Author: Editor in Chief Sarah A. Webster
Date: 5/1/2013
Compact Power Services is remanufacturing old Bullard VTLs, turning the hulks into “Elec-trols,” modern, efficient powerhouses
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Jim Lorincz
Date: 5/1/2013
Choices lead to machining solutions for most small complex parts
Full Article Author: Edited by Senior Editor James D. Sawyer
Date: 3/7/2013
Using specialized CNC software on advanced machine tools helps Forest City Gear sell its products worldwide. As Ceo Fred Young explained, “We decided long ago to do two things. First, to make the very best fine and medium-coarse pitch gears in the world, and to do so by using the best machines, people and quality assessment practices possible. Second and just as important, we became committed to reinvesting our company’s profits in newer and better machinery, based on the global standards and the ongoing technical advancements made by machine tool builders around the world.”
Full Article Author: Contributing Editor Bruce Morey
Date: 2/1/2013
Extracting oil and gas in the deep ocean requires heavy-duty expertise. But the tight skilled labor market is forcing more efficient use of capital equipment through single setup and automation
Full Article Author: Senior Editor James D. Sawyer
Date: 2/1/2013
"The key thing we’ve learned from being in business," said Brad Carney, a founder and owner of Carney-Echelbarger Machining (C-E; Kokomo, IN), "is that the more that we diversify, the better off we are."Along with his mother and father, Carney in 2004 launched what was originally known as Carney Custom Machining (CCM) in a building behind his parents’ house in Sharpsville, IN.
Full Article Author: PRESS RELEASE
Date: 12/6/2012
FANUC Corporation, the world's most diversified manufacturer of CNC systems, robots and machine tools, has again recently been named a top innovator by Forbes and Thomson Reuters in 2012
Full Article Author: Edited by Senior Editor Jim Lorincz
Date: 12/1/2012
Mikelson Machine Shop Inc. (South El Monte, CA) is a 100% aerospace contract manufacturer that continually looks for ways to improve production of its highly complex manifolds, valve blocks, and other hydraulic aircraft components.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 10/1/2012
Better coolant and chip management leads to more productive plants, higher quality parts. Filtration machine builders are improving their offerings with mobile units and machines that clean better and more efficiently.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Jim Lorincz
Date: 10/1/2012
The growing popularity of five-axis machining shouldn’t be a surprise. Manufacturers are becoming increasingly aware of the advantages of 3+2 positional or simultaneous five-axis machining of complex small and large parts.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Jim Lorincz
Date: 10/1/2012
Innovative tooling technologies lead to improved productivity
Full Article Author: John MacGregor, President, AA-EDM
Date: 9/1/2012
There are different forms of electric discharge machining (EDM), but all basically work in the same manner. EDM works by eroding material in the path of electrical discharges that form "a conduction channel" between an electrode tool and a workpiece.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Jim Lorincz
Date: 9/1/2012
The evolution of CNC machining over the years has blurred the distinction between multifunction CNC lathes and mills. Today, instead of being called turning equipment, these versatile multifunction machines are more commonly referred to as mill/turn centers or multitasking machines.
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: Edited by Senior Editor James Sawyer
Date: 8/17/2012
There is an old saying: "Better, cheaper, faster. Pick any two." That does not cut it in today’s manufacturing environment. In a globally competitive world, manufacturers who wish to survive will achieve all three goals—all the time. This is true even when the component being machined is something as complex as the hub for a wind turbine.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Jim Lorincz
Date: 8/1/2012
Technical advances continue to recommend EDM for applications where the closest tolerances and finest surface finishes are required.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Jim Lorincz
Date: 8/1/2012
Designers, builders, and distributors of material-removing machine technologies continue to be challenged by productivity-hungry industries ranging from medical, automotive, energy, and aerospace to general engineering. For contract manufacturers or quick-response job shops, the challenge is to match the level of technology to a bewildering array of one-off or short-run workpiece demands.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Jim Lorincz
Date: 8/1/2012
Real competitiveness in traditional material removal processes begins where a tool is held to meet a fixtured workpiece. One or the other or both are moving, turning, indexing, or profiling, often simultaneously. Making the right selection of tooling and workholding including cutting tool, substrate, coating, geometry, as well as toolholder, toolchanger and ancillary coolant delivery and chip removal systems for the material application is critical to optimizing process performance.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor James Sawyer
Date: 8/1/2012
During the last five years, the gear manufacturing industry could be likened to the cars so many of its products find their way into: either they’re cruising along in Drive, or they’re idling in Neutral. What state gear generation finds itself in at a given time can be attributed in large part to the condition automaking is in, although a number of other industries have an impact as well.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor James Sawyer
Date: 8/1/2012
On the surface it seems like a case of putting the cart before the horse: "Good [grinding] hardware used to be more important than software," says Eric Schwarzenbach, president of Rollomatic Inc. (Mundelein, IL), "because the control systems were not ready for elaborate software functions. All this has changed, and the current control systems run on Windows or other open software platforms. Nowadays, software is the key to a good grinding machine."
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Michael C. Anderson
Date: 8/1/2012
As with every other part of the supply chain in 2012, the companies in this pavilion are adapting to ever-higher demands in productivity, reliability, and sustainability in an era of cut-throat competition and a still-uncertain economy.
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: Edited by Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 7/1/2012
With continued rising labor and other manufacturing costs for overseas imports from China and other countries, "near-shoring" increasingly is being viewed as an opportunity to better serve US demand, according to a recent report by AlixPartners LLP (New York), a global business advisory firm.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor James D. Sawyer
Date: 7/1/2012
The Great Recession was not kind to manufacturing, but the industry has bounced back in fine fashion. It grew a phenomenal 91% from 2009 to 2010 and an impressive 66% from 2010 to 2011. Thus far this year manufacturing has grown 20%—beating forecasts.
Full Article Author: Contributing Editor Bruce Morey
Date: 7/1/2012
The challenges to manufacturing as it evolves into the 21st century are now familiar, and impact how metrology must contribute. Manufacturers face uncertain production volumes with roller-coaster demand, shorter production runs and faster product development cycles. Automation, while alluring as a way to reduce cost, needs to adjust.
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 Author: Senior Editor Jim Lorincz
Date: 6/1/2012
Machine tool builders have adopted advanced designs and used computer-aided modeling to develop machine technology that meets requirements of manufacturers from one-off applications to production runs in the thousands or many times greater. The challenges they face are complicated by customer requirements to meet higher degrees of accuracy, increased throughput, improved reliability, and safety and lower cost.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 6/1/2012
Staying competitive in today’s manufacturing world means cutting parts at optimal efficiencies. With the latest CNC gear, machinists optimize cutting speeds while getting extremely high-quality finishes due to improved machine control hardware and more sophisticated software functionality.
Full Article Author: Edited by Senior Editor Jim Lorincz
Date: 4/1/2012
Rigid rotary tables are well known for their ability to reduce cost and increase accuracy. When added to a three-axis machining center, rotary tables add a fourth or fifth axis, making the machine an affordable alternative to a full five-axis machining center. Of course, while adding axes may improve productivity, use of less rigid rotary tables can hinder speed and accuracy.
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: Eric V. Gearhart, Director, Skills USA; Bob Skodzinsky, Manager, Haas Technical Education Center Network
Date: 3/1/2012
Every year, more than 300,000 kids in the US are involved in student competitions of all shapes and sizes, validating a variety of skills, knowledge and expertise. The Society of Manufacturing Engineers supports a number of these programs, but in 2011, SME had the great privilege to support the SkillsUSA Championships in Kansas City, MO, featuring 94 different trade, technical, and leadership competitions for SkillsUSA members.
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: 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: Edited by Senior Editor Jim Lorincz
Date: 2/1/2012
Laitram Machine Shop Inc. is a producer of machined components for Intralox, a major developer and manufacturer of industrial conveyor systems and for Laitram Machinery, a manufacturer of automated shrimp-processing equipment. The challenge is always to produce parts in the shortest possible time to the highest standards while reducing the cost to machine the parts.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 2/1/2012
Speeding up programming tasks on CAD/CAM software ranks at the top of machine shops’ requirements when faced with making quality parts on a deadline. The more efficient a shop’s toolpaths are, the less chance that any programming problems result in wasting very expensive machine time on the shop floor.
Full Article
Author: Senior Editor Jim Lorincz
Date: 2/1/2012
Oil prices are widely expected to remain above $100 a barrel throughout the year, making the pursuit of aggressive domestic drilling economically sensible. There’s enough drilling activity to ensure that shops will have a ready market for their machining capacity for oil field goods. The increased activity is offering business opportunities for machine shops located nearby and for machine builders and distributors and their third-party suppliers of tooling and workholding.
Full Article Author: Contributing Editor Bruce Morey
Date: 2/1/2012
While the overall economy might still be on shaky ground, the oil patch has recovered remarkably in just the last two years. There are over 2500 rotary rigs now active in North America compared to under 1000 in December 2009, according to the December 2011 Baker Hughes Rig Count report, a barometer of the drilling industry.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 1/1/2012
Going green makes sense, if the price is right. While the interest from manufacturers in using more environmentally safe, health-conscious "green" coolants and lubricants remains high, many shops may be put off by the initially higher price tags of the coolant technology, despite potential health benefits for workers and cost savings, such as extending tool life.
Full Article Author: John Bradford, Micromachining Team Leader, Makino Inc.
Date: 1/1/2012
Micromachining has gained a lot of attention over the last several years, representing an area of growth particularly for North American manufacturers. While some more simplistic applications have been sent overseas, the micromanufacturing industry faces a greater level of complexity that many companies are unwilling to outsource.
Full Article Author: Contributing Editor Bruce Morey
Date: 1/1/2012
Ever tighter part tolerances and the need to make parts ‘right the first time’ are prompting more offerings in metrology devices for use directly on or near CNC machine tools. At the same time, increasing use of four and five-axis machines presents its own challenges in calibrating machine tools.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Jim Lorincz
Date: 2/1/2010
Machining systems can meet every need, if proper attention is given to process design and machine capabilities.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Jim Lorincz
Date: 12/1/2009
Machine tool suppliers, builders, and distributors are adopting aggressive ways to support their customers' efforts to improve productivity and profitability in especially trying economic times. Decision-making tools, such as cost-justification models, ROI (return on investment) worksheets, and the requisite careful analysis of the production value of CNC equipment are being brought to bear on their current equipment purchases or, perhaps equally important, their future purchases.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Jim Lorincz
Date: 3/1/2009
"Shops that machine small parts may have the luxury of scrap, but we don't," says Don Covert, president of Covert Manufacturing Inc. (Galion, OH). "Accuracy, speed, and a stable process are vital. Big parts take longer to machine, so you have to maximize the number of parts you finish in a day, without sacrificing quality and with as little scrap as possible."
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Jim Lorincz
Date: 8/1/2008
Milling, turning, and multitasking solutions are waiting to be found at the Metal Cutting Pavilion
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 5/1/2008
Permanently marked metal components offer medical, aerospace, and automotive companies true traceability
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Jim Lorincz
Date: 3/1/2008
VMC cells offer flexible production.
Full Article Author: Olaf Tessarzyk, President, Index Corp.
Date: 12/1/2007
Analyze cost factors and match CNC technology to manufacturing needs
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Jim Lorincz
Date: 12/1/2007
Calculate the value added to processes
Full Article Author: Editor Brian J. Hogan
Date: 12/1/2007
When you plan a purchase, remember to include accessory items that can improve shop productivity in the package
Full Article Author: Contributing Editor James R. Koelsch
Date: 11/1/2007
A systems approach helps toolmaker to cut labor, costs, and leadtime.
Full Article Author: Contributing Editor Bruce Morey
Date: 9/1/2007
Today's gearcutting equipment is fast, performs more operations with a single setup than traditional machines, and meets strict process capabilities with tight tolerances
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Jim Lorincz
Date: 3/1/2007
Large parts and tooling thrive in precision job shop
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Michael C. Anderson
Date: 4/1/2006
A combination of evolutionary development and new concepts makes vertical turning the technology of choice in many applications
Full Article Author: Senior Editor James Koelsch
Makers of gear generation equipment are incorporating machining concepts long employed on machining centers into their products
Full Article