There are plenty of machine shops content to remain a certain size while shying away from change and expansion. However, other shops embrace that challenge with relish.

Advanced laser technology has been instrumental in making the four affiliated companies of the Diversified Tooling Group, Madison Heights, Mich., into a leading supplier of single-source manufacturing solutions to the automotive, heavy truck, defense, industrial equipment, power generation, rail and foundry industries.

In my October Up front column, I wrote about an email I had received from Steve Wenning, who was retiring and told me about how much he used Manufacturing Engineering throughout his career. I enjoyed corresponding with Steve, particularly since I don’t often receive direct feedback from readers.

Has a new producer of powders for additive manufacturing (AM) done the improbable, not just once but twice?

The demand for high-quality gear teeth in areas such as electric mobility comes with great challenges. or example, in many applications generating grinding with corundum is a good solution, but this abrasive also has disadvantages in some applications. Grinding special geometrical modifications could, for example, have a negative effect.

Be it due to a breakage or malfunction of tooling or a part, manufacturers will likely acknowledge that it’s not unusual for one or more production line(s) to be down, waiting for a replacement item at any given time.

Now in its fourth year, the Reusable Abstractions of Manufacturing Process (RAMP) Competition is the premier venue for researchers to showcase their manufacturing process modeling work, while also engaging in a standards development process.

Driven by market changes and feedback from customers, we shifted our focus away from the consumer market toward education and professional segments. We recognized that professionals needed more to meet the advanced needs of rapid prototyping for manufacturing.

The aerospace and defense (A&D) sector is thriving as demand for air travel increases along with growing worldwide defense needs. But to fulfill customer expectations, the sector has to continue to innovate—and innovation requires digital acumen.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, in FY 2018 more than 238,000 individuals nationwide entered the apprenticeship system and 23,400 more were registered in apprenticeship programs across the nation.