Why use a metrology device on or near a machine tool? It isn’t just useful for making sure a tool is present or monitoring tools for wear or breakage. On-machine measurement technologies can save time and money, by speeding up processes and eliminating extra personnel, and they are a critical step in the movement towards “lights-out” manufacturing.
Micro components continue to shrink in size, demanding ever-greater precision and improved handling of parts with sub-micron-sized features. New approaches in micro machining technology include higher-precision systems from traditional micro machining developers, as well as techniques using additive manufacturing processes and semiconductor wafer-scale technology on the smallest of micro parts.
Today’s products require high finishes, burr-free edges, freedom from contamination, and often close tolerances. Electropolishing provides all of those conditions and more in a matter of seconds for many metal parts. It is a process that has been used for more than a hundred years. It is widely known and the science is widely discussed, but its ability to run job shop lots and high-precision high-volume parts in the same equipment makes it a bit unique.
When you walk into the Redeye On Demand facility in Eden Prairie, MN, you enter into one version of the factory of the future. There you will see a bank of 100 high-end Fortus fused-deposition modeling (FDM) machines from Stratasys that provide the capacity to build real, functional parts with production-grade thermoplastics directly from CAD data.
It is reported that, not too long ago, before the current precipitous decline in machine-tool shipments, the number of 30-taper machines that were being manufactured and sold in Japan had surpassed the numbers of 40-taper and 50-taper machining centers.
Three members of the OMAX Research and Development team, Michael Lo, Kevin Hay, and Dr. Axel Henning, have won the Best Paper at the Water Jet 2019 conference in the Czech Republic.
Milltronics USA has named Foothills Machinery Sales as its exclusive full-service distributor for the states of Colorado and New Mexico.
Horn Technology Days, hosted by Paul Horn GmbH every two years, is a celebration of manufacturing and what is possible with modern cutting tool technology. This year’s event coincided with the company's 50 year anniversary and featured three days of technical sessions, factory tours and practical demonstrations of the company’s manufacturing products.
GF Machining Solutions and GF Piping Systems are further enhancing their direct sales and service support to customers in Mexico with the construction of a new Nuevo Leon joint headquarters. In late October, the companies conducted a groundbreaking ceremony for the 75,000-square-foot facility.
In a broad-ranging display of high-precision manufacturing proficiencies, Murata Machinery USA demonstrated its turning, fiber laser, punch press and automated storage technologies Sept. 18-20 at its biennial North American technology showcase.
