New automation solutions have aerospace production humming, with automated-guided vehicles (AGVs) and mobile robotics solutions helping aerospace and defense builders meet demanding production schedules for delivery of new commercial and military aircraft.
Speeding up programming tasks on CAD/CAM software ranks at the top of machine shops’ requirements when faced with making quality parts on a deadline. The more efficient a shop’s toolpaths are, the less chance that any programming problems result in wasting very expensive machine time on the shop floor.
While robots have been deployed in high-profile surgical applications in recent years, using a specialized apparatus like the da Vinci surgical system, the majority of industrial or commercial medical uses for robots are somewhat more commonplace.
An early pioneer in the fields of NC and CAD/CAM software, Patrick J. Hanratty, PhD, discovered his passion for computing and programming almost by accident, answering a newspaper ad seeking programmers in his hometown of San Diego after returning from service in the Air Force during the Korean War.
Machine tool suppliers, builders, and distributors are adopting aggressive ways to support their customers’ efforts to improve productivity and profitability in especially trying economic times.
Lean manufacturing principles and automation systems can coexist, although many lean purists contend that lean goals conflict with using automation. Smart applications of automation, however, can result in deployment of systems that are both automated and lean, with flexible manufacturing systems that can be easily reconfigured as factory operations change.
Common misperceptions about lean manufacturing and automation systems lead many manufacturing managers to dismiss the use of automation in a lean setting.
There will be more than one new machine introduced at IMTS 2006 that will be billed as a China beater, or as an India and rest-of-Asia beater, for that matter.
DMG Mori USA announced the appointment of James V. Nudo as the new president of the company as of Dec. 7, 2017. Nudo has been with DMG Mori USA for more than 14 years and has served as executive officer of DMG Mori USA and executive officer of the International Legal Department and International Human Resources Department for DMG Mori CO. Ltd.
The EMO Hannover 2017 theme of “Connecting Systems for Intelligent Production” meant that many exhibitors were demonstrating connectivity solutions, data analysis applications and innovative services.