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2017 or earlier clear Quality/Inspection/Test clear Automation clear Additive Manufacturing & 3D Printing clear Assembly & Joining clear

Renishaw Inc. Moves to New Headquarters

Renishaw Inc. is preparing to move into a new 133,000-sq.-ft. office and warehouse facility in West Dundee, IL, about 40 miles from Chicago. The two-story facility will be the company’s new North American headquarters, but also includes space for product development, testing, warehousing and distribution. It includes the new U.S. Additive Manufacturing Solutions Center – part of Renishaw’s network of global Solutions Centers, opening over the next year.

New Automation Makes EDMs Faster, More Efficient

While EDMs offer the benefits of holding tight tolerances, working on nearly any metal, and being well suited for delicate or fragile parts, knowledgeable operators for the machines are increasingly hard to find and robots can’t always fill the gap. Automated processes in the machines, newer designs and features of Industry 4.0 are helping to solve the problem.

3D Printing Large Metal Parts for Land, Sea, Air

Sciaky Inc. (Chicago) has staked its claim to being the leading provider of metal 3D printing solutions for large parts approved for land, sea, air, and space applications, with the latest success being its Electron Beam Additive Manufacturing (EBAM) technology. Sciaky was called upon to manufacture a titanium variable ballast (VB) tank for a submarine manufacturer.

The Quest for Safer 3D Printing Materials

When Desktop Metal introduced its “office-friendly” Studio metal prototype printer earlier this year, the company renewed attention on the issue of safer materials for binder jetting, an additive manufacturing method.

Heading to Mars? Pack a 3D Printer!

If NASA’s Journey to Mars project succeeds, the astronauts who make the 140 million-mile (225 million-km) trip to the Red Planet in the 2030s will need someplace to stay. The space agency is looking at 3D printing, using on-site materials, to manufacture humanity’s first deep space home.

Time for Monumental Thinking in Additive

As additive manufacturing emerges from a long infancy, the industry is grappling with a key challenge: A file format and design tools from the 20th century are being asked to do 21st century jobs.

Electropolishing Automation

Today’s products require high finishes, burr-free edges, freedom from contamination, and often close tolerances. Electropolishing provides all of those conditions and more in a matter of seconds for many metal parts. It is a process that has been used for more than a hundred years. It is widely known and the science is widely discussed, but its ability to run job shop lots and high-precision high-volume parts in the same equipment makes it a bit unique.

The Ins and Outs of In-Line Automated Inspection

The challenges to manufacturing as it evolves into the 21st century are now familiar, and impact how metrology must contribute. Manufacturers face uncertain production volumes with roller-coaster demand, shorter production runs and faster product development cycles. Automation, while alluring as a way to reduce cost, needs to adjust.