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.
Mass finishing processes have been widely adopted throughout industry as the optimum methodology for producing controlled edge and surface finish effects on many types of machined and fabricated components.
While robots have been deployed in high-profile surgical applications in recent years, using a specialized apparatus like the da Vinci surgical system, the majority of industrial or commercial medical uses for robots are somewhat more commonplace.
White-light metrology is a noncontact method that uses a familiar, safe light source—simple white light. Simplicity and accuracy may make white light the system of choice in many applications.
An early pioneer in the fields of NC and CAD/CAM software, Patrick J. Hanratty, PhD, discovered his passion for computing and programming almost by accident, answering a newspaper ad seeking programmers in his hometown of San Diego after returning from service in the Air Force during the Korean War.
There’s precision grinding and then there’s abrasive machining. So, what is the difference?
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.
Lean manufacturing principles and automation systems can coexist, although many lean purists contend that lean goals conflict with using automation. Smart applications of automation, however, can result in deployment of systems that are both automated and lean, with flexible manufacturing systems that can be easily reconfigured as factory operations change.
Advanced materials for automotive manufacturing are helping automakers build lighter, more fuel-efficient vehicles.
Grinding is a thermally dominated process. If done incorrectly, it can lead to surface damage to the work material, and unsatisfactory process economics due to inadequate removal rates and/or excessive wheel wear.