Manufacturing Engineering: March 2019
The March 2019 edition of Manufacturing Engineering is available as a digital magazine. Links to individual articles are below.
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
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
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
Shop Solutions
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IMCO Carbide Tool: Optical 3D System Delivers End Mill Accuracy, Ease of Use
March 4, 2019Reliable 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. -
University of Michigan: Engineering Students Take Fast Track to Manufacturing Careers
March 6, 2019The 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.
Up Front
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Additive Manufacturing & 3D PrintingRacer Revs Up New Shop, Heads Into First Turn
March 6, 2019Metalworking 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.
Advanced Manufacturing Now
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AutomationFMS for Hybrid Manufacturing on the Horizon
March 6, 2019As 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. -
ControlsDassault Systèmes Tackles Tech Adoption Problems
March 6, 2019Today’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. -
ControlsOptimization Module Tackles Tough Materials
March 8, 2019Most 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. -
Additive Manufacturing & 3D PrintingAM, Spare Parts, and the Rise of the Micro Factory
March 8, 2019Manufacturing 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.
SME Speaks
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SME SpeaksIs a Master’s Degree Right for You?
March 8, 2019Technology 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.
Software Update
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Research & DevelopmentMastercam Blends New Technology, Support and Beta Testing to Improve CAM Performance
March 8, 2019In 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.
Workforce Pipeline
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Workforce DevelopmentSkillsUSA: Real-World Experiences Build a Better Workforce
March 11, 2019SkillsUSA 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.
Viewpoints
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Workforce DevelopmentInnovation Changes the Game for Apprenticeships
March 11, 2019A 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.
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