Having recently embarked on a project to gain ISO50001 (Energy Management System) accreditation, a question I’ve been posed a few times has been, Yeah, but I turn the light off when I leave isn’t that enough?Well, what is ISO50001 and what is an Energy Management System? ISO50001 is the international standard for Energy Management Systems and within this standard it defines Energy Management Systems as such: To enable an organisation to follow a systematic approach in achieving ...

Torque wrenches are common place across a variety of industrial processes, commercial garages and even homes wherever there is a precision assembly process utilising threaded fasteners. Considering their widespread use however, there remains a number of things that people get wrong or simply don’t know.

As I am sure you are aware, there has been huge media attention on the lack of Engineering resource in the EU. Norbar is no different and we have been experiencing staff shortages in this area for some time. We changed our recruitment strategy and have recently used Linked In which has actually helped (despite being inundated with CVs). We also took the decision that we may need to consider resource outside the EU. Employing people from outside the EU requires an employer to be awarded...

I explained that the working group for torque wrenches had been meeting since 2008 to revise and develop the existing standard for torque wrenches ISO 6789:2003. The project has taken far too long and sometimes people ask me why we have not finished before. In the following paragraphs I will try to explain some of the reasons, from my perspective. My aim is to give you an insight into standards preparation. Every ISO standard has an owner, in the form of a Technical Committee. ISO/TC 2...

We spend a lot of time on this blog talking about torque in applications as diverse as aerospace, construction and automotive. But we don’t spend nearly enough time talking about torque in relation to cycling. This is a shame and it ends today, because cycling is a growth sector in the UK. Whether it’s because of Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome, Chris Hoy or Team Sky at the Tour de France, cycling traffic has increased every year since 2008, roughly about the time that the British...

As the UK lead delegate for the ISO TC29 SC10 technical committee, I have the honour to represent the UK in drafting standards for tightening tools. The meetings are hosted by different national delegates each time and last week the meeting was in New York, with delegates from seven countries. One of our key standards is ISO 6789. This torque wrench standard is now 12 years old and the new standard being developed will continue to specify requirements for design, manufacture and calibration...

The aerospace sector has been very forward thinking in its use of materials to reduce aircraft weight. When it comes to bolting design and practise however, the industry has not experienced the same level of advancement. Torque is an indicator to bolt tension (sometimes called pre-load) and it is the bolt tension that we really need to control. The final stage of the bolting evolutionary ladder is therefore direct control of the tension induced in the bolt. There are various ways of doing t...

The aerospace sector, like most manufacturers, have traditionally used more, or larger bolts, than is strictly necessary in their assembly, in order to offset the effect of poor control of the bolted joint. With ever increasing pressure to design lighter structures to increase fuel efficiency, this practice is fast becoming obsolete. Over-bolting is not confined to the aerospace sector. Even the humble car wheel uses four or five bolts to secure the wheel, when in reality the job could be d...

As part of our commitment to reduce Norbar’s carbon footprint we are planning to install solar panels on the roof of our Wildmere Road property. An initiative which could generate up to 500 kW of renewable electricity. We will be doing the work in association with a not for profit organisation called the Low Carbon Hub (LCH). The LCH is a social enterprise based in Oxford, with a core aim of reducing carbon emissions across Oxfordshire. It works alongside businesses, schools and local comm...

No matter what your profession, or the industry you work within, we encounter problems that are designed to test our ability to think outside the box. Yet, sometimes there are solutions that are both simple and elegant. I recently came across such an instance that I would like to share with you.  The issue is taking data from Norbar’s measuring instruments via RS-232 and getting the data in to the customer’s own software. Norbar already offers software to manage data, coming fro...