significantly changing the ways we access and use information.
Smart phones and tablet computer were first developed for the consumer market, but later they were also adopted in various industries, for example in the healthcare for remote access to patient data, and in education for interactive textbooks. Mobile technology also brings a similar revolution to the field of data acquisition.   

 Arburg, a pioneer in the field of powder injection moulding (PIM), invited some 200 guests from 25 countries to the celebration. The centrepiece was an international conference with 16 presentations by renowned European, Asian and American experts in powder injection moulding. A high note of the evening was the official handover of the 1.000th PIM Allrounder to Swiss PIM company Comadur.
The conference covered several topics, including non-metal injection moulding (CIM) and metal powder injection moulding (MIM). Key areas in which PIM products are used were also presented, including the automotive, jewellery and watch-making industries, as well as the IT and dental sectors. 

 Co-extrusion blow moulding combines the specific properties of different thermoplastic materials, integrating them into a multi-layered structure. Co-extrusion ensures better temperature resistance, resistance to penetration of water vapour and oxygen, resistance to carbon dioxide loss, resistance to solvents, alcohols, artificial flavours, and UV-protection.
Polyolefins are efficient water-vapour barrier materials, but offer very little resistance to the penetration of gases. If a product requires an oxygen or carbon dioxide barrier, a low permeability material must be used, such as EVOH, PVDC, PAN, PA. 

 The quality of measurements is extremely important for the industry. We spoke to the head of Petrol Laboratory Manja Moder about the laboratory work and testing the quality of fuels in Slovenia. Also heading the quality system in the said laboratory for more than 12 years, our interviewee believes there is simply no room for mistakes in objective technical judgement. Miran Varga 

 The population of nearly all countries is not only increasing, but also ageing, significantly influencing the society. Researchers all around the world strive to improve the technologies helping the seniors live longer, with less health problems and pain, as were as more independently and mobile.
The ageing of population characteristic to the developed world brings deep change in many areas. One example: the average amount of money spent for health care in persons over 75 years is five times the amount spent for persons between 25 and 34 years of age. Many illnesses target mostly seniors.   

 Vision Engineering has developed Hawk®, a unique non-contact measurement system that is the first to offer both a true optical image display combined with fully automatic video edge detection. Both of these technologies have been available individually but never before as a combined package.
Hawk can be run either manually, motorised or in fully automatic mode. For rapid product changeover, manual operation allows for very quick setup in any measurement task. For high volume throughput, automation allows repeated, objective inspection much faster than manual measurement. In between these extremes, there are a whole host of application areas that benefit from partial automation – where components can not be automatically checked or where product variety makes multiple measurement routines impractical.