Michael C. Anderson

Articles • January 11, 2017 • Michael C. Anderson

Burning hard metal

The Look Ahead department covers electro-erosion metal removal with a 5-axis horizontal machining center in the January 2017 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering.

Articles • January 11, 2017 • Michael C. Anderson

A combination tool for thread forming

The Look Ahead department includes a combination broaching and tapping tool for thread forming in the January 2017 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering.

Articles • December 29, 2016 • Michael C. Anderson

Experts assess current, future inspection technologies

Where is the field of inspection headed and, more importantly, where do the manufacturers that depend on it desire it to head? In 2014, the Coordinate Metrology Society (CMS) combined forces with the University of North Carolina-Charlotte to find out.

News • December 28, 2016 • Michael C. Anderson

Manufacturing Perceptions Surveyed

It's been a crusade for many manufacturers for years: the battle against an out-of-date public perception of manufacturing as dirty, repetitive work that's possibly unsafe and probably a dead-end career path.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—but a third offers some hope.

News • December 23, 2016 • Michael C. Anderson

What is the future of robotics?

The world of robotics and automation is changing fast. International Data Corp's (IDC) Manufacturing Insights Worldwide Commercial Robotics program peeks over the horizon with predictions for the world of robotics in 2017 and after.

News • December 23, 2016 • Michael C. Anderson

U.S. Manufacturers’ slow walk to Industry 4.0

A Boston Consulting Group survey finds that US companies consider digital technologies a priority, but that many manufacturers feel no urgency and have no strategy to implement them. For example, nearly 90% of manufacturing leaders regard adopting new digital industrial technologies as a way to improve productivity, but only about one in four see opportunities to use these advances to build new revenue streams.

News • December 19, 2016 • Michael C. Anderson

$1.5 million Cloud-based Machine Monitoring Research Project to Begin

Penn State reports that it will team with researchers and analysts from Case Western Reserve University, the GE Global Research Center and Microsoft on a $1.5 million collaborative research project to develop a cloud-based wireless sensing and prognostic system for monitoring manufacturing machinery. The initiative will make it possible for such a system to detect early signs of wear, aging and fault conditions in the machines.

News • December 13, 2016 • Michael C. Anderson

Apollo 15 Drill Chuck Used on the Moon: Sold!

Buy a used drill chuck, which didn't work flawlessly to begin with, for almost $50,000? Sounds like a bid for lunacy. And it is, literally. Auction house RR Auction recently took bids on the chuck that was part of the lunar-surface drill used on the Apollo 15 mission by Commander Dave Scott in 1971.

News • December 13, 2016 • Michael C. Anderson

Ames Laboratory Takes a Powder

Ames Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory have been awarded $5 million from the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) to improve the production and composition of metal alloy powders used in additive manufacturing.

News • December 7, 2016 • Michael C. Anderson

Giant robot being built for combat

After robot builder MegaBots Inc. determined that its Mk. II robot was unsafe for the two human pilots to operate during the upcoming Giant Robot Duel against Japan-based Suidobashi Heavy Industry's Kuratas robot, the Hayward, Calif.-based company decided to build a new robot from scratch.

News • December 7, 2016 • Michael C. Anderson

Challenges in Digitizing Manufacturing via ERP Systems

A look at "how manufacturers make the most of machine data" in CIO magazine goes over the challenges as well as the benefits of using ERP. A major source for the article is Magnus Wiktorsson, professor of production systems at Mälardalen University in Sweden. Wiktorsson outlines four key challenges for companies looking to digitize their manufacturing processes, which are worth reading.

News • December 7, 2016 • Michael C. Anderson

ROBONANO comes to America

For 10 years, FANUC Corp.'s highly accurate ROBONANO automated milling machines have been in use in Japan's semiconductor industry. Now the newest iteration of the machine is in the U.S. to help researchers studying emerging materials and manufacturing processes.