Success in aerospace machining requires more than the ability to hold tight tolerances in difficult materials. It also requires the ability to prove that you did so in compliance with a pile of specific guidelines, with reports that likewise must follow a specific format.

Aerospace was an early, and enthusiastic, adopter of additive manufacturing. The technology has been used to make brackets inside of aircraft.

Metrology equipment is showing its usefulness on the shop floor. Lasers and structured-light scanners operate next to assembly jigs and press-brakes.

Product lifecycle management (PLM) software helps manufacturers manage, shape, guide, and refine new product developments, speeding up the design and production process.

It’s said that holemaking is the most commonly performed of all machining operations. And it stands to reason that most of those holes must be reamed or most likely bored after drilling. For as long as machinists have been boring holes, however, they’ve struggled with a variety of problems.

Machining programs at community colleges can bring to mind images of old, tired equipment, housed in even older, drab facilities. That was the case at Richard J. Daley College, one of the City Colleges of Chicago. But not anymore.