Machines/Accessories/Controls

SMTCL- Americas, City of Industry, Calif., kicked off the beginning of spring with a sales training course and open house. Instructed by Chief Operations Officer Jerry McCarty, 18 individuals became certified on SMTCL machines. This creates a larger distributor network in California and other regions to better service potential customers, according to the company.  

Methods Machine Tools Inc., a Sudbury, Mass.-based supplier of machine tools, automation and accessories, sponsored a senior year "capstone" project for several fifth-year electromechanical engineering students from Boston's Wentworth Institute of Technology. The project involved researching and designing a new type of infeed system for potential use in future Methods automated cell projects. The students presented different designs to Methods and a winner was chosen at Wentworth Dec. 15. The students are currently working on building the capstone project this semester and plan to have the prototype completed by April. 

Haas Automation Inc.'s recent HaasTec open house attracted nearly 3,300 attendees to the company's headquarters and manufacturing facility in Oxnard, Calif., according to the company. The 4-day event drew visitors from 48 countries, including China, India, Korea, Latin America, the Middle East and many European countries, as well as more than 330 students from regional high schools, colleges and universities.

Hand scraping mating surfaces on CNC machine tools helps maintain high levels of machining accuracy and reduces wear and tear, resulting in a long, stable and productive life for the machine, as detailed in a new white paper from machine tool builder Okuma America Inc., Charlotte, N.C. 

Absolute Machine Tools, Lorain, Ohio, now offers a full line of EDM consumable products and services through its AccuteX EDM business unit, based in Mason, Ohio. AccuteX EDM now offers not only consumables for its line of EDMs, but also for most other OEMs, such as Mitsubishi, Sodick, FANUC and others. 

Haas Automation Inc. will host its semi-annual 4-day HaasTec open house at its Oxnard, Calif., headquarters March 17-20. The event will include machine demos, factory tours and a catered lunch, according to the company. The previous HaasTec in 2013 drew nearly 3,000 attendees from 44 countries, and the company expects this year's event to be even bigger. 

The University of Tennessee—Knoxville, a longstanding member of the Council on Competitiveness, was selected by the White House to lead a public-private partnership of 122 leading companies, universities, research laboratories and non-profits that will create a $250 million manufacturing innovation hub.  

Machine tool builder Okuma America Corp. hosted "A Day at Okuma America Corporation" for area high school students at its Partners in THINC technology center in Charlotte, N.C., on Dec. 16. The event gave students the opportunity to learn more about CNC machining and technology and to speak with professionals in the CNC manufacturing industry.  

Machine tool builder Okuma America Corp. hosted more than 500 customers, partners and distributors at its 2014 Technology Showcase event December 9-10 at its Charlotte, N.C., headquarters. The event featured learning opportunities for attendees, including hands-on demonstrations, a facility tour highlighting titanium machining at the new Aerospace Center for Excellence, and a look at Okuma's electrical and mechanical repair operations. 

Miyachi America Corp., Monrovia, Calif., a manufacturer of welding, marking, cutting and micromachining equipment, donated an LMF2000 fiber laser marker along with related safety equipment to Workshops for Warriors (WFW), a nonprofit organization that provides vocational training to returning, wounded and disabled veterans of the U.S. Armed Services. Technimark, one of Miyachi's suppliers, donated a fume extractor for the equipment, and Directed Light, Inc. donated laser safety glasses.