On paper, it should have been smooth sailing. When Fairbanks Morse installed a robotic welding cell at its Beloit, Wis. headquarters, the goal was to increase output of the massive marine propulsion systems they manufacture.

Recycling equipment manufacturer Harris Equipment Co., Cordele, Ga., saved 50 percent per job tapping Hardox 450 steel wear plates by switching to taps from Emuge Corp., West Boylston, Mass.

Looking back, 2020 was a year of challenge and change for manufacturing—and that’s an understatement.

One of the challenging aspects of additive manufacturing technology adoption is how to conceptualize and create part designs that are optimized for function and manufacturability.

American manufacturers are starting to talk more like Europeans, where fuel is costly, and words like “sustainability” pepper conversations.

When visiting some machine shops I hear PM, most commonly known as preventive maintenance, referred to as “postmortem,” as in, “We just run the machines until they die.”

The addition of a new machine can be exciting for a metalworking business. It signals progress and growth while giving the team something new and exciting to work and experiment with.

Some of the biggest technology trends are in smart manufacturing and Industry 4.0 initiatives.

In 2020, the ability for manufacturers to rapidly pivot to changing market demands and challenges became critical for success—and in many cases, survival.