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SME Home Media Manufacturing Engineering Magazine February 2018

Manufacturing Engineering: February 2018

The February 2018 edition of Manufacturing Engineering is available as a digital magazine. Links to individual articles are below.
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Automated Five-Axis Machining Boosts Productivity

Automated Five-Axis Machining Boosts Productivity

February 1, 2018
Five-axis machine tools represented a major advancement over earlier machines, with greater range of movement and the ability to create more complex shapes.
Bill Koenig
By Bill Koenig Senior Editor, SME Media
Solving the Shop-Floor Data Analysis Puzzle

Solving the Shop-Floor Data Analysis Puzzle

February 2, 2018
As the move toward a more connected manufacturing industry gains momentum and manufacturers start collecting factory-floor data, the need for fast, efficient data analysis becomes ever more critical.
Pat Waurzyniak
By Patrick Waurzyniak Contributing Editor, SME Media
Chiron’s DZ15 FX

Keeping Vertical Machining Center Spindles Turning for High Productivity

February 1, 2018
New vertical machining strategies and technologies help reduce cycle time, increase metal removal rates, and maintain accuracy. There’s nothing quite like having “smart” vertical machining centers (VMCs) with the latest advanced CNCs.
Jim Lorincz
By Jim Lorincz Contributing Editor, SME Media
Tornos MultiSwiss

Swiss Mix: Niche Units Evolve Into Machining Centers

February 2, 2018
B-axis milling … lasers … low-frequency vibration cutting … multiple tools in the cut, on multiple axes … thread whirling … wobble broaching. Who said Swiss-style machining was for millions of simple, round parts? As industry veteran Paul Cassella explained, “Today, Swiss-type machines are more like machining centers and the parts are more prismatic. I’ve seen setups where the only time we rotate the bar stock is during cutoff. Everything else is being machined by milling, cross drilling, or other similar operations.”
Ed Sinkora
By Ed Sinkora Contributing Editor, SME Media
Test and Measurement Gear Evolves to Measure AM Parts

Test and Measurement Gear Evolves to Measure AM Parts

February 5, 2018
Additive manufacturing (AM), or 3D printing, is a fast-growing field that offers many advantages over traditional techniques. It can create more complex parts than either machining or casting, can fuse different materials together, and is sometimes less expensive in low-volume or prototype applications.
Bruce Morey
By Bruce Morey Senior Technical Editor, SME Media

Shop Solutions

  • USA Lugers Speed on Sleds with Custom Machined Parts

    USA Lugers Speed on Sleds with Custom Machined Parts

    February 5, 2018
    Sleds used in Olympic luge racing may be simple devices, but controlling machining of their half-dozen parts can spell the difference between being a medalist or an also ran. The USA Luge Team relies on the equivalent of a brand new Millmatic III three-axis knee mill equipped with an Acu-Rite MILLPWRG2 controller from Lagun Engineering (Harbor City, CA) to have complete control over machining of its parts.
    By Jim Lorincz - Contributing Editor, SME Media
  • Skeg
    Tooling & Workholding

    Better Balanced Toolholders Lead to Best Machining Results

    February 5, 2018
    K&G Manufacturing (Faribault, MN) has learned a thing or two about precision machining in the 80 years it has been in business. One lesson the company learned long ago is that balanced toolholders are a key to customer satisfaction and achieving the best possible machining results.
    By Jim Lorincz - Contributing Editor, SME Media
  • Change-out for threading Ingersoll’s Chip-Surfer replaceable carbide tip onto a stubby solid-alloy steel shank takes just seconds
    Tooling & Workholding

    Tough Slotting Solution Was Just the Beginning of Savings for Replaceable Tip Cutting Tool

    February 5, 2018
    At Flexco Inc. (Downers Grove, IL), finding a solution to speed up slot-milling with Chip-Surfer replaceable tip solid-carbide cutting tool from Ingersoll Cutting Tools (Rockford, IL) has led to benefits in a host of other operations as well. Flexco, a manufacturer of belt conveyor components, estimates that retooling with Chip-Surfer replaceable solid-carbide tip cutting tools has saved about $200,000 a year overall on slotting operations and the company expects to save as much again on mill-turn operations.
    By Jim Lorincz - Contributing Editor, SME Media

Up Front

  • Alan Rooks
    Expert Opinion

    Back and Forth to the Future of Manufacturing

    February 7, 2018
    With global operations in power systems; industry and infrastructure; and aircraft, defense and space, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group's footprint includes 83,000 employees, $35 billion in annual revenue, and 300 companies—with 54% of its sales from outside Japan.
    By Alan Rooks - Editor in Chief, Manufacturing Engineering

Advanced Manufacturing Now

  • Extending the Life of Automation Assets
    Automation

    Extending the Life of Automation Assets

    February 7, 2018
    If left on their own, material handling assets will slowly degrade and eventually fail, often at the most inopportune moment. But with a little planning, you can not only extend their useful life, you can also optimize performance.
    By John Dillion - Senior Vice President - Client Care, Wynright Corp., John Leonard - Director of Client Care Sales, Wynright Corp.
  • Ilene Wolf

    Tulane Spinoff Enables Smart QA in Polymers

    February 7, 2018
    Fluence Analytics (formerly Advanced Polymer Monitoring Technologies), a manufacturer of smart industrial and laboratory monitoring systems, recently released the third generation of its ACOMP, an automated system that performs continuous, real-time monitoring and characterization of polymers for 3D printing and other uses during manufacturing and post-processing.
    By Ilene Wolff - Contributing Editor, SME Media
  • Andrew Good
    Expert Opinion

    ‘Monster’ Machine is Next Step in CT Metrology

    February 8, 2018
    Computed tomography scanning (CT) seems like a dream come true for dimensional inspection. It both measures the outside of parts and reveals the hidden, from occlusions to internal cooling channels, without destroying the piece. Evolving from looking at human brains and hearts to measuring the complexities of turbine blades, it is part of the growing complexity of industrial metrology.
    By Bruce Morey - Senior Technical Editor, SME Media

SME Speaks

  • Golden Eagle Manufacturing Day Summit
    SME Speaks

    Creating An Engaged and Sustainable SME

    February 8, 2018
    It seems like it was yesterday, but the reality is that it has been almost 25 years since I first became an SME student member. Yes, the face of manufacturing has changed quite a bit since then, including SME’s name. In line with those changes, the level of the service, opportunity and impact of SME has grown quite a bit too.
    By Ismail Fidan, PhD - Professor, Tennessee Tech University, SME Member Since 1993

Software Update

Tech Front

  • Designing, Building an Engineering Powerhouse

    Designing, Building an Engineering Powerhouse

    February 9, 2018
    At the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech; Atlanta), there’s both a whole lot of innovation and some major renovations going on at the university’s George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering.
    By Patrick Waurzyniak - Contributing Editor, SME Media

Mfg Intel

  • Woman at home using smart home app on her cell phone.
    Expert Opinion

    Converging Technologies Help Build Smart Manufacturing

    February 7, 2018
    In millions of homes, these phrases are heard every day: “Alexa, play ‘I Love Rock n’ Roll’, turn on the lights, what’s the weather outside?” The age of the connected home is here. Many of us are already using smart devices for at least one of our legacy home standalone systems, such as our HVAC, lighting, security, entertainment or appliances. And implementation is growing as more retrofit devices are available, like smart plugs, smart switches and video doorbells.
    By Debbie Holton - Vice President, Events & Industry Strategy, SME

Workforce Pipeline

  • US Manufacturing Growing, Transforming

    US Manufacturing Growing, Transforming

    February 7, 2018
    In the decade since the start of the Great Recession, industrial production (e.g. manufacturing, mining and electricity production) has been a political football for both the left and right.
    By Michael Hicks, PhD - Professor of Economics, Ball State University
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