Manufacturing Engineering: January 2019
The January 2019 edition of Manufacturing Engineering is available as a digital magazine. Links to individual articles are below.

Who’s Afraid of Five-Axis Machining?
January 2, 2019
According to McNamara, director of sales for Doosan Machine Tools America (Pine Brook, NJ), the most important tools in getting customers to move into five-axis machining are features within the control that make it simple to create, understand and prove out machining programs.

Workhorse 7000 Series Aluminum in Search of Increased MRR
January 3, 2019
It’s not too difficult to understand the importance of machining aluminum for aerospace applications. High volumes of aluminum are used, principally for structural components.

Custom Cutting Tools Create a Competitive Edge
January 4, 2019
For certain machining applications, off-the-shelf cutters come up short. Here’s how to increase productivity, reduce costs, and improve part quality with a custom cutting tool solution.

The Evolution of Workholding
January 8, 2019
Makers of workholding devices face a moving target. The machine tools they work with are changing. There’s more high-speed machining. More high-feed machining. More multi-axis machines. New uses of coolant to reduce temperatures during cutting operations.

Diesel Propulsion Takes to the Skies
January 8, 2019
In a small town in northwestern Wisconsin, a dedicated group of engineers, designers, and machinists are working with a visionary management team on a concept that could have a revolutionary effect on general aviation and impact other forms of flight.
Shop Solutions
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Lasers
Detroit Tigers: Reverse-Engineered World Series Trophy Honors ’68 Tigers
January 2, 2019Technology came to the aid of Detroit Tigers management when they hoped to recapture some of the magic of the 1968 Detroit Tigers’ World Series-winning season. The 50-year anniversary celebration, held September 7-9, 2018, included on-field festivities in which the 16 surviving members of the 1968 team were presented with replicas of the World Series’ trophy. -
Lasercraft: Enclosure Cooling Beats Production-Robbing Heat Wave
January 2, 2019When the heat is on production equipment, threatening to shut production down, enclosure cooling systems can get parts out the door, eliminating loss of future production and downtime. That’s exactly what happened to Lasercraft Inc. (Fairfield, OH), a manufacturer of precision laser-cut metal parts.
Up Front
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Manufacturing Management
Tracking the Trends From 2018 and Beyond
January 11, 2019I get to observe, read about or write on manufacturing trends nearly every day. Around this time of year (mid-December), lots of manufacturing Top 10 Trends lists are published. I was curious about how many of these trends SME Media has covered in the last year and plans to cover in 2019.
Advanced Manufacturing Now
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Manufacturing Management
Adopting MBD is About More Than Technology
January 4, 2019There is a lot of promise in the coming adoption of Model-Based Definition (MBD) in industry. MBD is the practice of attaching useful information to a 3D CAD model, such as tolerances or material properties. This should be especially good news for manufacturing engineers. -
Additive Manufacturing & 3D Printing
How the Auto Industry Will Adopt 3D Printing
January 8, 2019Nobody knows just yet how the auto industry will adopt 3D printing. But Desktop Metal Inc. (Burlington, MA) is in a better position than most to make an educated guess.
MFG Intel
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Additive Manufacturing & 3D Printing
Ensuring the Security of Additive Manufacturing
January 8, 2019One of the key advantages of additive manufacturing is its digital thread, which allows for rapid communication, iteration, and sharing of a design model and its corresponding physical representation. While this enables an efficient design process, the flow of data opens vulnerabilities to cyber-attack.
SME Speaks
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SME Speaks
Inevitable Change Equals Opportunity
January 10, 2019A single phone call changed my life forever. In 2003, I was sitting in my office at a fuel cell manufacturing company where I was vice president of operations. A voice on the other end of the line said, “Hello, my name is Mark Tomlinson. I’m calling as a representative of the SME Manufacturing Enterprise Council.”
Workforce Pipeline
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Workforce Development
Charleston Develops Workforce Pipeline for Industry
January 10, 2019Global aerospace powerhouse Boeing selected North Charleston, SC, for its 787 Dreamliner final assembly and delivery line nearly a decade ago. Boeing’s footprint in the Charleston metro area has grown rapidly to include the exclusive 787-10 production, an IT Center for Excellence, an Engineering Design Center, a propulsion center, a paint facility, the Dreamlifter operation, and plenty of land for expansion.
Viewpoints
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The Pressing Need to Simplify Work
January 11, 2019Organizational complexity is strangling innovation, productivity, and engagement. As companies grow, they typically add more structures, reporting relationships, communication channels, processes, and rules.
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