Industry News

New commercial agreement between Spirit and Norsk Titanium identifies thousands of titanium parts currently manufactured at Spirit or by its suppliers as 3D-printing candidates.

Heule Tool Corp., Cincinnati, in July announced the promotion of William "Bill" Hargrove to National Sales Manager. In his new role Hargrove will further the growth and development of the Heule sales force to support national accounts growth throughout North America.

The Dr. Johannes Heidenhain GmbH company in July selected David Doyle as President and Managing Director of the Schaumburg, Ill.-based Heidenhain Corp. Doyle assumes full responsibility for the Heidenhain customer-focused operations for the U.S., Canada and Mexico. This change continues the succession plan for Heidenhain CEO Rick Korte.

Hanging on to talented older workers steeped in institutional knowledge has become a critical issue for many manufacturing businesses. The worker shortage is driving employers to take creative approaches to retirement. About 78 million baby boomers are nearing or at retirement, and the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) estimates that factories will need 3.5 million new factory workers in the next 10 years just to keep production lines and distribution routes going.

A bipartisan and bicameral group of lawmakers is proposing a bill that would incentivize and boost American manufacturing, in addition to research and development, as the Trump administration looks to keep a promise from the presidential campaign. Reps. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., and Ron Kind, D-Wis., with Sens. Chris Coons, D-Del., and Pat Roberts, R-Kan., have introduced the Invent and Manufacture in America Act, a bill that would give a tax credit to companies that not only conduct research and development, but also manufacture products resulting from that R&D as well.

With the advent of technologies like the iPad, the field of predictive maintenance has become an accessible and achievable goal for many businesses. The iPad allows anyone from small companies to large multi-facility corporations to implement and commit to a predictive maintenance program utilizing technology that is constantly improving.

The U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders report for May 2017 showed gains for the month and year over year, according to AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology. May orders were up 3.1 percent over April, and 21.8 percent over May 2016.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that manufacturing employment rose by only 1,000 in June after falling by 2,000 in May. Manufacturing sectors with gains in June included machinery, electrical equipment and appliances, primary metals, and computer and electronic products.

The worldwide installed base of Internet of Things (IoT) endpoints is expected to grow from 14.9 billion at the end of 2016 to more than 82 billion in 2025. However, a study conducted by Cisco shows that 60 percent of IoT initiatives stall at the Proof of Concept stage and only 26 percent of companies have had an IoT initiative that they considered a complete success. A third of all completed projects were not considered a success.

Amidst the ongoing discussion of how to interest young people in manufacturing careers comes news of one young person who certainly is. The Westfield (N.Y.) Republican profiles Andy Reinwald, the 24-year-old owner of Ripley Machine & Tool.

An Australian manufacturer of rotary shank cutting tools, Sutton Tools, has gained market share in the highly competitive aerospace industry by producing superior tools using the linear motor technology on ANCA's MX7. To gain traction in the aerospace market Sutton's needed to push the boundaries of what could be expected from a tool machining materials in the aviation industry.

Metal laser melting is used in many sectors. The advantages of the technology over machining not only lead to peak performances in motor sports and aerospace, but even pave the way for ground-breaking success in the medical technology sector. One example of this is the use of a 3D-printed bone drill, which is capable of preventing possible tissue damage caused during operations with traditionally manufactured drills.