Michael C. Anderson

Articles • February 6, 2017 • Michael C. Anderson

Live tooling capabilities on the rise

Live tooling's capabilities have increased greatly in recent years. From the start, live tooling was added to increase a lathe's usefulness. What many users of lathes and live tooling don't realize is just how useful live tooling has become.

News • February 6, 2017 • Michael C. Anderson

Epicor VP on ERP software trends

Epicor Software VP of Portfolio Marketing - Manufacturing Terri Hiskey shared insights on how she believes ERP software will evolve in response to manufacturing trends such as the Internet of Things and increased use of robotics and automation. Artificial intelligence and advanced analytics will transform ERP, she writes at ETCIO.com's Tech Talk blog: "The smart factory and Industry 4.0 will give ERP systems a new lease of life, making the ERP systems of yesterday unrecognizable."

News • February 2, 2017 • Michael C. Anderson

Hexagon to acquire MSC Software for $834 million

Sweden-based information technologies provider Hexagon AB has announced an agreement to acquire MSC Software Corp., the Newport Beach, Calif. based provider of computer-aided engineering solutions such as simulation software. The agreed-upon purchase price is $834 million. The acquisition is subject to clearance and standard regulatory filings and is expected to be complete in April of 2017.

News • February 2, 2017 • Michael C. Anderson

Record-breaking robot orders in N. America

The Robotic Industries Association has announced that in 2016 the North American robotics market broke all-time records for orders and shipments. During the year, 34,606 robots valued at approximately $1.9 billion were ordered in North America, representing growth of 10 percent in units over 2015.

News • January 31, 2017 • Michael C. Anderson

Manufacturers to Ohio: Jobs are Coming

Ohio is soon to benefit from new job-creating investments by a number of major manufacturers. The Dayton Business Journal reports that companies including General Motors, Navistar International and Whirlpool have announced projects that will add to the 885,539 manufacturing jobs the Buckeye State currently boasts.

Articles • January 23, 2017 • Michael C. Anderson

3 views of manufacturing

It's been a long crusade for many manufacturers: the battle against an out-of-date public perception of manufacturing as dirty, repetitive work that's possibly unsafe and probably a dead-end career path. Two recent surveys show that there's still a lot of work to do in dispelling that myth, while a third survey is more upbeat.

News • January 23, 2017 • Michael C. Anderson

Trump rescinds US participation in Trans-Pacific Partnership

President Trump has signed an executive order that formally ends U.S. participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the 12-nation trade agreement negotiated by former President Obama but never ratified by the U.S. Congress.

Articles • January 19, 2017 • Michael C. Anderson

Hamilton sings praises of manufacturing

Government concerning itself with manufacturing? What would the Founding Fathers think? We know the answer: December marked 220 years since Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton submitted his "Report on the Subject Manufactures" to the House of Representatives. In it, he argued in favor of manufacturing as a contrast to the Jeffersonian vision of an agrarian society, and that action from the federal government was necessary if U.S. manufacturing was to thrive.

News • January 18, 2017 • Michael C. Anderson

GM to invest an additional $1 billion in U.S. mfg.

GM has announced that it will invest an additional $1 billion in U.S. manufacturing operations, creating a total of 7,000 new jobs here. Is it a case of "If I tweet them, they will come?" After the announcement, incoming US President Donald Trump was quick to tweet about "all of the jobs I am bringing back into the US." Not so fast, say GM and industry watchers.

Articles • January 16, 2017 • Michael C. Anderson

Robotics road map calls for increased investment

More than 150 U.S.-based robotics researchers contributed to the 2016 edition of the report titled "A Roadmap for US Robotics From Internet to Robotics." Released Oct. 31, the document calls for improving policy frameworks to safely integrate new technologies, such as self-driving cars and commercial drones, into everyday life. The document also advocates for increased research efforts in the field of human-robot interaction and for more STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) courses for students.

News • January 13, 2017 • Michael C. Anderson

Ames Laboratory “perfects” metal powders for manufacturing

With potential ramifications for 3D printing of metals, particularly of expensive metals such as titanium, The U.S. Dept. of Energy's Ames Laboratory has created a process for making "perfect" metal powder. Each particle is smooth and spherical, allowing it to flow without clumping and pack together more densely.

News • January 11, 2017 • Michael C. Anderson

IDC: Worldwide spending on robotics to reach $188 billion in 2020

Robot use is set to accelerate: Worldwide spending on robotics and related services will more than double by 2020, growing from $91.5 billion in 2016 to more than $188 billion in 2020, according to the newly updated Worldwide Commercial Robotics Spending Guide from International Data Corporation (IDC).