Industrial AM Systems Producers Continue Rapid Growth May 6, 2019 The world of additive manufacturing (AM), commonly referred to as 3D printing, is quickly changing. The technology allows companies to manufacture products faster, with greater variation, and often with entirely new forms and functions.
The Value of SME’s AeroDef Event April 10, 2019 My involvement in SME and its AeroDef event began in 2014, when I first presented an Adaptive Machining Overview at AeroDef 2014 in Long Beach, Calif. At the time, the conference was relatively small in terms of attendees and exhibitors in comparison to the explosion of other engineering conferences that began around that time.
Augmented Reality: In this Case, the Writing’s on the Work Station April 10, 2019 A Michigan company that displays instructions for manual manufacturing processes on work stations via augmented reality (AR) is adding wearables to provide similar guidance.
Structured Vision in Manufacturing April 4, 2019 Structured light systems measure surfaces by projecting a pattern of fringes, then using cameras and sophisticated software to convert them into point clouds of metrology data. Accuracy can reach the single-digit microns over millions of points.
Optimization Module Tackles Tough Materials March 8, 2019 Most anyone who’s worked in a machine shop for any length of time has at some point attended a trade show or machine tool distributor’s open house. There they see canned demonstrations of CNC machines busily carving up chunks of brass, mild steel, or aluminum into business card holders and tic-tac-toe games.
Stratasys Takes Top Spot in ABI Research’s Additive Manufacturing Platform Competitive Assessment March 22, 2019 Ranked as the top additive manufacturing (AM) platform vendor, Stratasys (Los Angeles) scored highest in the overall category of implementation and topped four of the 12 ranking criteria, announced Oyster Bay, N.Y.-based ABI Research, a market-foresight advisory firm providing strategic guidance on the most compelling transformative technologies.
Reaching, Attracting and Engaging Rising Talent February 11, 2019 The growing skills gap is causing trepidation among manufacturers and the lack of millennials building careers within the industry is part of the concern.
Ensuring the Security of Additive Manufacturing January 8, 2019 One of the key advantages of additive manufacturing is its digital thread, which allows for rapid communication, iteration, and sharing of a design model and its corresponding physical representation. While this enables an efficient design process, the flow of data opens vulnerabilities to cyber-attack.
New Approaches to Making Parts for the Oil Patch January 28, 2019 Rod Zimmerman of cutting tool manufacturer Iscar Metals lives in a pleasant green zone in a Fort Worth suburb. Yet within a half mile of his home, an oil company has sunk a vertical hole 7,500′ (2,286 m) deep, from which it has splayed nine lateral lines, each going about half a mile.
ISM Forecasts Manufacturing to Expand in 2020 December 11, 2019 Manufacturing should expand in the first half of 2020, including increased revenue for companies, the Institute for Supply Management said this week in a semi-annual forecast.
