Tool Management

After spending many years in manufacturing facilities, I have discovered that the number of ways to perform a task is as varied as the people working there. Facility and machine tool maintenance is no different. Each organization has a unique approach.

A tool inventory management system shows who's using what and for what purpose.

Preventive maintenance can drastically reduce the frequency and the extent of the damage when machine tools and other shop equipment break. Most machine tool builders and other equipment providers will provide the necessary maintenance steps to keep equipment up and running. But how those steps are taken is up to each shop.

An intelligent manufacturing application.

Tips on choosing driven tools for mill/turn centers.

A guide to when shops should say farewell to used cutting tools.

Repairing a spindle--the heart of a machine tool--is more economical than buying new, but part manufacturers need to understand the process.

A machine vision system for inspecting cutting tool wear.

The heart of rail technology beats in Germany, where the Bombardier Transportation division of the Canadian conglomerate is headquartered in Berlin. Its plant in Netphen, Germany, annually produces 2,500 to 3,000 carriage bodies and bogies (a chassis or framework with wheels that is attached to a railway vehicle). This equipment is used in vehicles ranging from trams to high-speed trains. Despite the European economic crisis, order volumes have risen over the last few years, to the point where the plant, which has a workforce of 700, is nearly at full capacity.