Industry News

News • January 26, 2018

Politics weigh heavily on foreign businesses in China

Politics weighs more heavily on foreign companies in China than it has in nearly three decades, writes Joe McDonald, an Associated Press business writer. "The latest flashpoint was Beijing's fury last week at hotel keeper Marriott and other companies that labeled self-ruled Taiwan a country on websites or customer materials. But companies face pressure on many sides from President Xi Jinping's more nationalistic stance and twin campaigns to tighten the ruling Communist Party's political control and have it play a direct role in business."

News • January 26, 2018

CNC machined parts: Why shop locally?

Why shop locally for CNC machined parts? Cam Machine says they are better, from delivery/pickup speed and part quality to the support of local businesses and the ability to have firsthand knowledge of work.

News • January 26, 2018

Safety management is change management

Implementing a safety management system is no small task. Because safety is highly cross-functional, you will need buy-in and support from the full business, as well as dedicated time and resources to develop a plan.

News • January 25, 2018 • Alan Richter

CemeCon Inc. opens headquarters, coating facility

The week after CemeCon Inc. held a ribbon-cutting Jan. 17 to officially open its new 15,000-sq.-ft. headquarters and CVD diamond coating facility, I spoke with Gary Lake, company president, to discuss the expansion and developments in cutting tool coating technology. The opening marks the fourth expansion of production capabilities since the company, which is a subsidiary of Wuerselen, Germany-based CemeCon AG, was founded in 1998 and the third increase in capacity for the CVD diamond process since 2014.

News • January 22, 2018

Manufacturers to honor Henry D. Sharpe Jr. with lifetime achievement award

The Rhode Island Manufacturers Association has chosen Henry D. Sharpe Jr. to receive the inaugural Samuel Slater Lifetime Achievement Award, writes Kate Bramson in The Providence Journal. He was a longtime president of Brown & Sharpe and the third generation of the Sharpe family to run the machine tool powerhouse.

News • January 22, 2018

Grayson College opens its Advanced Manufacturing Lab

Grayson College has unveiled its $1.4 million Advanced Manufacturing Lab for the school's Career and Technology Center, writes Rhea Bermel in the Herald Democrat. The lab will provide space for large industrial machinery, classrooms and storage and will be used largely to educate students participating in the Advanced Manufacturing Program.

News • January 22, 2018

Baker Industries Inc. begins large-scale machining operations

Baker Industries Inc. has installed a 5-axis Mecof PowerMill to begin large-scale machining operations. The 11-month construction and build project garnered a financial investment of $3.4 million and has positioned Baker Industries to take on some of the largest machining programs in the industry.

News • January 22, 2018

11 insights into the future of manufacturing

Like most businesses, manufacturing is subject to cycles of stagnation and acceleration. Historically, improved manufacturing has led to the growth of the service sector, which in turn has led to a diminished manufacturing base. Manufacturers will no longer be able to produce a "one size fits all" product and hope the buying public will respond. Consumer input will be required, and processes will have to be adaptable to quickly respond to changes in demand.

News • January 22, 2018

Ice hockey’s elite steel edge

Brynäs IF are one of Sweden's best ice hockey teams. We discover how combining the latest knife blade steel and the best boot innovations keep them ahead of the competition.

News • January 19, 2018

Research on the factory floor

Since 2013, members of the MIT Media Lab community have set out from their research groups every summer to observe work in about 10 factories in China. Last summer, they went with a different approach—not just to visit but to collaborate on experimenting and cooperative design with two facilities in or near the city of Shenzhen. The hacking manufacturing summer course in August focused on the theme of soft robotic materials, and three instructors and seven lab students worked with a digital knitting factory called K-Tech and a flexible printed circuit board manufacturer called King.

News • January 18, 2018

XING dressing technique inside the machine

If you want to produce high-precision profile inserts, your tapered diamond grinding wheels need to be dressed on a regular basis. Haas opts for the profile accuracy of the XING dressing technique inside the machine.

News • January 18, 2018

Young college grad works her way up to president

There was nothing at their first meeting that suggested to Chris Salow that Amanda Hutchings would one day be president of his Peak Manufacturing Corp. and take it to record revenue. It was 2007, and she was applying for a job as marketing manager at his Shop Rat Foundation, a Jackson area-based nonprofit that teaches area high school kids how to operate factory machinery and prepare for skilled, well-paying jobs upon graduation. She was 22, and although she had graduated from Baker College with a degree in business administration with honors, she was so nervous about the interview that she had broken out in hives.