Machine tool orders posted a small gain in October, helped by a boost from machine shops and the auto industry, according to a monthly report.
CNC Software Inc., developers of Mastercam, has announced a new partnership with TITANS of CNC Inc. to help train the next generation of highly skilled CNC machinists and eliminate the widening skills gap.
The $150 million “factory of the future” that the Swiss innovator ABB announced a year ago is becoming reality in this enormous city’s Pudong New Area.
Manufacturers of all sizes see an uptick in productivity after adding a factory within a factory via an automated machining cell. The cells are small-scale, clearly defined production units, often for a family of similar parts or a product, and they typically include a robotic arm and one or more machine tools.
For years, collet-type toolholder assembly and setup have relied on cumbersome, error-prone manual methods that waste time and money.
Using lasers to cut metal, especially sheet metal or tubes, continues to show its value. The market is becoming dominated by the newer solid-state fiber laser over its CO2 gas rival. Fiber’s advantages in ease of operation, packaging and efficiency are clear.
Precision Tool Technologies Inc., Brainerd, Minn., is a manufacturer and distributor of high quality products and services for wholesale optical laboratories and retail optical industries.
There is still a lot of talk about breaking down the “silos” within a manufacturing enterprise. Siemens, like other software providers, is trying to address the problem by offering toolsets that are easier to integrate and work together.
The future of the auto industry is interesting but uncertain. No one knows how quickly electric vehicles are going to replace gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles, how completely it will happen, and when it will occur in passenger cars as opposed to SUVs and heavy trucks.
Having a plan for maintaining and improving the performance and reliability of every machine on a shop floor is vital to manufacturing operations. Reliable machines make short-notice production runs possible. And the more flexible manufacturers are, the more new customers they’ll attract.