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Manufacturing Engineering: August 2021

The August 2021 edition of Manufacturing Engineering is available as a digital magazine. Links to individual articles are below.
Flow’s Dynamic Waterjet XD is fast, accurate, and flexible, according to the company.

Which Cut is Best, Water or Laser?

July 14, 2021
Laser cutting and waterjet cutting: two great technologies that go great together? Or best when they play solo? As ever, the answer is it depends—on what work a shop has coming in the door, what materials are being processed most often, operator skill levels and, ultimately, the available equipment budget.
Geoff Giordano
By Geoff Giordano Contributing Editor, SME Media
Cobot welders offer intuitive programming aids like smartphone interfaces and the ability to teach positions by physically dragging the welding head.

Making Welding Accessible to All

July 16, 2021
With the ongoing shortage of skilled workers and the pickup in the economy, suppliers of welding equipment are finding ways to making welding easier for those working in manufacturing. Automation is the leading technique among many.
Ed Sinkora
By Ed Sinkora Contributing Editor, SME Media
A bridge mill typically has a more ‘squarish’ footprint than a C-frame machine, along with a taller ‘cube,’ or machine height.

Bridge Mills: A Bridge to Success

July 20, 2021
While some people think bridge-style machining centers are only for very large parts, these rigid, highly accurate CNC machine tools come in a range of sizes and configurations are good for parts of all sizes.
Kip Hanson
By Kip Hanson Contributing Editor, SME Media
Ingersoll’s CBN TEDI mill is designed for machining grey cast irons, CGI cast irons and hard steels over HRC 40. The CBN cutting edges enable finishing with cutting speeds up to 4,900 sfm in cast iron and 1,600 sfm in hard steels.

Hard Facts About the Hardest Cutting Tools

July 22, 2021
Two things everyone knows about diamonds: they’re very hard and they’re very expensive. And so it is with polycrystalline diamond (PCD) as well as cubic boron nitride (CBN) cutting tools.
Michael Anderson
By Michael C. Anderson Contributing Lead Editor

Shop Solutions

  • PRESS RELEASES

    Fluke CalStudio Conduit Has Intelligent Workflow Automation

    PRESS RELEASE: Fluke Corp. August 18, 2026
    Calibration laboratories are under growing pressure to do more with fewer resources while managing disconnected systems, manual workflows and increasing compliance demands. To address these challenges, Fluke today announced the latest release of CalStudio, headlined by CalStudio Conduit, a no-code workflow and integration platform that connects calibration data with hundreds of business applications.
  • HUMANS OF MANUFACTURING

    Proud to Be a Woman in Manufacturing

    Jessica Bird, Sales and Account Management, Midwest CAM Solutions August 18, 2026
    There's a moment early in my manufacturing career that I still think about.
  • NEWS DESK

    Top U.S. Manufacturers Rebound After 2024 Downturn

    Nicole Franzese-Damron August 18, 2026
    The largest U.S. public manufacturing companies posted modest financial gains in 2025, with combined revenue reaching $6.33 trillion, up 3.49% from the previous year, while net income increased 6.78% to $506 billion, according to the 2026 IndustryWeek U.S. 500 ranking of the nation's largest public manufacturers by revenue.

Up Front

  • PRESS RELEASES

    Fluke CalStudio Conduit Has Intelligent Workflow Automation

    PRESS RELEASE: Fluke Corp. August 18, 2026
    Calibration laboratories are under growing pressure to do more with fewer resources while managing disconnected systems, manual workflows and increasing compliance demands. To address these challenges, Fluke today announced the latest release of CalStudio, headlined by CalStudio Conduit, a no-code workflow and integration platform that connects calibration data with hundreds of business applications.
  • HUMANS OF MANUFACTURING

    Proud to Be a Woman in Manufacturing

    Jessica Bird, Sales and Account Management, Midwest CAM Solutions August 18, 2026
    There's a moment early in my manufacturing career that I still think about.
  • NEWS DESK

    Top U.S. Manufacturers Rebound After 2024 Downturn

    Nicole Franzese-Damron August 18, 2026
    The largest U.S. public manufacturing companies posted modest financial gains in 2025, with combined revenue reaching $6.33 trillion, up 3.49% from the previous year, while net income increased 6.78% to $506 billion, according to the 2026 IndustryWeek U.S. 500 ranking of the nation's largest public manufacturers by revenue.

SME Speaks

  • PRESS RELEASES

    Fluke CalStudio Conduit Has Intelligent Workflow Automation

    PRESS RELEASE: Fluke Corp. August 18, 2026
    Calibration laboratories are under growing pressure to do more with fewer resources while managing disconnected systems, manual workflows and increasing compliance demands. To address these challenges, Fluke today announced the latest release of CalStudio, headlined by CalStudio Conduit, a no-code workflow and integration platform that connects calibration data with hundreds of business applications.
  • HUMANS OF MANUFACTURING

    Proud to Be a Woman in Manufacturing

    Jessica Bird, Sales and Account Management, Midwest CAM Solutions August 18, 2026
    There's a moment early in my manufacturing career that I still think about.
  • NEWS DESK

    Top U.S. Manufacturers Rebound After 2024 Downturn

    Nicole Franzese-Damron August 18, 2026
    The largest U.S. public manufacturing companies posted modest financial gains in 2025, with combined revenue reaching $6.33 trillion, up 3.49% from the previous year, while net income increased 6.78% to $506 billion, according to the 2026 IndustryWeek U.S. 500 ranking of the nation's largest public manufacturers by revenue.

Advanced Manufacturing Now

  • PRESS RELEASES

    Fluke CalStudio Conduit Has Intelligent Workflow Automation

    PRESS RELEASE: Fluke Corp. August 18, 2026
    Calibration laboratories are under growing pressure to do more with fewer resources while managing disconnected systems, manual workflows and increasing compliance demands. To address these challenges, Fluke today announced the latest release of CalStudio, headlined by CalStudio Conduit, a no-code workflow and integration platform that connects calibration data with hundreds of business applications.
  • HUMANS OF MANUFACTURING

    Proud to Be a Woman in Manufacturing

    Jessica Bird, Sales and Account Management, Midwest CAM Solutions August 18, 2026
    There's a moment early in my manufacturing career that I still think about.
  • NEWS DESK

    Top U.S. Manufacturers Rebound After 2024 Downturn

    Nicole Franzese-Damron August 18, 2026
    The largest U.S. public manufacturing companies posted modest financial gains in 2025, with combined revenue reaching $6.33 trillion, up 3.49% from the previous year, while net income increased 6.78% to $506 billion, according to the 2026 IndustryWeek U.S. 500 ranking of the nation's largest public manufacturers by revenue.