Feature Article

As new composite materials are developed, parts manufacturers face new challenges when routing them. Fortunately, cutting tool manufacturers continually develop new solutions so parts manufacturers are not forced to cut tomorrow's composites with outdated routers.

Job shops commonly receive corrupted or "dirty" CAD files from their customers. These files must be cleaned or repaired before toolpaths for machining the workpiece can be created. Software solutions like SpaceClaim, developed by ANSYS Inc., can fix dirty models, with the end goal of creating "watertight" solids ready for machining.

GE Power opened its "Factory of the Future," the 125,000-sq.-ft. Advanced Manufacturing Works (AMW) facility in Greenville, S.C., with great fanfare in April 2016. So, what's futuristic about the place?

Colson Group USA, a manufacturer of casters, wheels and other mobility products, continues to make significant investments to its production and distribution operations while reshoring some manufacturing.

Some might argue that edge finders, center finders and wigglers, which have been used for decades to touch off workpieces during machine setup, are a bit too analog for today's digital world.

Proactive security measures become even more important as manufacturing software moves into the cloud, machine tool intelligence and automation continue to grow, and the Industrial Internet of Things makes big data an increasingly big deal.

All shops are concerned with burrs, a natural side effect of cutting. They are all looking for a single solution to prevent or remove burrs. Unfortunately, there is no panacea.

As automation becomes more flexible and less expensive, work cells are propagating at smaller shops.

A growing number of manufacturers in the medical industry are seeing the light when choosing a machining option for micro parts and features. The light they're seeing emanates from laser micromachining systems.

Manufacturing microscale endmills and drills requires ultraprecise machinery and specialty grinding wheels—never mind extreme skill, the right carbide grade and abundant patience. Thankfully, a number of toolmakers have become proficient at this microscopic task, leaving shops to worry about just one thing: making parts.

Three primary elements play a heightened role when machining molds for plastic injection molding of microparts compared to moldmaking for the macro realm: part size, feature size and dimensional tolerances.

Craftsman Jasper Röders set up shop during the early 1800s to make pewter tableware for his neighbors in Soltau, Germany. Six generations later, his descendants still produce pewter but have expanded into blow molds and CNC machine tools.