Author: Debbie Holton, Director of Events and Industry Strategy, SME
Date: 5/13/2013
As the plane touched down in Beijing, I didn’t know what to expect. I had traveled internationally for business many times but never to Asia or specifically China. I was excited to embark on a new adventure, but a little nervous about being in a country where I was obviously a stranger and couldn’t speak a word of the language.I was fortunate to have been invited by AMT – The Association for Manufacturing Technology – to visit CIMT 13 – the China International Machine Tool Show as their guest in the USA pavilion.
Full Article Author: Rick Schultz, Aero Structures Program Manager, Fanuc FA America
Date: 5/7/2013
Aerospace shops need to know what’s changed—and how it can benefit them.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Michael Anderson
Date: 4/24/2013
The two top prizes in SME’s 2013 Manufacturing Challenge collegiate competition went to separate teams from California State University, Northridge. The Grand Prize was awarded to the school’s Team Two for a novel Assisted Gripping Rig device designed to augment the grip of a human user.
Full Article Author: Contributing Editor Bruce Morey
Date: 3/1/2013
Noncontact metrology increasingly used to reduce costs, assist in automation and speed up manufacturing and assembly lines.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 3/1/2013
With thousands of fastener locations that need to be drilled and filled to complete a plane, drilling and fastening remain the largest areas of opportunity for automated robotics applications in aerospace. New developments are also making robots more attractive than ever in the aerospace and defense space—especially improved rigidity and accuracy in the robots themselves. There are other benefits, too.
Full Article Author: Edited by Editor-in-Chief Sarah A. Webster
Date: 3/1/2013
On Feb. 7, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said it concluded “after an exhaustive examination” that a battery fire in a Boeing (Chicago) 787 Dreamliner “pointed to an initiating event in a single cell.” That Jan. 7 fire, along with another incident involving a 787 battery on Jan. 16, contributed to regulators’ decision to ground the plane model and begin an investigation.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Jim Lorincz
Date: 3/1/2013
There’s nothing like a healthy commercial aviation industry to spur capital investment, expand one of the most successful US export product categories and challenge engine designers to increase fuel efficiency and reduce air-polluting carbon emissions. Recent studies indicate that profitability of the airlines (in years when there is any) can be traced to controlling fuel costs in a wildly fluctuating oil market.
Full Article Author: Douglas Greene, President, Hixson Metal Finishing
Date: 3/1/2013
Metal Finishing has historically been known as a messy, poorly organized and managed profession with little accountability and aggravation in spades for all stakeholders. But small California supplier Hixson Metal Finishing is working to obliterate that reputation and make it as sterling as their long-time home of Newport Beach is beautiful.
Full Article Author: Contributing Editor Bruce Morey
Date: 3/1/2013
Despite lingering uncertainty in the economy, management at the start-up contract manufacturer thinks now is a good time to start a company. How did they do it?
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Michael C. Anderson
Date: 3/1/2013
It’s real, it’s as good as you’ve heard, and it’s coming soon—if not quite yet. What we’re talking about is the aerospace material of tomorrow, carbon nanotube (CNT) sheets with awe-inspiring properties and the less-than-awe-inspiring name of “buckypaper.”
Full Article Author: Mohamed AbuAli, Consultant, FORCAM
Date: 1/9/2013
Engine maker brings its ERP system out of the office and onto the shop floor in order to optimize production planning and control.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 12/1/2012
Long the domain of engineering specialists, finite element analysis software is reaching a wider audience as the tools become easier to use and more accessible to non-expert users.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Jim Lorincz
Date: 12/1/2012
In 2005 connector manufacturing wasn’t what it had been. In a flurry of outsourcing, US shops were steadily losing business to China and India, and economy-wide financial turbulence lay just around the corner. Rather than wallow in the impending doom and gloom, Senga Engineering (Santa Ana, CA) had another plan.
Full Article Author: Edited by Michael C. Anderson
Senior Editor
Date: 11/14/2012
Lockheed Martin’s Missiles and Fire Control business unit was chosen by the United States Department of Commerce as a 2012 recipient of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for performance excellence.
Full Article Author: Scott Walker, President, Mitsui Seiki USA Inc.
Date: 9/1/2012
Unlike the "Sorting Hat" in the Harry Potter book series that made decisions quickly and intuitively, sorting out the best ways to cut tough materials has taken a few years of chips soaring, spindles smoking, tools exploding, and brains frying. While that sounds like a spell gone wrong, that’s the kind of magic we conjure in the metalworking industry.
Full Article Author: Arsenin Rodriguez, Director - Business Consulting, Infor
Date: 9/1/2012
As aerospace and defense companies turn to internal process improvement to combat current market pressures, enhanced decision making is gaining recognition for its role in strategic planning, forecasting and supporting responsive customer service. Enhanced decision-making is becoming an important weapon in the A&D manufacturer’s arsenal.
Full Article Author: George N. Bullen, FSME, President and CEO, Smart Blades Inc.
Date: 9/1/2012
On July 8, 2009, the earth shook as four Thiokol solid rocket motors ignited, propelling a bullet-shaped vehicle weighing better than 45,000 lb (20,000 kg) up and away from its launch pad.
Full Article Author: Edited by Senior Editor Michael C. Anderson
Date: 9/1/2012
Boeing 787 program and B/E Aerospace seating products group put the 3D PDF system to use.
Full Article Author: Richard Aboulafia, Vice President, Analysis, Teal Group Corp.
Date: 8/1/2012
This overview is designed to provide a comprehensive look at the business of building aircraft. If it’s a manned, turbine-powered aircraft, it’s included in this survey. The numbers are drawn from Teal Group’s market and program forecasts, so this represents the top of the World Military and Civil Aircraft Briefing "forecast pyramid."
Full Article Author: Richard Aboulafia, Vice President, Analysis, Teal Group Corp.
Date: 8/1/2012
The last 10 years were very good for defense. The US defense budget enjoyed a very strong decade of increases, and defense contractors enjoyed a strong period of growth and profits. Between FY 2003 and 2012, weapons procurement grew at a 6.1% compound annual growth rate (CAGR).
Full Article Author: Edited by Senior Editor Jim Lorincz
Date: 7/1/2012
Thrustmaster of Texas Inc., a leading manufacturer of marine application thrusters, develops all of its products in-house. Almost every order is unique to the customer.
Full Article Author: Edited by Senior Editor Jim Lorincz
Date: 7/1/2012
For many industries, composites are the material of choice for achieving lightweight, fuel-efficient and strong designs. The challenge going forward for engineers is to take full advantage of the properties of composites by using advanced analysis tools to predict margins of safety, performance, cost, and design for manufacturability.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Jim Lorincz
Date: 7/1/2012
There’s a lot of agreement that finding the right technology solution involves more than just selecting the right horizontal, vertical, universal, five-axis, high-speed, or multitasking machining center. Obviously, choices are made based on the job at hand. Best cost per piece, however, means very different things in a mold shop or a production facility, a job shop or an aerospace OEM.
Full Article Date: 6/28/2012
Sources say that European-based Airbus SAS has plans to build its first full assembly line in the United States in Mobile, AL. According to an anonymous source, who spoke with the Associated Press, Airbus intends to build its A320 jet at the new location.
Full Article Author: Susan Lavrakas, Director Workforce, Aerospace Industries Association
Date: 5/1/2012
Preparing for and adjusting to fundamental changes in the workforce have been the focus of much discussion and joint effort by aerospace and defense firms for several years. The "Rising Above the Gathering Storm" report raised alarm among leaders of our industry, which was facing unprecedented workforce shifts as baby boomers became eligible for retirement.
Full Article Author: Terry Wohlers, Principal Consultant & President, Wohlers Associates Inc.
Date: 4/1/2012
Additive manufacturing (AM) has never received so much attention. The Economist, Forbes, USA Today, and countless other mainstream and technical publications and blogs have brought the technology to the forefront. Large aerospace companies, such as Boeing, GE Aviation, and Airbus, are hard at work qualifying AM processes and materials for flight.
Full Article Author: Mohamed Hashish, Senior Vice President of Technology, Flow International
Date: 3/1/2012
A look at machining aircraft composite structures with abrasive waterjets.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Jim Lorincz
Date: 3/1/2012
When Rob Simmons, owner of Machine Specialties Inc. (MSI; Whitsett, NC), listened to a seminar speaker in 2005 discussing the looming economic downturn, he raised his hand to comment. "I’m not going to participate in that," he stated. And he didn’t.
Full Article Author: Contributing Editor Bruce Morey
Date: 3/1/2012
The pressures on today’s aircraft engine manufacturers are both familiar and intense—deliver engines with more power that use less fuel, last longer, and cost less. In response, aircraft engines are incorporating some new twists in their designs as well as using ever-tighter tolerances and lighter materials.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 3/1/2012
Automation development in the aerospace industry has quickened its pace, with the aviation and defense industries attempting to further automate manufacturing processes to meet growing OEM order backlogs and critical aerospace-defense program deadlines. As aero/defense builders seek to speed up manufacturing processes, many companies continue to borrow ideas from the more highly automated automotive industry.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Jim Lorincz
Date: 3/1/2012
Machining Aerospace Materials: Shops grow with the latest technology about the properties and machining characteristics of the newest toughest metals and carbon-fiber reinforced plastics.
Full Article Author: Don Lane, President and CEO, Makino Inc.
Date: 2/1/2012
According to the headlines and recent stock market performance, overall economic conditions remain unsteady. However, the machine tool industry is experiencing a recovery from the recession that has been quicker, stronger and more robust than any other in history.
Full Article Author: Contributing Editor Bruce Morey
Date: 3/1/2010
While metrology assisting machining, manufacturing, and assembly is not a new concept, its acceptance is becoming more widespread in aerospace plants
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 3/1/2010
As demand for lighter, faster aircraft grows, aerospace component manufacturers are machining more titanium, Inconel, Hastelloy, and Waspalloy alloys and composites to meet the needs of airframe and aircraft engine builders.
Full Article Author: George N. Bullen, Principal Engineer and Technical Expert, Northrop Grumman Corp.
Date: 3/1/2010
Using composites to replace assemblies of smaller components with large integrated structures can reduce costs
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 1/1/2010
Aerospace, heavy equipment, and wind-energy components require large-scale, high-precision metrology gear.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 3/1/2009
Aerospace manufacturers are facing ever-more stringent tolerance demands on critical defense programs, including the manufacturing of components and final assembly of the next-generation F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Robert B. Aronson
Date: 3/1/2009
In addition to the usual challenges faced by any manufacturing operation, those in aerospace face stronger constraints on weight, strength, and above all, safety. To meet the increasing need for complex monolithic parts manufacturing in the aerospace industry, MAG Cincinnati (Hebron, KY) offers a line of vertical and horizontal profilers in single or multispindle five-axis models.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Robert Aronson
Date: 3/1/2008
Aerospace requirements for lighter weight, greater strength, and more precision have spawned a new generation of materials, and the processes and machines needed to convert those materials into parts. With engines, higher-strength steel alloys and titanium dominate, while composites are the materials most used in fuselage design. Here's a look at how some major players are reacting to the new challenges.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Jim Lorincz
Date: 3/1/2008
VMC cells offer flexible production.
Full Article Author: Contributing Editor Bruce Morey
Date: 3/1/2008
Successful high-speed machining requires attention to the cutting tool, spindle, and machine dynamics
Full Article Author: Contributing Editor Michael Tolinski
Date: 10/1/2007
Systems for supplying minimum quantities of cutting fluid are slipping into shops that use traditional flood-cooling—though slowly
Full Article Author: Contributing Editor Bruce Morey
Date: 10/1/2007
Articulated-arm robots, introduced to the automotive industry decades ago, are finding niches in aerospace
Full Article Author: Contributing Editor Mike Tolinski
Date: 4/1/2007
Better tools and machining techniques open up possibilities for aerospace composites
Full Article Author: Robert Segal, Vice President and General Manager, Magellan Aerospace USA
Date: 3/1/2007
Success requires matching equipment capabilities to the demands of the job
Full Article Author: Randy Von Moll, Aerospace Product Manager, Cincinnati Machine
Date: 3/1/2007
New machining concepts and a drive for determinate assembly are changing aerospace manufacturing
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 3/1/2006
Adopting leaner automation boosts aircraft builder’s F-35 airframe assembly line
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Robert B. Aronson
Date: 3/1/2006
Waterjets do the job for the aerospace industry
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Jim Lorincz
Date: 3/1/2006
Tape laying and fiber placement systems automate composite structure production and reduce costs
Full Article Author: Jay Snider, Richard Guiler, and Glenn Sheffler
Date: 3/1/2006
Proper selection of machining strategies canspeed production and reduce shop-floor costs
Full Article Author: Contributing Editor James R. Koelsch
Date: 3/1/2006
Tools and technique double productivity in titanium and high-temperature alloys
Full Article Author: Contributing Editor Michael Tolinski
Date: 3/1/2006
Holemaking in tough materials serves more demanding aircraft applications.
Full Article Author: Mark Brownhill, Product Manager, GE Fanuc Automation Inc.
Date: 3/1/2006
It’s possible to minimize unexpected tool failure by adhering to best practices, error proofing, and other automation strategies
Full Article Author: Editor in Chief Sarah A. Webster
Fusion isn’t just a delight to your palette or ears when it mixes food or sounds together in creative new ways. It’s also good for business. Fusion, where distinct elements meet, can also result in the cross-pollination of ideas, mixing up a potential cocktail of innovation. That’s the idea behind MFG4, to be held from May 8–10 in Hartford, CT.
Full Article Author: Manufacturing Engineering Media Staff
A roundup of the latest news about the Boeing Dreamliner investigation.
Full Article