Skip to content
SME Logo
SME Logo
search
SME Home Media Manufacturing Engineering Magazine March 2018

Manufacturing Engineering: March 2018

The March 2018 edition of Manufacturing Engineering is available as a digital magazine. Links to individual articles are below.
View Digital Magazine
AM Producers Seek Solutions to Production Barriers

AM Producers Seek Solutions to Production Barriers

February 28, 2018
Additive manufacturing holds potential for many possible new frontiers in the aerospace industry, and manufacturers in aviation and space flight are reaching for those new vistas. But they’re held back at less than warp speed due to a lack of awareness, unmet technological needs and the absence of a formal regulatory process in their highly regulated industry.
Ilene Wolff
By Ilene Wolff Contributing Editor, SME Media
New Tech Helps to Cut Tricky Aerospace Composites

New Tech Helps to Cut Tricky Aerospace Composites

February 28, 2018
The list of aircraft parts now being made with composites has grown longer than a TSA screening line: the fuselage, empennage (tail section), wings (including skins, stringers, spars, clips, and wing boxes), nacelles, control surfaces (ailerons, flaps), nose skin, and even floor beams.
Ed Sinkora
By Ed Sinkora Contributing Editor, SME Media
DMG Mori Ultrasonic 20 linear

Ultrasonic Technology for Tough Applications—and More

February 28, 2018
While still a tiny fraction of the aerospace composites market, the use of metal-matrix composites (MMCs) and ceramic-matrix composites (CMCs) in engine parts has grown substantially over the last few years because they can run at higher speeds and handle more heat.
Ed Sinkora
By Ed Sinkora Contributing Editor, SME Media
Cloud Connectivity, Advanced Analytics Drive ERP Software

Cloud Connectivity, Advanced Analytics Drive ERP Software

March 1, 2018
Manufacturing operations depend on getting the right information at precisely the right moment, ensuring that products get built on time, to quality specs. With the latest enterprise resource management (ERP) software, this critical data flow is often coming via the cloud, as more manufacturers become comfortable with it as a repository for key manufacturing information.
Pat Waurzyniak
By Patrick Waurzyniak Contributing Editor, SME Media
Applications Expand for Versatile Thread Milling

Applications Expand for Versatile Thread Milling

March 1, 2018
Thread milling, a fundamental metalworking process to create threads, is often the operation of choice when working with difficult-to-machine materials, such as titanium, tool steels, stainless steels, hardened steels and other superalloys.
Candace Roulo
By Candace Roulo Managing Editor, SME Media
Tapmatic’s RCT 50 in a vertical milling center

Tapping Attachments, Holders Improve Thread Quality, Cycle Time

March 8, 2018
Known for being a universal and quick process, tapping is the process of making threads in previously drilled holes, and in most cases a tapped hole can be created faster than when using a thread mill. Tapping can generally thread deeper holes in harder materials and any type of machine—a lathe, mill, or drill press—can be used.
Candace Roulo
By Candace Roulo Managing Editor, SME Media
Optical Comparators Adapt and Grow

Optical Comparators Adapt and Grow

March 1, 2018
Beware predictions of the demise of any technology. If the early 1920s saw the dawn of the optical comparator, there has been much speculation about its sunset. That was especially true when vision systems started hitting their stride a few years ago. Many could see optical comparators were superfluous with the use of vision systems. Many thought the sunset of optical comparators was imminent. Many were wrong. Why?
Bruce Morey
By Bruce Morey Senior Technical Editor, SME Media

Shop Solutions

  • Supplier’s Rover Exploration Vehicle Parts Go to Mars for the Third Time

    Supplier’s Rover Exploration Vehicle Parts Go to Mars for the Third Time

    March 1, 2018
    As a specialist in aerospace machining parts and assemblies for aerospace and military applications, Next Intent Inc. is accustomed to earth-exiting challenges. An early one came in 2000, when the shop gained a contract to make the wheels and other components for the 2003 Mars Exploration Rovers—Spirit and Opportunity.
    By Jim Lorincz - Contributing Editor, SME Media
  • 3D Printed Ceramics Reduce Cost, Leadtimes for Complex Aerospace Parts

    3D Printed Ceramics Reduce Cost, Leadtimes for Complex Aerospace Parts

    March 1, 2018
    PERFECT-3D might not appear to be an acronym, but it is, standing for Process Enabled Repeatability For Extended Life & Consistent Tools. PERFECT-3D’s process for 3D printing of ceramics for complex components resulted from the collaboration of its parent company, Renaissance Services Inc. (Fairborn, OH), with the US Department of Defense, a major investment casting company, a large chemical company, and an aircraft engine manufacturer.
    By Jim Lorincz - Contributing Editor, SME Media
  • Shop Exhibits Two CAM Mindsets Toward Workholding Productivity

    Shop Exhibits Two CAM Mindsets Toward Workholding Productivity

    March 2, 2018
    Toner Machining Technologies’ specialty is designing and building hydraulic workholding fixtures for high-volume parts production on CNC machining centers. Programmer/machinists rely heavily on Mastercam from CNC Software Inc. (Tolland, CT) for CAM programming to keep up with numerous low-volume production schedules, while continuing to meet strict dimensional tolerance requirements.
    By Jim Lorincz - Contributing Editor, SME Media

Up Front

  • Old Way, New Way
    Expert Opinion

    Three Perspectives on Change in Manufacturing

    March 2, 2018
    The way products and services are created and delivered is always changing. In the past, the pace of that change was relatively slow and organizations had plenty of time to adapt to and plan for new ways of doing things.
    By Alan Rooks - Editor in Chief, Manufacturing Engineering

Advanced Manufacturing Now

  • Stuart Weiler
    Expert Opinion

    PLM, Augmented Reality Sharpen the Cutting Edge

    March 2, 2018
    Aerospace and defense manufacturing is known for its complex designs, continual changes and the need to negotiate tight margin requirements. At Elite Aviation Products (EAP), a division of Elite Aerospace Group (Irvine, CA), we face these challenges every day.
    By Stuart Weiler - Director of PLM, Elite Aerospace Group
  • Bruce Morey
    Expert Opinion

    The Brave New (and Old) World of Manufacturing

    March 2, 2018
    My original intention for this column was to discuss a phrase getting a lot of buzz lately, artificial intelligence (AI). By any measure, interest in AI is expanding exponentially, both in the number of articles one can read on the subject and, according to Google Trends, the number of searches for those articles.
    By Bruce Morey - Senior Technical Editor, SME Media
  • Ilene Wolf

    Who Controls Feedstock Used in 3D Printers?

    March 2, 2018
    Should the US Copyright Office oversee whether 3D printer operators can use feedstock not approved by their machine’s maker to turn out medical devices or airplane parts, or is that the role of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), respectively?
    By Ilene Wolff - Contributing Editor, SME Media
  • Barry Griggs
    Expert Opinion

    Cutting Strategies for Airframe Components

    March 5, 2018
    Machining aerospace materials is a challenging task. Not only are machining operations tightly controlled, a wide variety of workpiece materials are employed, including aluminum, titanium, and carbon-fiber reinforced plastics (CFRPs). The following is a brief guide to cutting tool options for successful machining of airframe components. All of the tools referenced are manufactured by Mitsubishi Materials.
    By Barry Griggs - Assistant Business Development Manager-Cutting Tools, Mitsubishi Materials

SME Speaks

  • Louis C. "Lou" Dorworth

    Skating Ahead of the Puck — Seeing What’s Next

    March 5, 2018
    According to Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Inc., “The way we look at manufacturing is this: The US’s strategy should be to skate where the puck is going, not where it is.” Cook’s quotation reflects a good strategy for any individual, company or organization looking to be competitive in a future marketplace.
    By Louis C. "Lou" Dorworth, Abaris Training Inc. and 2018 SME Member Council Representative

Software Update

Tech Front

Viewpoints

  • Precision industrial CNC machining of metal detail by a cutting mill.
    Expert Opinion

    Process Reliability: The Springboard to Efficiency

    March 6, 2018
    I’m among the first to dive into the latest manufacturing innovations and see how they can improve our customers’ operations. Yet, I’m also among the first to advise them to pause and ensure that the fundamentals of their manufacturing processes are in place before adding something new into the complex mix of functionality and desired outcomes.
    By Scott Walker - Chairman, Mitsui Seiki USA Inc.
Download app

Download our mobile app

Requires iOS 8.1 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
Download Now