With an influx of investment in digital factories, the playing field is changing and the ROI for digitizing production is becoming ever more apparent. However, restraints, such as company size and a disconnect between IT and OT, means the road to a successful digital transformation is one very few will be able to do alone.
August 2019 U.S. cutting tool consumption totaled $205.1 million according to the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI) and AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology.
Kennametal Inc., Pittsburgh, has formed a 3D printing materials and production business unit, Kennametal Additive Manufacturing, as part of its Infrastructure segment.
Kyocera Precision Tools, Hendersonville, N.C., has introduced a CVD Coated Cermet Grade for production in a wide range of finishing applications. The CCX Grade is a new technology composed of a unique, high-strength cermet insert with a thick layer of CVD coating.
Hard turning has long been used for finishing when it comes to high-volume applications. Now, tooling suppliers have pushed cubic boron nitride (CBN) insert technology further, with geometric innovations that further increase the efficiency—and cost-effectiveness—of hard turning.
Fair Lawn, NJ. Sean Holt, head of Sales Area Americas for Sandvik Coromant, announced a new Sandvik Coromant Center will open in Mebane, NC, a geography heavy with aerospace and automotive manufacturing and a strong culture of innovation.
The concepts Industry 4.0 in Europe, Made in China 2025 and smart manufacturing in the U.S. “all share a common goal—to create cyber-physical systems to innovate in manufacturing,” IDC's Bob Parker said at Dassault Systèmes’ recent Manufacturing in the Age of Experience event. “And it’s really dependent on a set of new technologies like IoT (the Internet of Things) and artificial intelligence (AI).”
The $150 million “factory of the future” that the Swiss innovator ABB announced a year ago is becoming reality in this enormous city’s Pudong New Area.
Manufacturers of all sizes see an uptick in productivity after adding a factory within a factory via an automated machining cell. The cells are small-scale, clearly defined production units, often for a family of similar parts or a product, and they typically include a robotic arm and one or more machine tools.
For years, collet-type toolholder assembly and setup have relied on cumbersome, error-prone manual methods that waste time and money.