New work materials are developed continually to improve the capabilities of finished parts, making them lighter and stronger, among other properties. When these materials catch on, cutting tools must adapt to their often challenging properties.
CENIT AG is negotiating the acquisition of all shares in Keonys S.A.S., Paris, one of the leading European PLM specialists based on the software products of Dassault Systèmes.
The ongoing digital transformation of manufacturing comes baked-in with many uncertainties, and the automotive business is no exception.
It is common sense—a vehicle that weighs less requires less fuel to move it. A number of studies show that reducing the mass of a vehicle by 10% results in anywhere from 4.5 to 6% better fuel economy—well worth the effort.
From Boeing 787s to new Navy destroyers, fiber-reinforced composites are gaining in use. As production scales up, more-efficient manufacturing remains a focus. One key to that efficiency is tooling for composites. These molds and forms give the final shape to a part, and are often integral to their final curing.
Keeping products clean is becoming a more significant part of manufacturing as standards for cleanliness, deburring, and finish grow more stringent.
Most manufacturers have relied on third-party vendors to make parts that are then incorporated into the final product. From automakers sourcing stereos and aircraft makers contracting for jet engines to a small bakery ordering plastic bags or a woodshop buying nails, producers of all types have supplemented their internal capabilities through a painstakingly developed supply chain of external vendors.
The combination of metrology hardware, adaptive CAM software and connectivity to plant-wide systems is making additive hybrid machine tool applications ever more practical on the shop floor.
Some things are a given today. One is computing is cheap and powerful, and it is getting cheaper and more powerful. Another is the dropping price of industrial sensors. Combine this with easier ways of moving around data from those sensors and you get lots of data: Terabytes of data.
Industry 4.0 is often referred to as smart manufacturing, where technology enables interconnectivity for machines and manufacturing software and systems. It also provides “Big Data,” increased visibility and remote access to manufacturing assets.
