Changes in health care are driving more innovative tooling, including new machining strategies and complex cutting tools that help deliver more patient-centered solutions.
We all know the buzzwords circulating around digital data and the factory. You have heard them—Industry 4.0, smart factories, data analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI). The question we all have is how will this impact workers in the long term? What do these terms really mean? Nevertheless, both traditional software suppliers and makers of advanced manufacturing equipment are offering digital solutions.
For machine shops in a competitive global marketplace, keeping spindles running and making product is the only way to stay in business. Still, adding a new piece of equipment, even with the promise of improving the efficiency of your existing ones, may be a difficult sell to management.
Kevin Smith, senior commercial application engineer at Markforged, explains how the Markforged Metal X 3D printing process works, for starters. He also gets into how FFF metal printing differs from DMLS and other processes. And he goes over materials that can be printed on the Metal X, as well as the applications that are best suited for metal 3D printing.
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The ever-volatile oil and natural gas industry—roiled most recently by September’s drone attacks on Saudi Arabian oil facilities that temporarily reduced the kingdom’s output by nearly half (about 5 percent of global production)—faces particularly challenging requirements for machined components to meet evolving supply targets.
Rapid prototyping is a staple of every designer and engineer’s workflow—essential for testing new concepts, verifying designs, and meeting increasingly aggressive time-to-market goals. Regardless of the industry or product, all engineers must consider the speed, accessibility, cost, and output of these additive manufacturing equipment.
For years, companies have struggled to understand how additive manufacturing (AM) can add value to their businesses. This makes sense because for a long time, additive tech didn’t meet the threshold for producing industrial-grade parts.
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.
While looking for inspiration for this column,Ilene Wolff came across a rousing magazine headline. “Why the Women in 3D Printing Innovator Award Is Important,” the TCT Magazine headline read.