Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 5/23/2013
New and improved choices for robotic vision, grippers, automotive spot welding and many other applications wowed visitors at the ABB Robotics Technology Day held Thursday at ABB Robotics’ (Auburn Hills, MI) North American 55,000-sq.-ft. headquarters and training facility. The event showcased new or updated solutions for robotic automation as well as in-depth technical seminars on robotic technologies from ABB Robotics.
Full Article Author: Edited by Senior Editor James D. Sawyer
Date: 5/22/2013
High-grade, high-performance steel is needed to make the molds for today’s multifunctional and artfully shaped lighting systems.
Full Article 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: Senior Editor James D. Sawyer
Date: 4/1/2013
More gears made faster and with higher quality are needed to meet upcoming fuel economy and emission regulations
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: 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: Dave Lalain
Vice President, Commercial Development
Automotive Industry Action Group
Southfield, MI
Date: 1/3/2013
Industry group brings together competitors in order to prevent a global automotive shutdown.
Full Article Author: NAM Chief Economist Chad Moutray
Date: 1/1/2013
Amidst all of the conversation about the fiscal cliff, slowing global growth and other economic anxieties, it is easy to overlook that the long-term prognosis for the manufacturing sector remains strong. Some of 2012’s economic bright spots should continue into 2013, and manufacturers will benefit.
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: International Trade Administration, US Department of Commerce
Date: 12/1/2012
Agencies across the federal government have been working together under the National Export Initiative (NEI) to create jobs by expanding exports. The objective of the NEI is to double exports by the end of 2014—an increase that will support 2 million additional jobs in the US.
Full Article Author: Antonio Danova, Industry Analyst, IBISWorld
Date: 12/1/2012
Automotive industry employment is expected to grow in the long run, but the restructured business models of the Detroit Three will prevent the domestic industry from reverting to the behavior that led to the predicaments exposed during the recession.
Full Article Author: Nicky Borcea
President
Sohner Plastics
Ann Arbor, MI
Date: 10/1/2012
Dunnage used to ship and process automotive parts on the shop floor is a key component in the overall manufacturing process, yet it is often overlooked when companies are working to make lines lean and green. Today, it is important that manufacturers know that most dunnage used to transport parts from start to finish can be reused for the lifetime of production.
Full Article Author: Editor in Chief Sarah A. Webster
Date: 9/18/2012
I just want to say one word to you -- just one word -- are you listening? In 1967, when “The Graduate” came out, that word was plastics. Today, it’s this: Lightweighting. If the automotive industry is going to meet the new federal rule of 54.5 mpg for light-duty vehicles for the model years 2017-2025, “lightweighting is obviously the pathway of choice.”
Full Article Author: Contributing Editor Bruce Morey
Date: 9/11/2012
"If people ask me what the megatrend in metrology is today, I always tell them it is optical," says Andreas Blind, vice president of Hommel-Etamic (Rochester Hills, MI). This includes any noncontact metrology device that uses light, laser, and sensing devices.
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 Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 9/1/2012
As the automotive industry’s reawakening continues, less-expensive high-payload robots are gaining traction over more conventional fixed tooling among automakers focused on cutting costs while improving manufacturing productivity and processes.
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: 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: 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: Doug Hixon, Robotic Laser Welding & Cutting Specialist, ABB Robotics
Date: 6/1/2012
The longer term challenges facing the automobile industry are as complex as they are interrelated: Design cars that people want. Increase customer satisfaction. Reduce capital costs. Improve passenger safety. Increase fuel efficiency. And, of course, do all of this while sustaining a business model with a reasonable profit margin.
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: 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: 12/1/2011
Eaton keeps ahead of the game as evolving requirements ensure that manufacturing engine valves is no longer an open and shut case.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor James D. Sawyer
Date: 11/1/2011
The way Chuck Sibley tells it, enlightened self-interest lies behind the employment practices and policies at the Navistar Engine Group plants he manages in Huntsville, AL. “We try to treat everybody from the top to the bottom the same way,” he says. “There is a payback to this. It’s not just about being super-nice people. It’s a business decision. It’s not just a feel-good story.”
Full Article Author: James D. Sawyer
Date: 10/1/2011
Navistar Engine Group has two engine manufacturing facilities. Navistar’s newest diesel engine plant, Navistar Big Bore Diesels LLC, produces technologically advanced 11, 13, and 15-L inline diesel engines. The plant was designed to incorporate modern machine-tool technologies and manufacturing techniques to produce engines that meet stringent EPA emissions standards, known as EPA 2010, and exceed customer’s needs for performance, reliability, durability, and fuel efficiency in Class 8 trucks.
Full Article Author: Jim Lorincz
Date: 9/1/2011
Materials suppliers to the US automotive industry carefully watch any news of changes in government-mandated Corporate Average Fuel Economy fuel standards. Every tenth of a point of mpg adds up, requiring vehicle manufacturers to find ways to lighten components and their suppliers to machine them. Lighter powertrains and bodies and chassis increase mpg. The materials of choice, both new and old, include compacted graphite iron, aluminum alloys, and proven standbys like powder metals.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Jim Lorincz
Date: 9/1/2011
Step outside of the high-volume, highly automated world of production automotive manufacturing for a few minutes, but not too far out. There’s a fascinating world populated with car enthusiasts who restore, rebuild, replicate, and race some of the sleekest cars that ever rolled out of someone’s garage. Their “rides” include muscle cars, replicas, newly built high-performance NASCAR race cars, or open cockpit road racers. And they all share one thing in common—they all need fast turnaround and economical fabrication of components and the fixturing to produce them.
Full Article Author: Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 9/1/2011
In automotive manufacturing metrology, speed and accuracy are paramount. To meet tight time-to-market challenges and strict quality-control demands, automotive OEMs and suppliers must get the utmost performance from tools that enhance part production throughput while meeting quality goals.
Full Article Author: Contributing Editor Bruce Morey
Date: 9/1/2011
With increasing concerns about fuel economy, automotive OEMs and suppliers are looking to take weight out of their cars. One approach with far-reaching consequences is using more carbon-fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP). A car made with lighter, stronger materials means better fuel economy as well as better handling and acceleration. CFRP may be the ultimate lightweight material for the job, but challenges remain.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 9/1/2009
Advanced materials for automotive manufacturing are helping automakers build lighter, more fuel-efficient vehicles. With the lighter and stronger steel, aluminum, and magnesium components, the current crop of cars and trucks can meet stringent crash safety standards, while also improving fuel economy to help achieve the more strict government Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) mileage requirements looming on the horizon.
Full Article Author: La Roux K. Gillespie
Date: 6/1/2009
Edge finishing is a relatively new term in manufacturing. It's a new and deeper focus on what many used to call deburring, edge honing, edge preparation, edge prepping, burring, chamfering, or edge blending. Edge finishing goes beyond any of those definitions. Deburring, which is often considered wasted effort by managers, wrongly carries a negative connotation.
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Jim Lorincz
Date: 10/1/2008
Hybrid machining system can produce batch size of one
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Jim Lorinczx
Date: 9/1/2008
Michael Waltrip Racing partners with Jet Edge
Full Article Author: Contributing Editor Bruce Morey
Date: 9/1/2008
Many racing teams and some suppliers of parts are making the move to advanced CNC fabricating equipment
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Jim Lorincz
Date: 9/1/2008
Okuma partners with Richard Childress Racing
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 James R. Koelsch
Date: 10/1/2007
Properly done, part marking can tell the user your part's story wherever it goes
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 Bruce Morey
Date: 9/1/2007
The Chrysler Group has retooled its Sterling Heights Assembly Plant (SHAP) to build multiple models on one production line
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Robert B. Aronson
Date: 3/1/2007
The headaches of holemaking
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Jim Lorincz
Date: 1/1/2007
It takes a manufacturing team to compete at the highest levels of racing
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Patrick Waurzyniak
Date: 1/1/2007
Latest CAM packages help motorsports teams compete effectively
Full Article Author: Contributing Editor Frank Burke
Date: 1/1/2006
Greater longevity, higher horsepower, and reduced blow-by can result when the process is employed
Full Article Author: Senior Editor Jim Lorincz
Date: 1/1/2006
Hendrick Motorsports partners with Haas Automation to compete
Full Article