One of the foundational aspects of Industry 4.0 protocols is the creation of electronic “digital twin” models of product data and production processes. This includes an exact replica of all machine tools, including complex work envelopes showing the particular spindles, fixtures, and cutting tools.
Additive manufacturing, and AM machines, have gone mainstream over the past five years. The technology has advanced. More materials, including metals and composites, are being used for 3D printing, where parts are made from a digital design.
SkillsUSA wields a large shovel, but we have a big hole to fill. That hole is in the American economy and it is called the skills gap—the widening gap between the jobs available and the skilled workers ready to fill them.
Connected manufacturing and digitization technologies are spurring many of the major innovations in CNC machine controls that help machine shops cut metal and create parts as quickly and efficiently as possible.
If “automation” is the constant drone you hear from practically everyone in metalworking these days, job shop owners might be the only people yelling “No!” Or at least “Wait!” How, they ask, can you cost-effectively automate low-volume, high-mix parts? Yet it’s not only doable but probably necessary.
California Polytechnic State University’s (Cal Poly) Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering (IME) Department is ensuring its students are prepared for the future of fabrication by integrating abrasive waterjet into its curriculum.
A single phone call changed my life forever. In 2003, I was sitting in my office at a fuel cell manufacturing company where I was vice president of operations. A voice on the other end of the line said, “Hello, my name is Mark Tomlinson. I’m calling as a representative of the SME Manufacturing Enterprise Council.”
Nobody knows just yet how the auto industry will adopt 3D printing. But Desktop Metal Inc. (Burlington, MA) is in a better position than most to make an educated guess.
Oerlikon AM, the additive manufacturing unit of technology group Oerlikon, and Siemens AG announced at Formnext a strategic agreement in which Siemens will provide Oerlikon AM with digital enterprise solutions that will help Oerlikon accelerate the industrialization of additive manufacturing.
CNC Software Inc., Tolland, Conn., the developers of Mastercam, has announced the winners of the 2018-2019 Wildest Parts Competition. The Wildest Parts Competition is held each year to encourage student interest and participation in manufacturing.
