In the cornfields of southern Indiana, Thermwood Corp. is making unique large-scale additive manufacturing (LSAM) equipment. LSAM machines produce large- to very-large-sized components from reinforced thermoplastic composite materials, creating industrial tooling, masters, patterns, molds and production fixtures used in the aerospace, automotive, foundry, and marine industries.

Innovative products call for creative developers equipped with prototyping technology that implements their ideas efficiently. That is true for Kärcher, a global manufacturer of cleaning equipment. Located near Stuttgart, Germany, Kärcher, is part of Alfred Kärcher SE & Co. KG Group, which has more than 13,000 employees in over 127 companies across 72 countries.

During times like these, editors turn to “tried and true” sayings to frame their opinion columns. One of these sayings is, “May you live in interesting times,” supposedly a translation of a traditional Chinese curse. The saying is used ironically, in that “interesting times” are times of trouble and difficulty.

I stepped onto campus last August as a freshman engineering student at the University of Louisville, Louisville, Ky. As eager and worried as I was, the next chapter in my education and young adult life was beginning to unfold.

If manufacturing is your passion but a lecture hall is more your style than a shop floor, SME Media’s “20 Most Influential Professors” (see June issue of Smart Manufacturing) want to talk.

By now, most of us in the manufacturing world are familiar with the steady stream of news describing organizations, large and small, providing medical equipment using 3D printers.

To be more efficient and to have single sources of the truth in their data, customers are seeking to leverage modern, standard application programmer interfaces (APIs) to integrate into their software.

Colleges and universities are playing a crucial role helping North Carolina address a statewide skilled labor shortage.

As laser manufacturing systems for sheet and tube grow more sophisticated—powerful, automated and scalable—navigating the wealth of choices might feel daunting.

Fiber laser welding continues to grow as it improves in weld quality, reliability and performance. Many fiber laser welding applications are autogenous, where the weld is formed entirely by melting parts of the base metal and no additional filler wire or powder is used

Beginning around six years ago, one machine tool builder after another added laser cutting and even welding to their products’ already impressive repertoires.

Part identification is a necessary step in any manufacturing operation. This might be as simple as a label on the shipping box, but more often shops are required to mark each component, especially those used in automotive, aerospace, or medical applications.