Aerospace

Reuters reports that America's manufacturers are urging President-elect Donald Trump to back off from his most threatening trade rhetoric and pursue a more nuanced approach to trade with China and Mexico, avoiding unilateral tariff actions and focusing on negotiations. Corporate lobbying groups, some chief executives and pro-trade lawmakers also say they eventually even hope to persuade Trump that free-trade agreements can help grow the U.S. economy and create jobs.

Especially within the aerospace, energy and mechanical engineering sector, production managers have to bridge the gap between economic efficiency and high process reliability when working with materials that are difficult to machine. Fortunately, there is peace of mind in knowing that the machine technology innovations continue to develop to meet the ongoing demands of manufacturing.

Helical Solutions LLC recently announced a top-tier finish in the 2015 Boeing Industry Challenge II, which is an invitational tournament meant to test the world's strongest and highest-performing milling tools in aerospace titanium.

"The 30-foot-by-35-foot pit in a concrete floor is empty, shiny and immaculate as it awaits the arrival of a massive machine for use by Connecticut manufacturers to cut, shape and do a range of other tasks with composite materials," writes Stephen Singer in the Hartford Courant. "At the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology in East Hartford, the large rectangular hole resembling a swimming pool and reaching a depth of 4 ft. in parts will be filled later this year by the 130,000-lb, high-speed industrial machine [that] will be used to shape, cut, grind and otherwise fashion aerospace and other industry components made of composites."

Los Angeles Times reports: Factories south of the border are fueled by American goods and services—creating a silver lining for at least some workers in the U.S.

EWI, a non-profit organization dedicated to innovating and implementing advanced manufacturing technologies for industry, soon will add an Electron Beam Additive Manufacturing (EBAM) system to its R&D toolbox. Chicago-based Sciaky Inc. announced the sale of its EBAM system in a news release issued July 20.

Takumi USA, Indianapolis, recently unveiled its new technology center and showroom to distributor partners to kick off the introduction of Takumi USA to the North American market.

As aerospace materials have evolved, machine shops have had to use new tools and technologies in order to process them. The June 2016 CTE cover story delves into delamination of composites and other workpiece problems that challenge aerospace parts makers.

Arevo Labs hopes its new RAMP leads to better 3D-printed componets for the defense and aerospace industries. Arevo touts RAMP (Robot-based Additive Manufacturing Platform) as the first system of its kind optimized for 3D printing of composite thermoplastic parts. The system includes a 6-axis robot arm and end-effector hardware for deposition. RAMP can accommodate build envelopes from 1,000 cu. mm to 8 cu. m, depending on the size of the robot used. The end effector consists of a deposition head with special thermal management technology for processing carbon-fiber-reinforced thermoplastics.

Allied Machine & Engineering Corp., which manufactures holemaking and finishing products for the industrial tool and machining sector, this year celebrates its 75-year history with an eye on the future.