Micromanufacturing

New technology brings higher precision, faster production to make small parts more efficiently than is possible with traditional micro machining technology and equipment, according to a whitepaper from GF Microlution Inc.

The Janesville, Wis., micromanufacturer Performance Micro Tool is part of a Janesville Gazette feature on local companies increasing their use of automation. The article notes that a recent source of revenue for the company is a tool contract with a company that makes the tiny housings in credit cards that hold those now-ubiquitous micro chips.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Engineering is the new home of a unique machine that is capable of 3D milling precise to one nanometer. The machine, called the ROBONANO α-0iB, is the first of its kind in North America, and it brings extremely advanced technological capabilities that could represent the future of advanced manufacturing. The ROBONANO, which is on a multi-year loan from the Japanese robotics manufacturer FANUC, is housed in the laboratory of Sangkee Min, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at UW-Madison. The ROBONANO’s extremely precise capabilities offer Min and colleagues new research opportunities, which he hopes will open up improved and novel approaches to manufacturing.

GF Machining Solutions, , will purchase micromanufacturing machine builder Microlution Inc., Chicago, according to a comany news release issued May 11. Described as a specialist of micro-machining based on milling and laser technologies, Microlution was founded in 2005 and reportedly generated $10 million in 2015 with a workforce of 30 employees.