Industry News

Making chips means making money, so keeping the spindle turning is critical for a company's bottom line. Timothy Mooney, Midwest regional sales manager for Starrag USA, distributors of high-precision machine tools, said his customers strive for a 75 percent spindle engagement time "That is the only time that they are making money."

Metal working facilities constantly strive to reduce machining times, and saving a minute or two here or there can really add up. According to John Zaya, workholding product manager for Big Kaiser, time savings can be achieved using flexible workholding systems.

Metal cutting used to be about making chips, but in modern manufacturing it is just part of the story. In today's digital world, metal might be a product's core component, but data is the raw material that drives improvement. That was clearly the case at DMG Mori's Chicago Innovation Days held May 13-16 at the company's Hoffman Estates, IL, facility.

Multi-tasking machines for big parts, small parts and everything in between were on display at the Discover More with Mazak Midwest 2019 event. The May 9 event featured a variety of multi-axis machines. Kevin Bates, general manager - Midwest Region at Mazak Corp., provided Cutting Tool Engineering with a tour of some of the high-productivity technology on display at Mazak's Midwest Technology Center, Schaumburg, IL.

Doosan Machine Tools hosted a record number of attendees from 50 countries at the 2019 edition of the Doosan International Machine Tool Fair (DIMF) held in Changwon, South Korea. A total of 80 machines were on display, including 38 new or upgraded models.

Work/life balance, believing in – and supporting – its people; these are core principles of ARCH Cutting Tools. Dave Fisher is an example of how the organization lives those principles.

Modern maintenance professionals understand the basic importance of their computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS). After all, it is an essential tool when it comes to scheduling and tracking maintenance work. Yet, a CMMS has so much more potential as a value provider to the business.

Loyal to the motto "Where the customer is, we will be," Mapal established an additional subsidiary in Fountain Inn, South Carolina.

Many industrial production processes wouldn't be possible without fans—they play a decisive role in the drying, suction or cooling of materials. Often the stability and efficiency of the entire production process may even be dependent on the fans used.

Fetch Robotics announced the results of the inaugural FetchIt! Mobile Manipulation Challenge. The competition was designed to advance the state of technology for applying mobile manipulators, which are autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) fitted with robotic arms, for use in manufacturing and related applications.

ITAMCO (Indiana Technology and Manufacturing Companies) is part of a team developing a new runway mat for the U.S. Air Force. Runway mats are a critical component of expeditionary airfields (EAFs). EAFs are portable airfields that can be constructed, used, broken down after the completion of a mission, and moved to another site for re-use.

In connection with the Ceratizit Open Days 2019 press event May 13-15, I visited several of the cutting tool manufacturer's German facilities (in Stuttgart, Balzheim and Kempten), as well as Ceratizit Reutte in Breitenwang, Austria. The Luxembourg-based Ceratizit Group has combined its Ceratizit, Komet, WNT and Klenk brands under the name Team Cutting Tools.