Industry News

IBC announces that WIDIA Products Group, Latrobe, Pennsylvania, has joined the IBC industrial buying group as a preferred supplier. WIDIA is a leading manufacturer of precision metalcutting tools utilized in CNC machining operations.

As part of the company's ongoing commitment to quality, innovation and long-term growth, GF Machining Solutions recently announced two key leadership changes, both of which were effective Sept. 1, 2019. Scott Fosdick, former president and head of market region North and Central America, has been promoted to the position of head of sales, marketing, business development and communications for the global organization. Phil Hauser, formerly the director of sales and head of turbine group at GF Machining Solutions USA, will assume Fosdick's former position.

Contract inspection and reverse engineering capacity has doubled in terms of throughput, while the size of the component that can be measured has increased more than five-fold at Laser Scanning Ltd., based in Chapeltown, U.K., near Sheffield. It follows the installation of a second, larger coordinate measuring machine built by LK Metrology Ltd. at its Castle Donington, England, factory.

According to a findings specified in the report on the waterjet cutting machine market, the market is expected to witness steady growth over the forecast period (2018-2026), led by increasing industrialization and manufacturing sector in emerging regions across the globe. The long-term outlook for the global waterjet cutting machine market is expected to remain positive and the market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 9.0% during the forecast period.

Burgsmüller, a subsidiary of the KraussMaffei Group, confirms its strong commitment to Lower Saxony by building a new metalworking plant in Einbeck, not far from its current location in Kreiensen. In mid-April 2019, the company signed a lease agreement with VGP – a leading project developer for commercial real estate – thus kicking off the construction of a factory and office complex with roughly 7,200 sq. m of floor space. Relocation of Burgsmüller's production site from Kreiensen to Einbeck is scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2020. The new site with a plot area of ​​approx. 20,000 sq. m will offer state-of-the-art production and office spaces for up to 125 employees.

Gary Brown, president and general manager of Heule Tool Corp., Loveland, Ohio, recently celebrated his 30th anniversary with the company. Brown began working for Heule in August of 1989, shortly after earning his engineering degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

Heidenhain announces the opening of a new central U.S. sales office as part of the company's continued North American expansion efforts. Operating in Longmont, Colorado, this new office now provides direct sales support for central U.S. and Mexico territories, previously managed in either Heidenhain's longtime Illinois or its 2017-established California headquarters.

Open Mind Technologies AG announced it is celebrating its 25th company anniversary this year. Founded in 1994 and growing from just 20 employees to over 300 personnel located throughout the world in sales and service subsidiaries in 15 countries, Open Mind's hyperMILL software suite is a leading CAD/CAM solution.

BLM Group USA, a global leader in the manufacture of tube and flat sheet processing solutions, announces Michael Martin as service director.

A new publication, "Training the Next Revolution in American Manufacturing," addresses narrowing the skills gap in advanced manufacturing. The project will be followed by a separate one that examines the information gap in manufacturing job placement: how to better match job seekers with available positions. Both studies grew out of what rapidly has become a cliche — that manufacturing is changing.

If you are looking for signs of trouble in the U.S. economy, many experts and politicians point to manufacturing. The industry faces the double whammy of President Donald Trump's trade war and declining purchases from abroad as Europe, China and other regions and countries slow down.

The ways in which an enterprise software solution looks, feels and works for a user are increasingly crucial. Now that users have been influenced by their consumer experiences with innovative and digital technology, expectations have increased for their business software to provide a similar user experience (UX). Smartphone apps, online banking, flight purchases, shopping websites and so many other experiences are designed with intuitive, easy-to-learn user interfaces to improve UX. If users find a software experience inefficient, they'll find ways around it, adoption will lag and organizations may not obtain the return on investment they expected. UX drives adoption, which is an important first step toward realizing business value from manufacturing enterprise software systems, including enterprise resource planning, supply chain management and customer relationship management.