Medical & Healthcare

Running a small to medium-sized machine shop business presents many challenges. Alliance Broach & Tool, East China, Mich., has been in the business of building its operations and client base for more than 35 years; the company knows about some of these challenges. In spite of a tough economic climate, however, Alliance continues to significantly grow. After nearly 40 years, that is an impressive accomplishment.

Emuge Corp. has introduced Cut & Form solid-carbide finishing endmills that feature a patented tool geometry that performs two functions: cutting and polishing in one operation, generating significant manufacturing time and cost savings.

The new Mitsui Seiki PJ812 Precision Profile Center is a 3-axis CNC vertical jig mill engineered to perform high-precision contour machining and ultraprecise boring of components with critical tolerances. It is suitable for processing parts for the mold and die, optical, aerospace and medical industries.

A new breed of 3D printers has begun producing parts made of engineering-grade plastics and fully dense metals suitable for long-term use in a variety of applications. These include jet engine components, engine mounts, medical implants and a host of other products that were once machined or fabricated by conventional means. And, compared to earlier-generation machines, the new additive-manufacturing equipment offers enhanced part accuracy and has lower processing times and acquisition costs.

More than 150 U.S.-based robotics researchers contributed to the 2016 edition of the report titled "A Roadmap for US Robotics From Internet to Robotics." Released Oct. 31, the document calls for improving policy frameworks to safely integrate new technologies, such as self-driving cars and commercial drones, into everyday life. The document also advocates for increased research efforts in the field of human-robot interaction and for more STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) courses for students.

The tagging applications for radio frequency identification (RFID) are vast, including pets, property—and even people. Recently, Micro-Mechanics Inc., a Morgan Hill, Calif., machine shop, worked with process control equipment provider Caron Engineering Inc., Wells, Maine, to implement an RFID tagging system on its Okuma LB series CNC lathe.

suitX, a California-based robotics company designing and manufacturing medical and industrial exoskeletons, recently announced the official launch of MAX, a flexible exoskeleton that can be adapted to a variety of workplace tasks. MAX comprises three exoskeleton modules: backX, shoulderX and legX.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued a final rule to prevent chronic beryllium disease and lung cancer in U.S. workers by limiting their exposure to beryllium and beryllium compounds. The rule contains standards for general industry, construction and shipyards.

Electrical discharge machining (EDMing) goes by many names—burning, spark machining, spark eroding, vaporizing—but they all refer to variations on the same process: removing material by running an electric current between an electrode and a negatively charged workpiece material submerged in a dielectric fluid. At least in the case of sinker EDMing, that's pretty much all there is to it.

Versatile, productive and reliable, the UNE 12-2 compact gundrilling system brings new levels of increased manufacturing capacity to a variety of industries, including automotive, medical and firearms. Whereas a shop may perform deep-hole drilling on Swiss automatic machine tools, a dedicated deep-hole drilling solution, such as the highly engineered UNE 12-2, significantly reduces lead times and provides a higher degree of accuracy and precision.

Seco has expanded the high-feed machining applicability of its Jabro-HFM JHF980 solid-carbide endmill with new 4- and 5-flute options. The additional flutes allow part manufacturers in industries such as aerospace and medical to achieve maximum productivity when performing face, slot and select plunge milling operations.

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.