Machining

Looking to streamline its process and improve part quality, Automated Design Corp. moved into a facility that enabled it to set up a machine shop.

Advanced machine tool controls infused with artificial intelligence (AI) can learn about your machining processes. With this knowledge, a CNC can automatically take action that boosts machining speed and accuracy, as well as slash unplanned downtime for maintenance.

Picum MT, a startup at Leibniz University in Germany, is collaborating to redefine the manufacturing workflow, which traditionally has involved moving a workpiece from machine to machine or from station to station.

With so much attention given to improving machining processes, machinists, programmers and engineers at times forget about simple, but necessary, processes like deburring.

Though machining medical microparts presents many challenges, shops that tackle the task are meeting these challenges thanks to a combination of ingenuity and technology, along with a dose of effective machining practices.

Carefully plan machine setup to virtually eliminate problems that could lead to such tasks as replacing the setup with a new one, reprogramming toolpaths, or even transferring the job to another machine.

By packaging both turning and milling functions in a single machining center, machine tool builders believe they’ve hit on a winning combination that can boost part quality while also slashing cycle times, space and costs.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU, Chemnitz, Germany, wanted to study the impact of climate change on machines without having to ship them to far-flung locales. Therefore, the institute developed a climate chamber at its newly inaugurated test lab in which it could expose machines to various climates around the world.