Economy

INOVA Geophysical rethinks machining process, saves close to $1 million by reshoring production from China.

When you consider the future of U.S. manufacturing, it's important to distinguish long term from short term.

I don't like bringing this up, but two key metalworking markets -- defense and energy -- are in a bit of trouble.

It goes without saying that the heart of manufacturing is innovation. From the cotton gin to the steam engine to the assembly line to the CNC, the manufacturing process is always being reinvented, refined and reimagined. Today, a lot of the talk is about additive manufacturing, and justifiably so. Since its dawn in the 1980s, AM has moved from a “that's neat” tool for hobbyists to a valued tool for prototypers to making fixtures and long part runs.

Pundits have long said that U.S. machine shops and parts manufacturers need skilled candidates to fill thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of available jobs. The problem, it's alleged, is getting people interested in manufacturing in the first place.

Growing U.S. auto market needs supply flexibility and more lightweight parts.

IMTS serves as a convenient benchmark for the health of the U.S. metalworking industry, allowing comparisons with the last go-round, and the ones before that.

Cutting Tool Engineering magazine's biennial salary survey for 2014 shows the earnings of metalworking professionals heading upward.

Despite setbacks and challenges, the orthopedic implant market is set to grow.

The amount of advanced CNC equipment in Micron Product's orthopedic machining work cell has doubled in the past 5 years, while the number of programmer/machinists has remained about the same due to the use of more efficient, advanced CAM technology.