Industry News

Connecticut's manufacturing future continues to evolve. The dirty, dark and dangerous shop floors of yesterday have increasingly become bright spaces with smart technology. Advanced manufacturing, robotics and the internet of things are more than buzzwords—they're happening. But with all the advancements on the manufacturing floor comes a corresponding need to improve the approach to developing the workforce necessary to ensure success.

The big technology platforms get all the attention these days. But the biggest tech news of 2019 may turn out to be the rise of manufacturing platforms: companies that rewrite the rules of production and product development and in the process create opportunities for local manufacturing.

Generally, when using abrasive wheels to grind parts, a dressing tool is required to maintain form and finish within specifications. Several options exist when choosing the type of dressing tool for an operation. These include single-point diamond tools, diamonds blade tools, form or plunge roll diamond wheels and "rotary single-point," or "traversing rotary," dressing.

A trend in manufacturing is toward tailor-made products in smaller lots with shorter delivery times. This change may lead to frequent production modifications resulting in increased machine downtime, higher production costs, product waste and the need to rework faulty products. To satisfy the customer demand behind this trend, manufacturers must move quickly to new production models. Quality assurance is the key area that information technology must support.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology's Manufacturing Extension Partnership has a unique position in the federal government that allows the MEP to collect and analyze feedback directly from clients served by the MEP's national network. This provides the MEP program with a wealth of information that guides the MEP's approaches to serving the U.S. manufacturing industry both now and in the future. At the start of a new year, it is important to take a step back and look at what clients are saying. Being responsive to the needs of manufacturers and helping mitigate their challenges are two of the program's goals. Integrating client feedback to help clients prepare for future challenges is important.

I haven't received any books about manufacturing lately, but a PDF of the new book "Rock Stars at Home" landed in my inbox, so I read it.

Chip Bobbert eyes a sheet of shiny aluminum that is several feet long and crimped on one end. He guesses that this was once the backsplash of a restaurant kitchen. Nearby, he spots another piece of metal with a square opening at the center. When he mentions that it likely once framed the entry to a roof or ventilation shaft, the shape of the piece makes sense. He then picks up a softball-size chunk of dense stainless steel. With an intricate series of holes shooting through the thickest part, it looks like a central piece of a complex engine. "Some of this stuff is crazy," Bobbert said, pointing out the holes. "If you look at the precision machining, somebody paid thousands of dollars for that."

As manufacturers invest in industrial internet of things-enabled devices to collect more data throughout production processes, many are also deploying edge computing to improve the analysis of data. Edge computing uses dedicated, on-premises resources at the shop-floor level rather than the remote servers that cloud computing relies on. This significantly increases the rate and amount of data that manufacturers can process in real time.

Whether building spacecraft, commercial aircraft, military helicopters or single-engine planes, manufacturers in the aerospace industry must lift, turn and position large, heavy components every day. There are many ways to do this, from ride-on vehicles like forklifts to conveyor belts and overhead equipment. However, aerospace manufacturers are increasingly turning to cranes and other hoist systems to precisely place critical equipment in ongoing construction projects.

There will be 4.6 million new manufacturing jobs in the United States to fill between 2018 and 2028, according to a report from Deloitte. Unless manufacturers start exploring new strategies, they won't be able to find enough people qualified to work in their specialized factories.

At ShopBot, we're understandably passionate about making things with CNC machines and about the power of digital fabrication tools. We're always looking for ways to help show what these amazing tools can do, and for items that are made with a ShopBot that showcase several of the processes that a ShopBot tool can handle. Things that use multiple materials and techniques to give a broad overview of the power of CNC in a small, tangible package.

AB Tools are leading experts in the special cutting tools market as a specialty house in high performance rotary cutting tools. Started in 1977 by Alan Baker and Jonathon Baker joined in 1979 as the first employee. Today, they service almost every industry, from smaller shops to large facilities, including aerospace, automotive medical part manufacturers.