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Wohlers Associates Inc. announced the publication of Wohlers Report 2019, the 24th annual installment of its industry-leading report on additive manufacturing (AM) and 3D printing. The worldwide study provides the “pulse” of the industry by reporting on growth, development and the future of AM materials, applications, systems, services, design, software, patents, startups, standards, investment and research.

Recently, even astrophysicists have started taking an interest in EMO Hannover. Garching, Germany-based Dr. Theo Steininger and Dr. Maksim Greiner, former PhD students at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Garching, have developed artificial intelligence software that makes use of the latest statistical analysis methods developed for astrophysics. They have successfully deployed the software for door assembly by a German car manufacturer, but are now looking to conquer the metalworking market as well.

According to a new study, sales of high-speed steel (HSS) tools in 2019 are estimated at nearly 218,000 thousand units, projected to register a Y-o-Y growth at 4.8 percent over 2018. HSS tools sales have witnessed sheer proliferation, despite intense competition from solid-carbide tools, as these are best suited for shop production environments, wherein tool cost and versatility are of paramount importance.

Researchers at Linköping University have developed a theoretical model that enables simulations for showing what happens in hard cutting materials as they degrade. The model will enable manufacturing industry to save both time and money.

Building and maintaining a skilled workforce is one of the top challenges manufacturers face today, and the skills gap is only going to increase as older workers look to retire. Companies also might miss out on additional revenue streams because they can’t hire or retain employees fast enough to keep pace with increasing demands. The logical thing to do is to focus on operational improvements: Reduce waste, automate processes, and squeeze out even more efficiency. But this goes only so far. What many manufacturers are doing instead of hiring is repurposing existing employees to take on higher-value roles.

If you read the online forums, it is immediately clear that identifying the optimal technique for removing the inevitable burrs created during machining of threaded parts is the subject of much debate.

ANCA was struggling to recruit young engineers and trades people to join its team. With over 1,000 people around the world, a turnover of $250 million and being the dominant player in its sector, searching for skilled people was becoming a major business issue. In response, ANCA decided to train its own and in January 2011 established an apprenticeship program, which has been successfully training highly skilled technicians since.

Networked production, machine learning in the production process, intelligent workpieces: What do all these buzz words mean? And, more importantly: How suitable are they for everyday use and how is this topic related to precision and grinding technology? All of these and more fascinating questions will be discussed at the Grinding Symposium, May 8-10, 2019 in Thun, Switzerland.

Irvine, CA, March 13, 2019 – CGTech kicked off the first of its 2019 North American VERICUT Users’ Exchange (VUE) events last week in Irvine, CA. At VUE, attendees learn about new software features, tips and tricks for improving manufacturing efficiency, and have the opportunity to express ideas about the future direction of the software. There is no charge to attend.

If a region is attracting new manufacturing companies, what's the fastest way to help them launch their businesses? The answer from Danville, Virginia, is the 51,250-sq.-ft. Center for Manufacturing Advancement.

In Chicagoland, most owners of manufacturing companies are not only white but at the age of retirement and lacking succession plans. The owners' kids don't want to take over, or they don't have the skills to. The likeliest fate for these businesses is to be bought by private equity firms that fire the employees, sell off some assets and move on, meaning a huge loss of jobs and revenue in the region.

At a manufacturing organization, a hardware design engineer or a factory floor manufacturing engineer can wear the hat of a citizen data scientist. Optimizing a design process or improving throughput/yield on the factory floor could be his or her goal to bring more business value out of processes.

One of the biggest developments in the world of technology over the last few years has been that of digital twins. A digital twin is a virtual replica of a physical system, process or product. The technology essentially provides a real-time look at how a physical asset is performing.

Chinese factories make up a third of the "manufacturing lighthouses," or principal drivers for adopting new technology in the fourth Industrial Revolution, according to a list by the World Economic Forum and management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. These advances in smart manufacturing should be encouraging for China, but the country already is undermining them.

The following interview was conducted with Platinum Tooling’s President, Preben Hansen, at the company’s headquarters in Prospect Heights, Illinois. Hansen discusses the beginnings of Platinum Tooling, the transition period, changes, product lines and the future.

There’s a common misconception that the manufacturing industry is almost universally male-dominated. In many people’s minds, the industry is old fashioned, hanging on to dated gender biases and excluding women from managerial roles that are key to climbing the industry ladder, such as production supervisors and operations managers. But the fact is, manufacturers are more forward-thinking than ever before, and women now make up nearly one-third of the manufacturing industry workforce in the United States.

The mobility concept for individual transportation will in the relatively near future be a combination of progressively downsized internal combustion engines and electric drives, say some, while others predict that electro-mobility will secure jobs or even create new ones. This, at least, is certain: traditional metalcutting machines are a long way from being ripe for the scrap heap – equipped with smart technologies, they will also play a prominent role at the EMO Hannover 2019.

Of all businesses, contract machining companies know what they want: Cincinnati-based firm Metalex Manufacturing Inc. already owns three Starrag machine tools, but after extensive benchmarking, the key customer has chosen to invest in a Droop+Rein T portal machining center from Starrag—its largest investment to date in every respect.

Industrial Innovations has expanded its machine shop and fabricating capability and is offering CNC machining of prototype, custom and replacement parts, as well as short production runs and 4-axis machining for a variety of applications and industries such as automotive, medical and furniture.

Manufacturers’ most valuable data is generated daily on shop floors, bringing with it the challenge of analyzing it to find prescriptive insights fast. This is an ideal problem for machine learning to solve.