Author: Edited by Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 5/1/2013
Bill Gibbs is the founder and president of Gibbs and Associates (Moorpark, CA), developer of GibbsCAM software. He is also president of Cimatron North America (Novi, MI) and vice chairman of Cimatron Ltd. (Givat Shmuel, Israel). Manufacturing Engineering: What are some key technical trends affect
Full Article Author: Victor M. Cassidy
Date: 5/1/2013
It’s amazing what these teenagers can do when they’re committed to doing it," says David Tuttle. "They’re not afraid of technology at all."Tuttle speaks from experience. He heads the Manufacturing Technology Department at Platt Technical High School (Milford, CT). In June, Jacob Hudson, his star student, won a Silver Medal and a $1500 prize in Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) Milling at the National SkillsUSA Championships in Kansas City, MO.
Full Article 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: Contributing Editor Bruce Morey
Date: 4/22/2013
Linking software systems captures best practices and speeds process design
Full Article Author: PRESS RELEASE
Date: 4/12/2013
The National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining and the MTConnect Institute announced the start of the first phase of the MTConnect Challenge: Creating Manufacturing Intelligence, a U.S. Department of Defense - Defense-Wide Manufacturing Science and Technology (DMS&T) ManTech sponsored competition that seeks to engage and stimulate development of advanced manufacturing intelligence applications that utilize the MTConnect standard.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 4/1/2013
With new mill/turn-capable CNCs and improved software, the latest machine controls boost manufacturing efficiency
Full Article Author: Edited by Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 4/1/2013
Dusty Alexander is president and CEO, and Mike Melzer is vice president, operations, for Global Shop Solutions (The Woodslands, TX), a developer of ERP software solutiosn for manufacturers.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 4/1/2013
Leveraging the new 3D design, simulation, process and planning software in digital manufacturing leads to PLM success.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor James Sawyer
Date: 3/22/2013
Most of the messages delivered during the Automotive Manufacturing Summit (AMS) at Detroit’s Ford Field were familiar and welcome. A few, though, were cautionary and perhaps a bit disturbing to those who have been caught up in the resurgence of the North American auto industry in general and the Detroit 3 in particular.
Full Article Author: Gary Hargreaves
Vice President, Business Development
CNC Software, Inc.
Date: 3/21/2013
One of the premier venues for countries anxious to show the world the skill levels achieved by their best youngsters is the
WorldSkills Competition held in a different member country every two years.Begun in Madrid shortly after World War II to bring attention to the need for skilled workers in Spain, the event has grown to attract over 1,000 competitors from more than 50 countries.
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: Edited by Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 3/1/2013
Colin Jones is PowerMILL software development manager, Delcam plc (Birmingham, UK), a developer of CAD/CAM and inspection software.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 2/1/2013
The cost benefits of deploying multitask machine tools are undeniable, with multitask machines offering the ability to perform many machining operations on parts with just a single setup.
Full Article Author: Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 1/8/2013
Hexagon Metrology (Stockholm) today announced it has acquired New River Kinematics (NRK; Williamsburg, VA), developer of the SpatialAnalyzer 3D analysis software for portable metrology applications. No financial details were given, but Hexagon said that NRK had a turnover of $13.3 million US during 2012.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 1/7/2013
Gibbs and Associates (Moorpark, CA), developer of GibbsCAM software, announced on Dec. 3, 2012, that it has been selected for membership in Okuma America’s (Charlotte, NC) Partners in THINC, a collaborative network of over 40 companies serving the metalcutting industry with specialized software, equipment, and expertise.
Full Article Author: Delcam North America
Date: 12/19/2012
The
Society of Manufacturing Engineers Educational Foundation has named Westfield Vocational Technical High School (WVTHS), Westfield, Massachusetts, one of nine exemplary schools that are collaborating, networking and creating partnerships with local manufacturers and community colleges. WVTHS has created partnerships with precision manufacturing companies in its area who provide internships for students and have formed a waiting list to hire its graduates. A key part of the school’s curriculum is encouraging students to bring their ideas to life by using Delcam’s FeatureCAM computer numerical control (CNC) software to create programs to build parts on CNC machines.
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: Edited by Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 12/1/2012
Narayan Laksham is founder and CEO of Ultriva Inc. (Cupertino, CA), a developer of supply-chain manufacturing software solutions.
Full Article
Author: Michael Freimann, Mastercam University, Certification Coordinator, CNC Software Inc.
Date: 12/1/2012
Today, with orders on the rise, manufacturers are looking toward multiaxis CNC machines like never before to get more done with less. Good for us. Technology could allow North America to be the global manufacturing powerhouse it once was. This, however, leads us to a burning question: "Who is going to do all of this sophisticated CNC programming?"
Full Article Author: Garrett Reim, Sales Support Coordinator, Southwestern Industries, Inc.
Date: 12/1/2012
November marked the one year anniversary of the opening of Wentworth Institute of Technology’s new $3 million Manufacturing Center in Boston, and the school’s engineering faculty said they are seeing the fruits of their labor.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor James D. Sawyer
Date: 11/9/2012
James D. Sawyer Senior Editor “Experiences are a distinct economic offering,” said B. Joseph Pine during his keynote presentation at Dassault Systemes’ 3D Experience Forum, held in Orlando Nov. 6-7. DS's annual customer event focused on the company’s evolution beyond PLM to 3D experiences that allow custome
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 11/8/2012
Siemens AG (Berlin and Munich) continued its aggressive expansion into the industrial software market with the announcement today that it would purchase privately held LMS International NV (Leuven, Belgium), a developer of test and mechatronic simulation software, in a deal valued at approximately 680 million euro.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 11/1/2012
The high cost of product lifecycle management (PLM) software was once a barrier to entry for all but the largest of manufacturing operations. But new versions of PLM software and cloud-based systems are bringing the cost down, allowing more companies to benefit from the technology.
Full Article Author: Edited by Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 11/1/2012
David Bartholomew is product manager, DP Technology Corp. (Camarillo, CA), developer of Esprit CAM software
Full Article Author: Edited by Senior Editor Jim Lorincz
Date: 10/1/2012
From CAM to precision gears to five-axis solutions: Case studies that help solve problems on the shop floor.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 8/1/2012
Bringing together many of the key players in industrial automation, the inaugural Industrial Automation North America (IANA) pavilion is an international trade fair for process, production and industrial building automation that debuts at IMTS this year.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 8/1/2012
As manufacturing companies continue to pull out of the recession, developers of machine controls and CAD/CAM software systems are investing in the new product technologies that help their customers improve machining quality, metalcutting performance and overall productivity. 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: 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 Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 7/1/2012
Steve Prast is founder and managing director of EOS Solutions (Rochester, MI), a provider of 4-D simulation modeling and 3-D visualization solutions.
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: 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 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: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 7/1/2012
Taking the pulse of the factory, shop-floor data management systems enable manufacturers to effectively collect and analyze factory-floor performance at any given moment. The best data management collection and monitoring systems give factory managers visibility of vital metrics such as overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) that tell them exactly what’s happening in real time on the shop floor.
Full Article Author: Edited by Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 6/1/2012
Ken Woodbine is president, Wilcox and Associates Inc., developer of metrology software and a unit of Hexagon Metrology Inc. (North Kingstown, RI).
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 6/1/2012
If your manufacturing operation isn’t on the cloud, chances are pretty good that it may be in the future. Cloud computing is taking off with many manufacturing operations opting to outsource the enterprise resource planning (ERP) software that manages their business and factory functions.
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 Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 5/1/2012
Edward Sinkora is a senior product manager, United Grinding Technologies Inc. (Miamisburg, OH), a developer of tool-grinding systems and related software.
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: 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: Contributing Editor Joyce Laird
Date: 2/1/2012
Is your company ready for ISO 50001, which gives organizations the requirements for energy management systems, and the new energy era?
Full Article Author: Angela Albus, Manager, TDM Systems GmbH, a Member of the Sandvik Group
Date: 2/1/2012
Some CAD/CAM and simulation systems work in 3-D, generate 3-D programs, and require 3-D tool graphics. However, generating and preparing 3-D tool graphics from a number of different tool manufacturers continues to be a challenge.
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
Date: 12/1/2011
Visitors to the Gear Expo in Cincinnati saw an array of machining centers from leading machine tool builders machining gears, once the exclusive domain of highly specialized gear-generating machines.
Full Article Author: Bruce Morey
Date: 11/1/2011
The breadth of noncontact technologies is expanding. Suppliers are improving vision and lasers. X-ray computed tomography for precision measurement is a growing presence. The benefits are many. For example, metrology using machine vision–like most noncontact systems—is generally faster than a touch probe, explains Gary Hobart of Hexagon Metrology (North Kingstown, RI).
Full Article Author: Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 10/1/2011
As manufacturers wrestle with global competition and the constant need to cut costs, manufacturing operations seek the most efficient software tools to monitor and manage often far-flung factory facilities. The latest enterprise resource planning (ERP) and manufacturing execution system (MES) software packages can offer fast, efficient management of factory data critical to every manufacturing operation.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 6/1/2011
Highly realistic 3-D simulation software can greatly improve manufacturing processes, lending sophisticated visualization tools that help increase manufacturing productivity and product quality.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 6/1/2010
Global economic pressures lead manufacturers to slash budgets and cut costs wherever possible. To compress new product development time-to-market, most major automotive, aerospace, and other industrial manufacturers today deploy increasingly sophisticated PLM software solutions to streamline and speed up product development as well as improve overall product designs and quality.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 4/1/2010
Shop efficiencies start with the machine tool controller, as today's CNC equipment offers machine operators myriad tools for improving part surface finishes, allocating machine time, and cutting job cycle times. With the latest CNC gear, manufacturers typically get a much easier-to-use controller packed with built-in software, allowing machinists to handle many programming tasks right at the control.
Full Article Author: Y. Rong, H. Wang, & H. Li
Date: 4/1/2010
All fixtures are designed to hold a workpiece in position firmly and accurately during a manufacturing process. A company buys a machine tool and uses it for 15–20 years without much change or redesign, except for changes to the programming required to process different workpieces.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 2/1/2010
Latest software advances include new parallel-processing techniques, improved simulation tools, and enhanced support for complex multitasking machine tools
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 10/1/2009
Parallel processing in CAD/CAM and simulation has the potential to dramatically speed up compute-intensive tasks in manufacturing. With the latest CAD/CAM and simulation packages, manufacturers now perform parallel and background processing on computers equipped with newer dual-core and multicore microprocessors, resulting in substantially reduced programming times and increased shop-floor productivity.
Full Article Author: John Burg, President, Ellison Technologies Automation
Date: 7/1/2009
If you're not yet a cheerleader for lean principles in manufacturing and automation, perhaps you should be. There are a number of important reasons why lean makes sense (and cents), but the most important is that it might just save your job and allow your company to keep manufacturing in the US.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 6/1/2009
With competitive pressures greater than ever, manufacturers need to cut costs and compress product-development time-to-market cycles as much as possible. New advanced 3-D simulation tools can help manufacturers wring out costs and speed development by using much more advanced 3-D visualizations, ranging from systems displaying highly realistic views of NC cutting toolpaths to full machine simulation, and to enterprise-level digital manufacturing/PLM systems.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 4/1/2009
As manufacturing retrenches, CAD/CAM software can help manufacturers squeeze the most performance out of machine tools with the latest programming techniques. Advanced simulation and synchronization for simultaneous five-axis machining and multitasking machine tools head up a long list of cutting-edge CAD/CAM software capabilities for programming today's increasingly complex machinery.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 1/1/2009
Productivity gains often start with machine controls, where advanced programming can quickly and easily add functions capable of greatly improving metalcutting processes. New CNC machining techniques and software for five-axis machining can help manufacturers achieve higher precision with smoother surfaces while cutting metal faster and more efficiently. Reducing vibration can significantly improve surface finishes and reduce cycle times in five-axis machining.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Robert B. Aronson
Date: 11/1/2008
Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM), now a main-line manufacturing process, continues to attract new users. This popularity is due to improvement in the basic design of EDM equipment and advanced concepts that open new markets. Methods Machine Tools (Sudbury, MA) has found that tailoring their EDM machines more closely to the needs of customers is key to success.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 10/1/2008
The latest real-time software solutions help shops collect, manage, and analyze critical factory-floor data
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 8/1/2008
Latest controls gear and CAD/CAM software can dramatically boost machining productivity
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 7/1/2008
Alternate CNC choices can offer manufacturers cost and productivity enhancements
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 6/1/2008
Latest collaborative tools help compress manufacturing time-to-market with global virtual designs
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 4/1/2008
With the latest machine controls and CNC software, manufacturers can improve factory productivity.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 2/1/2008
CAD/CAM software developers continue to refine simulation capabilities and toolpath techniques that enable programming highly complex equipment including multiaxis and multitasking machine tools. As manufacturers face increasingly difficult conditions, CNC programmers seek out the best tools and tricks to efficiently tackle the most complicated programming tasks. Key advances in programming for five-axis and multiaxis machining, as well as multitasking or multifunction machines, are helping manufacturing operations set up jobs much more quickly and meet production goals.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 12/1/2007
What users should consider when purchasing manufacturing software
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 10/1/2007
A new generation of digital manufacturing software tools offer manufacturers a better virtual factory
Full Article Author: Contributing Editor James R. Koelsch
Date: 9/1/2007
Medical manufacturers make money by marshalling the resources in their software
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 6/1/2007
New simulation tools offer manufacturers more precise toolpath and full-machine visualization
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 5/1/2007
Multiaxis, HSM, and mill-turn machining strategies help turn out medical components
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 4/1/2007
Latest CAD/CAM software adds more five-axis machining functionality with improved collision- checking and simulation capabilities
Full Article Author: John H. Olsen and Carl C. Olsen, OMAX Corp.
Date: 3/1/2007
Proper selection and application of software to waterjet operations can enhance workpiece accuracy
Full Article Author: Peter Schmitt, Vice President, Dassault Systèmes
Date: 3/1/2007
High-profile projects help extend PLM technology through the entire aerospace supply chain
Full Article Author: Paul Webster, Servo Product Manager, GE Fanuc Automation Americas
Date: 3/1/2007
Repetitive machining improves manufacturing productivity
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 2/1/2007
Updated controls gear adds more-powerful, cost-effective solutions
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 1/1/2007
Latest CAM packages help motorsports teams compete effectively
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 2/1/2006
More software support for multitasking machines and better simulations pace productivity improvements
Full Article