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Gilman Precision debuts Web-based product design tool

Gilman Precision, Grafton, Wis., recently launched a web-based product configuration tool Intended to improve the process of viewing and adjusting product specifications. The Gilman 3D Linear Products CAD Configurator will serve engineers and other prospects by allowing them to select, view and insert Gilman 3D CAD models and 2D drawings directly into their own CAD systems, according to the company. 

Mastercam 2017 released for public testing worldwide

Mastercam 2017 is now in public beta, which means the next version of the software is available for testing by “currently maintained” Mastercam customers, according to a recent news release from CNC Software. “Shops all over the world, from small job shops to Fortune 100, get a chance to test Mastercam 2017 before it is released, and provide valuable feedback that helps shape the final product,” the company announced. “Participants in the Public Beta get an early look at the new streamlined workflow and optimized interface that Mastercam 2017 delivers, along with dozens of powerful new tools for simple to complex jobs.”

OS integrates machine tool into corporate network

04/01/2016
Author:
William Leventon
To bring all kinds of useful information right to a machine and facilitate a company’s implementation of Industry 4.0 processing tools, INDEX Corp. has begun supplying its machine tools with a new operating system. Called Xpanel, the OS integrates a machine into a corporate network, allowing machine operators to receive information from other parts of an enterprise. Operators can access drawings, setup sheets, user manuals, quality requirements, and circuit and hydraulic diagrams on a machine’s control panel.
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Accurate shop floor scheduling is important, but often hard to achieve

04/01/2016
Author:
Kip Hanson
Without a manufacturing schedule, workpiece materials don’t arrive on time, machine tools sit idle and customers fume. However, scheduling is difficult, especially when multiple-level assemblies and large numbers of components are involved. To meet this need, software companies have developed complex, integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Hundreds of such systems exist, from giant multisite suites able to manage (OEMs’) needs to those suitable for a job shop with a handful of employees. 
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Neat ripple effect

03/01/2016
Lindquist Machine Corp. is a custom-machinery builder that relies on its CAD/CAM system to keep its workflow flexible, break bottlenecks and reduce lead times. The Green Bay, Wis., shop has one programmer to do complicated programming, but most of the workers on the shop floor can write, or at least modify, programs. 
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A special electrical cabinet that lets users connect sensors to gather machine data

03/01/2016
Author:
William Leventon
Networking option: Could the introduction of a small electrical cabinet turn out to be a big step toward more widespread implementation of the Industrial Internet of Things? This special electrical cabinet, called the SmartBox, was developed by machine tool builder Mazak Corp., working in collaboration with networking equipment provider Cisco Systems Inc. The SmartBox is designed to overcome concerns about complexity and security that have led to resistance to connecting machine tools to a plantwide network.
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Measuring asset performance

03/01/2016
Author:
Pete Tecos
In today’s hypercompetitive, globalized economy, businesses are pressured to do more, do it faster, do it right the first time and do it all with fewer resources. The Internet of Things and Industry 4.0 have given birth to asset-monitoring software that should enhance competitiveness in this environment, but it can also be like turning on a waterfall of data that raises the risk of “task overload.” Faced with task overload, most people focus on what they think is most important while a seemingly peripheral task is temporarily ignored.
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Analysis: Manufacturers beginning to operate like software companies

An online San Francisco Chronicle report posted Feb. 18—"Hacker ethos comes to the factory floor"—suggests that large and small manufacturers alike "are beginning to think and operate like software companies." And, just for the record, that's a good thing, say the authors: Mark Muro, a senior fellow and the policy director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution, and Kelly Kline, the economic development director and chief innovation officer of the city of Fremont, Calif.