Pulse at Home 

 Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Ljubljana and Istrabenz Plini have developed a system for cryogenic machining under the authorship of Dr. Franci Pušavec and Prof. Dr. Janez Kopač. In this system, the machining (turning, milling and so forth) is done using liquid nitrogen in order to ensure a clean manufacturing process with reduced costs and increased productivity. 

 
20 years ago, brothers Tomaž and Sandi Boh had a vision, a wish and the know-how to deliver. They moved their family tradition of metalworking into BTS Company and started supplying the Slovenian industry with quality tools and machines. They are still enjoying their work and plan the next steps for the company’s further growth.

You have celebrated the 20th anniversary of your company. Can you name any event that left the biggest impression on you during this period, and why so?
Tomaž Boh: It is hard to single out any certain event, as there have been a number of turning points. I might mention my brother and I were very young when we founded the company, I was 23 and he was 26. As we had no seed capital, we had to sell our personal property. Soon, we moved our business from Škofljica to Ljubljana.
  

 The manufacturing industry exhibits a clear trend of complete machining on a single machine. Turning/milling centres (turning centres with added milling function) have established themselves on the market well and are available with five-axis simultaneous machining. In addition to that, the demand is rising for drilling/milling centres, a combined solution that was first presented 20 years ago, but was deemed to be to complex and too expensive, so it could not find a proper practical use for a long time. The machining with turning/milling is currently experiencing a renaissance thanks to the latest experts’ achievements in the field of machine building, electrical engineering and IT. 

 Advanced robots face similar challenges as people. They strive to a reliable and quick presence in the reality, actualising it by sensing, thinking and moving. Japanese concern Honda marked a significant jubilee last year. The ASIMO humanoid (Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility), a brave upgrade to the giant's production and sales programme, celebrated its tenth birthday. Honda's research and development challenge in mobility is clear – to develop an innovative model of a bipedal humanoid that will be able to walk. The general concept is somewhat wider and assumes the responsibility – help and improvement of living conditions for the mankind – for coexistence of a humanoid in the modern society, where it takes over the anthropologic functions. 

 Following years of an upward trend in the economy, the general economic and financial crisis has struck some major blows to the sectors represented at our fairs, and this has also influenced our efforts preparing the last edition of our fairs in 2009. The world economy has found itself in the vice of reduced demand for products and services, meaning less work for the industry and, consequentially, also for toolshops and other companies co-designing the developmental and manufacturing processes. The general circumstances have also cut into the means for marketing, including the promotion at fair. Nevertheless, together with our loyal exhibitors and visitors, Celjski sejem has managed to successfully carry out the four-day fair event. Despite all we must emphasise the curve of economic growth is turning upwards, the conditions are stabilizing and we are returning on the path of growth. This also reflects in the outline of this year's fairs, which once again combines the presentation of new technologies and numerous developmental achievements.