When an unanticipated global crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic disrupts national economies in a domino-like effect, a rapid response is required to mitigate supply chain disruptions.
Manufacturing Engineering last covered the pluses and minuses of combining additive and subtractive machining in detail in July 2017.
Over the past decade, IMTS has been a good indicator of the changing status of additive manufacturing. The show’s floor space devoted to 3D printing expanded from 2014 to 2018, reaching pavilion status at the most recent show. It had been scheduled to grow even more at IMTS 2020 before the show’s cancellation.
BIG Kaiser Precision Tooling Inc., Hoffman Estates, Illinois, a manufacturer of premium high-precision tooling systems and solutions for the metalworking industries, is celebrating its 30th anniversary.
The credential hanging on my wall that swells me with pride is my machinist certificate. That apprenticeship experience was the “ON!” switch for my career path. The brightness of that light helped maintain the vision and the hope even as I faced significant racial bias almost 30 years ago.
I met a man recently. He had worked at a small manufacturing company for 20 plus years and was the sole technician responsible for the assembly of his company’s most complex product. After years of dedication to the company, he was set to retire.
The economic challenges brought forth by COVID-19 are causing a more intense focus in manufacturing on the need for the kind of alacrity achieved with digital tools and the kind of digital savvy achieved with strong partnerships.
Hainbuch America Corp., Germantown, Wis., offers a modular workholding system with maximum flexibility and designed for a wide range of part diameters, configurations and small quantities.
Listen to this Smart Manufacturing magazine article: Pandemic makes case for more automation, robotics. Outbreak poised to prompt changes in the way manufacturers use automation.
Improvements in manufacturing management software, robotics, additive manufacturing and thermal controls are making small batch sizes more cost effective—even for smaller shops. Manufacturing plants are able to reduce inventory, improve throughput and reduce demands on human operators.