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Manufacturing Engineering: March 2019

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

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Non-Automotive Manufacturing Sectors Flocking to Robotics

February 28, 2019

Cheaper robots with more functions, along with more ﬂexible work cells and installations that facilitate robotics, are accelerating the growth of automated manufacturing facilities in the non-automotive sector. Ideas on whether robotics and automation lead to lights-out manufacturing on the shop floor, though, are mixed.

By Ilene Wolff Contributing Editor, SME Media

Automation

Automating Job Shops? You Bet!

February 28, 2019

If “automation” is the constant drone you hear from practically everyone in metalworking these days, job shop owners might be the only people yelling “No!” Or at least “Wait!” How, they ask, can you cost-effectively automate low-volume, high-mix parts? Yet it’s not only doable but probably necessary.

By Ed Sinkora Contributing Editor, SME Media

Automation

Automotive Industry Improves Automation, Adopts Advanced Tech

March 1, 2019

The U.S. auto industry has been automated for decades. Production of cars and trucks is associated with large, hulking robots fenced off from human employees. Inside those fenced off areas, tasks such as welding are performed. The industry, though, is advancing on the automation front.

By Bill Koenig Senior Editor, SME Media

Software, CNC Interface Gains Push Programming Productivity

March 1, 2019

Connected manufacturing and digitization technologies are spurring many of the major innovations in CNC machine controls that help machine shops cut metal and create parts as quickly and efficiently as possible.

By Patrick Waurzyniak Contributing Editor, SME Media

Indexable Tools Designed to Maximize Performance

March 1, 2019

No one can accuse cutting tool manufacturers of not trying every possible combination of coating, substrate, material and geometry in their quest to gain a competitive edge for their customers.

By Jim Lorincz Contributing Editor, SME Media

Tooling & Workholding

Shop Solutions

IMCO Carbide Tool: Optical 3D System Delivers End Mill Accuracy, Ease of Use

March 4, 2019

Reliable verification of milling cutter micro geometry is one of the top priorities of research and development work for carbide tool manufacturer IMCO Carbide Tool Inc., Perrysburg Township, Ohio.

By Alicona
University of Michigan: Engineering Students Take Fast Track to Manufacturing Careers

March 6, 2019

The fastest road from an engineering classroom to a manufacturing career may be a race track that engineering students from colleges across the U.S. and around the world take when they participate in Formula SAE competition.

By Seco Tools

Up Front

Additive Manufacturing & 3D Printing
Racer Revs Up New Shop, Heads Into First Turn

March 6, 2019

Metalworking is a great industry that makes a major contribution to the U.S. economy, but it doesn’t typically attract movie idols or sports stars. That changed when NASCAR champion Brad Keselowski joined the ranks of metalworking entrepreneurs.

By Alan Rooks - Editor in Chief, Manufacturing Engineering
- Additive Manufacturing & 3D Printing
- Motorized Vehicles

Advanced Manufacturing Now

Automation
FMS for Hybrid Manufacturing on the Horizon

March 6, 2019

As a provider of automation equipment and software, our company is immersed in this ongoing, revolutionary, data-driven ride, and we’re anticipating a new trend: our customers are not just automating their traditional subtractive methods.

By David Suica - President, Sucia
Controls
Dassault Systèmes Tackles Tech Adoption Problems

March 6, 2019

Today’s virtual technology enables faster and better product development. Planes, trains and automobiles are defined in CAD, subjected to virtual tests to see how they might fail, re-designed, virtually manufactured and virtually shown to customers to confirm market acceptance.

By Bruce Morey - Senior Technical Editor, SME Media
- Additive Manufacturing & 3D Printing
- Controls
Controls
Optimization Module Tackles Tough Materials

March 8, 2019

Most anyone who’s worked in a machine shop for any length of time has at some point attended a trade show or machine tool distributor’s open house. There they see canned demonstrations of CNC machines busily carving up chunks of brass, mild steel, or aluminum into business card holders and tic-tac-toe games.

By Gene Granata - VERICUT Product Manager, CGTech Inc.
- Controls
- Machining & Metal Cutting
Additive Manufacturing & 3D Printing
AM, Spare Parts, and the Rise of the Micro Factory

March 8, 2019

Manufacturing got smart when companies figured out how to make products in one market and sell them in another. Today, we call this supply chain logistics. But somewhere along the way, the innovation chain connecting supply (manufacturing) and logistics (the supporting infrastructure) started to diverge.

By Ryan Martin - Principal Analyst, ABI Research

SME Speaks

SME Speaks
Is a Master’s Degree Right for You?

March 8, 2019

Technology is improving at a rapid pace, and these developments are being incorporated into the manufacturing industry. According to Deloitte’s “2018 Skills Gap in Manufacturing Study,” the industry could have a shortage of 2.4 million skilled workers by 2028.

By Hai Doan - Mechanical Engineering Research Assistant, University of Alberta, SME Member Since 2018
- SME Speaks
- Workforce Development

Software Update

Research & Development
Mastercam Blends New Technology, Support and Beta Testing to Improve CAM Performance

March 8, 2019

In 2018, CNC Software Inc., Tolland, Conn., reached several milestones: its 35th anniversary as a company, 250,000th installation, a new user website and the introduction of Mastercam 2019.

By Alan Rooks - Editor in Chief, Manufacturing Engineering

Workforce Pipeline

Workforce Development
SkillsUSA: Real-World Experiences Build a Better Workforce

March 11, 2019

SkillsUSA wields a large shovel, but we have a big hole to fill. That hole is in the American economy and it is called the skills gap—the widening gap between the jobs available and the skilled workers ready to fill them.

By Tim Lawrence - Executive Director, SkillsUSA
- Additive Manufacturing & 3D Printing
- Workforce Development

Viewpoints

Workforce Development
Innovation Changes the Game for Apprenticeships

March 11, 2019

A question I ask an employer when I’m being toured around a manufacturing company is, “What makes this department thrive?” It’s a hopeful, positive question that initially lights the eyes.

By Montez King - Executive Director, National Institute of Metalworking Skills
- Workforce Development

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