All shops want to be more productive and reduce downtime. For some, this means an investment in a high-end CNC machine tool. Others give quick-change toolholders a try, or pursue an IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) machining strategy.
Smart manufacturing is now being rapidly adopted by a much wider range of business sectors.
The COVID-19 black swan event disrupted the global economy and forced companies to rapidly rethink their processes, operations and supply networks.
To get to smart manufacturing, the industry needs integration, simulation and analysis.
Like the United Nations’ international delegates who use interpreters to understand each other, robots, machines and other industrial components from various vendors speak different computer languages and need translators to help them communicate.
LIFT recently expanded the focus of its desire to “create innovations faster, better and cheaper” to the materials, processes and systems involved in moving innovations from concept to commercialization.
Better wheels and more capable machines add to grinding’s edge on tough materials
Holemaking in steel and cast iron up to one inch in diameter is one of the most widely used metalworking processes. What is driving drilling and tapping performance are advances in substrate, coatings, three-flute designs, and combination tools. Just as important are advances in coolant delivery, using different size holes and shapes to facilitate chip evacuation.
I first wrote about substitute skin in 1993. And at the time, it seemed that stand-in organs—at scale—were imminent.
The FX5 now with a new 12kW grinding spindle and an even stronger upgrade option