Manufacturing Engineering: December 2018
The December 2018 edition of Manufacturing Engineering is available as a digital magazine. Links to individual articles are below.

Outlook: Solid U.S. Economic Momentum Poised to Cool in 2019
November 21, 2018
U.S. economic growth is expected to continue in 2019, while outlooks for the aerospace and defense, automotive, energy and medical industries vary.

Manufacturing in 2050: The World Turned Upside Down?
November 26, 2018
Powerful trends will push manufacturing close to complete automation by 2050, while the people still working in the industry will be empowered to rapidly innovate like never before.

Cyber Secure Manufacturing Is Smart Manufacturing
November 26, 2018
It’s probably not a bad idea for smaller and mid-sized manufacturers (SMMs) to adopt an “us against them” attitude as they become aware of the prevalence of cyber-attacks in the digital age of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Industry 4.0.

Testing the Metal
November 27, 2018
Materials science has opened new possibilities for designers of cars, planes and other products. Metal alloys are now as precisely engineered as they are machined. The result is longer lasting, stronger parts. But with a wider selection of materials comes risk—how can you be sure that one piece of gray metal stock is different than another? Careful warehousing procedures and paperwork only go so far.
Shop Solutions
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Safety Technologies Inc.: Robotic Welding Speeds Up Manufacturing of Mobile Road Safety Devices
November 27, 2018We have all encountered delays in traffic due to road work being done. In the northern climates to fix potholes left over from winter; and everywhere where repair and maintenance and even major re-engineering of roads, highways and bridges are required. -
Grinding & Deburring
Bridge Tool & Die: CNC Turns ‘Feel’ Into High-Precision Carbide Grinding
November 28, 2018Glenn Bridgman describes the difference between his shop’s manual grinders and its newest state-of-the-art CNC ID/OD grinder, a Studer CT960 OD/ID from United Grinding (Miamisburg, OH), as “feel vs. facts.” Bridgman, president of Bridge Tool & Die (Buckley, MI), believes that manual grinding is a somewhat personal operation.
Up Front
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Workforce Development
Celebrating the People of Manufacturing
December 3, 2018We tend to think of the manufacturing industry as an abstract concept, describing it in terms of trends, growth rates and output. Two of our features in this issue, including the cover story, do exactly that. And that’s a good thing!
Advanced Manufacturing Now
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ISS Takes Manufacturing to New Heights
November 29, 2018Two entities are taking steps to form an interstellar economy with the ISS as an orbiting manufacturing hub—the Center for Advancement of Science in Space in Melbourne, FL, (managers of the ISS U.S. National Laboratory) and Made In Space, a Moffett Field, CA, firm. -
Digitalization At Every Step For Machine Tool Builders
December 3, 2018Today’s machine tool builder has read many articles and papers about the emerging concept of digitalization. Here are three ways OEM engineering and management teams can view this technology and its impact as it shapes the production and sales process of the future. -
Helical Cutters Go Deep and Long in Tough Materials
December 13, 2018When it comes to achieving high material-removal rates in even the toughest materials, it’s hard to beat helical cutters. With the correct insert grades and cutting data, these cutters can achieve far greater depths of cut than non-helical milling tools without sacrificing reach or the ability to hold tolerance.
Viewpoints
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Securing the Edge of the Network
December 3, 2018As IIOT-enabled devices usher in a new era of connected factory floors, manufacturers must protect critical equipment at the edge of their production networks. Companies are rapidly investing in edge computing, which enables data and analytics gathering at the source, pushing computing applications, data, and services away from centralized locations.
SME Speaks
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SME Speaks
How One Research Conference Still Inspires Me
December 3, 2018My first participation in SME’s North American Manufacturing Research Conference (NAMRC) was in 1994 at NAMRC-XXII, hosted by Northwestern University (Evanston, IL). I presented my work, “Development of a New Type of Magnetic Finishing Tool for Internal Finishing of Tubes Using Rotating Magnetic Field,” in the Machining Innovation 1 session at 10:30 a.m. on May 25, 1994.
Workforce Pipeline
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Workforce Development
CWP Targets Training, Development and Marketing to Help Build Connecticut’s Manufacturing Workforce
November 29, 2018Capital Workforce Partners (CWP) is the regional workforce development board in North Central Connecticut; our objective is to help individuals overcome barriers to employment and build the necessary skill sets to meet business hiring needs.
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