How Machine Builders, Others Can Move Into Digitization September 10, 2019 If you visited our booth last year, you’ll notice that it was primarily hardware based—the CNC controls being a bigger contributor. Today, if you visit our booth you will notice we have many more elements from Siemens hardware, software and PLCs. We have a couple of new products we’re showing and also an emphasis on additive manufacturing and certainly machine connectivity.
Terrestrial Scanning: A Game Changer September 6, 2019 In many manufacturing industries today, 100% inspection is commonplace. This market-changing trend obviously drives OEMs to design inspection devices that collect data much faster than in the past. The data-capture issue becomes more formidable with larger, complex components, particularly in the aerospace manufacturing industry where tolerances continue to get tighter and assemblies continue to get bigger.
When Is Hard Turning the Right Solution? September 10, 2019 Hard turning has long been used for finishing when it comes to high-volume applications. Now, tooling suppliers have pushed cubic boron nitride (CBN) insert technology further, with geometric innovations that further increase the efficiency—and cost-effectiveness—of hard turning.
Five Trends to Watch for This Year September 6, 2019 The global aerospace and defense (A&D) business landscape is undergoing significant disruption driven by a keen focus on innovation and digital transformation, and geopolitical situations. Despite some future uncertainty, demand for commercial aerospace and defense in 2018 finished with a continued, upbeat industry outlook.
Hybrid Additive/Subtractive Tech Changing the Face of Design and Manufacturing September 10, 2019 Some of the key trends in manufacturing are brought about by convergence of the design and manufacturing industries. With manufacturers under more pressure than ever to deliver better products faster and at lower cost, the need to connect and automate design and manufacturing processes to reduce iterations, errors, and delivery times is becoming critical.
Search for Skilled Labor Knows No Borders September 7, 2019 We in the U.S. manufacturing industry continually struggle with the skills gap, lack of available workers, image problems, or whatever else you want to call it. We do great work in battling this problem, as documented in the pages of Manufacturing Engineering and other publications, but it’s hard to make progress in this fight.
Continuous Insulation Resistance Testing Boosts Motor Productivity September 11, 2019 For decades, plant personnel have performed insulation resistance tests with handheld megohmmeters to prevent motor failures that lead to costly unplanned shutdowns, failure-to-produce penalties and rewinding repairs. However, these tests only provide a “snapshot” of motor health. In a matter of days, motor windings and cables exposed to moisture, chemicals, contaminants or vibration can be compromised and fail at startup.
Revving Up Tooling and Machining Strategies for Auto Parts September 4, 2019 Perhaps the most common challenge in automotive machining these days is aluminum. “Even chassis components are transitioning to aluminum due to the higher strength properties achieved by forging aluminum,” explained Jeff Gimino, PCD and CBN product specialist for Walter USA, Waukesha, Wis.
Finding the Right Fit for Custom Products August 7, 2019 There is an ever-increasing demand for the individualization of products from today’s consumer. When consumers are able to get exactly what they want (shape, size, color) they are more satisfied and more likely to do repeat business. But how do you scale custom part production?
PRN-RIA Partnership: There’s Problem Solving in Numbers August 6, 2019 The Pittsburgh region is a hotbed of activity in robotics and AI. This activity includes research and technology companies that commercialize academic research and solve real world problems.