ANCA Inc. opened its technical center expansion May 23-24, 2018, in Wixom, MI, hosting more than 200 customers, vendors, and community members at the event. This multi-million-dollar investment provides a larger demonstration floor, classrooms for training, and a larger machine assembly and process development area.
The expansion allows ANCA to provide customer service in North America and South America for manufacturers of cutting tools for the automotive, aerospace, medical, and general manufacturing segments.
Attending the opening of the technical center expansion were Russell Riddiford, president of ANCA Inc.; CEO of ANCA Group Grant Andersen; Joint Managing Director and ANCA Co-Founder Pat Boland; Wixom City Manager Steve Brown; Wixom Councilman Tom Rzeznik; and Australia Consul General Michael Wood.
According to Riddiford, manufacturers are very confident. “At ANCA we are experiencing a strong confidence in the industry right now and lead times are longer.”
Based on the ANCA report, “Grinding Hits a 40 Year High,” in the past year the average of ANCA orders has increased by over 40%, and the global grinding machinery market is forecasted to reach $5.43 billion by 2021, growing at a compound annual growth rate of close to 4% in the period 2017-2021.
What is driving this demand? According to the report, manufacturing in the US was already growing, plus there is now fiscal stimulus caused by US tax reductions and incentives for investment in infrastructure. Also, there is a rise of industrial growth across manufacturing sectors such as automotive, aerospace, and shipbuilding, plus, the demand for air travel has resulted in demand for aircraft.
Although the manufacturing industry is growing, there are challenges when lead times are longer and orders increase, such as ensuring production is as efficient as possible, costs are managed accordingly, and demand is met without impacting quality. Plus, there is a higher demand for skilled employees.
“At ANCA we are committed to ensuring our customers get the most out of their investment with our company’s products and services,” said Riddiford. “We design our technology and innovations to provide tool grinders with greater efficiencies and the flexibility to dominate in their markets. The expanded facility improves our ability to operate as a learning center for our customers with a dedicated product training and demonstration space.”
On Thursday, May 24, ANCA presented new machine demonstrations and ANCA product managers presented technical seminars, including “ANCA Future Software,” “What makes ANCA Different,” and “Manufacturing Trends of the Future,” which explored how the tool grinding operation is moving toward incorporating new operations into the grinder.
The live demos included the advanced TX Linear tool and cutter grinder, ANCA’s premium machine.
The TX has flexible software and tooling combined with a large working envelope that enables the production of more complex tools, heavy duty manufacturing, and component manufacturing.
Other live demonstrations included the MX7 Linear, a versatile CNC grinding machine designed to meet the demands for production tool grinding. A demonstration on the EDGe erosion and tool grinding machine showed its flexibility to erode PCD tools and grind carbide and high-speed tools and included automated in-process measurement.
Vendors, including EBBCO coolant filtration systems and Zoller presetting systems, attended the opening and were on hand to provide information and show their latest innovations.
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