Lead Angle

Articles • January 2, 2018 • Alan Richter

Setting the stages for Industry 4.0

As CTE Publications Inc. begins the 70th volume of Cutting Tool Engineering, the fundamental principles of cutting and grinding metal remain the same as when the magazine premiered with a different name to serve members of the Society of Carbide Engineers.

Articles • September 29, 2017 • Alan Richter

Lead Angle: Don’t be scared to take five

CTE Editor Alan Richter highlights the 5-axis focus of the October 2017 issue.

Articles • August 23, 2017 • Alan Richter

Lead Angle: Targeting markets high and low

The boost in productivity that the latest cutting tools provide enables manufacturers to reduce the amount fracking companies pay for parts.

Articles • July 31, 2017 • Alan Richter

Manufacturing and its myths

Since the time CTE Editor Alan Richter started covering manufacturing for CTE in 2000, industry professionals have frequently informed him that manufacturing jobs typically pay more than most other professions, such as sales and low-level, white-collar jobs. Furthermore, he was told, they provide a multiplier, or ripple, effect—in which one manufacturing job produces numerous other jobs. As he observes in his August 2017 Lead Angle column, Richter questions whether that's still the case.

Articles • June 30, 2017 • Alan Richter

Lead Angle: Are we near the peak?

Peak oil demand is in the news. In a May Wall Street Journal article, for instance, authors Lynn Cook and Elena Cherney stated, "The world's largest oil companies are girding for the biggest shift in energy consumption since the Industrial Revolution: After decades of growth, global demand for oil is poised to peak and fall in the coming years."

Articles • May 30, 2017 • Alan Richter

Toolmaker targets titanium

Without a doubt, cutting tools for machining titanium must be well-engineered. This was reinforced for CTE Editor Alan Richter while attending Horn Technology Days 2017, held May 10 to 12 at Hartmetall-Werkzeugfabrik Paul Horn GmbH, Tübingen, Germany.

Articles • May 16, 2017 • Alan Richter

Lead Angle: Rise of the soft machine

Cutting Tool Engineering Editor Alan Richter ponders the machine shop of the future in his Lead Angle column for the May 2017 issue.

Articles • March 23, 2017 • Alan Richter

Workforce: Finders Keepers

Commit to a German-style, dual-training apprenticeship program so your shop can produce its own skilled workers, suggests the director of the German American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest Inc.

Articles • February 27, 2017 • Alan Richter

Culture-changing tools

One of the activities I enjoy most in connection with my job is visiting production facilities, because I get a chance to see how parts and products are made and have face-to-face interactions with talented metalworking professionals—not to mention that it gets me out of the office now and then.

Articles • January 26, 2017 • Alan Richter

Sounds of the season

Working in the bleak midwinter while the metalcutting sector transitions through a downturn sounds like a recipe for the blues. But it doesn't have to be. When things are a bit slow, it can be a good time to do some housekeeping and other chores around the shop that get put on the backburner during more active times. Investing in automation and other productivity-boosting equipment can also be wise during a soft stretch.

Articles • December 30, 2016 • Alan Richter

Manufacturing and millennials

On the one hand, many employers in the manufacturing industry view millennials as being self-absorbed, unfocused, disloyal, addicted to mobile devices and lazy. On the other, most millennials don't view a career in manufacturing as something they want to pursue.

Articles • December 1, 2016 • Don Nelson

Going to New Orleans

There was plenty to see, eat, drink, hear and learn at the United States Cutting Tool Institute's 2016 Fall Meeting, held in New Orleans Oct. 15-17.