Industry News

News • March 14, 2017

Walter opens new tech center

To help its customers unlock the power of digital technology and the Smart Factory, Walter USA recently opened a new Technology Center at its worldwide headquarters in Tübingen, Germany. The 16,400 sq. ft. center combines the functions of an interactive experience center and a research facility, according to a Walter press release.

News • March 10, 2017

A deeper look at precision toolholders

Although toolholders are known to be critical components in the precision machining process, the unique details that differentiate a "standard" toolholder from one that is designed for more precise, high speed work can be subtle. Like the parts they are used to create, precision toolholders are machined to exacting tolerances to create the optimum fit within the spindle, concentricity and balance. The more precise the work, the more these factors come into play.

News • March 10, 2017 • Michael C. Anderson

BLS: U.S. added 28,000 new manufacturing jobs in February

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' monthly employment report, 28,000 new manufacturing jobs were added in the U.S. in February—more than double the January number. Over the past 3 months, manufacturing has added 57,000 jobs. The rate of increase in February marked the fastest pace of manufacturing job creation since late 2014.

News • March 10, 2017 • Alan Richter

Global machine tool business set to gain momentum

Economic pundits anticipate global machine tool consumption will increase 2.1 percent in 2017, reaching a market value of $73.6 billion, according to the German Machine Tool Builders' Association, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The group released the machine tool business data at a March 9 press conference in Chicago for the EMO trade show, which takes place Sept. 18 through Sept. 23 in Hanover, Germany.

News • March 7, 2017

Markit: Global Manufacturing Growth Approaches 6-Year Peak

Worldwide manufacturing business conditions showed the largest improvement for more than five-and-a-half years in February, with global trade expanding at the fastest rate for just under six years and optimism about the future continuing to improve. Manufacturing input prices meanwhile continued to rise markedly, albeit with the rate of increase easing slightly during the month. The JPMorgan Global Manufacturing PMI, compiled by Markit, rose from 52.7 in January to 52.9 in February; its highest since May 2011.

News • March 6, 2017

mHUB celebrates grand opening

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and mHUB's board of directors announced the official grand opening of mHUB, a physical product innovation center and microfactory designed to galvanize the manufacturing ecosystem by generating innovative ideas, attracting world-class talent and fostering collaboration. Born through the combined efforts of Chicago's leaders in business, innovation and research, mHUB offers Chicago's burgeoning product manufacturers access to state-of-the-art facilities, along with resources to develop and bring new products to market.

News • March 6, 2017

Mastercam 2018 Public Beta

Mastercam 2018 Public Beta is now open to all currently maintained Mastercam customers. Shops all over the world, from small job shops to Fortune 100, get a chance to test-drive Mastercam 2018 before it is released and provide valuable feedback to help shape the final product. Participants in the Public Beta get an early look at dozens of powerful new tools for simple to complex jobs.

News • March 6, 2017 • Michael C. Anderson

Feb. ISM Report: New orders, production, employment growing

Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in February, and the overall economy grew for the 93rd consecutive month, say the nation's supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM Report On Business. The February PMI registered 57.7 percent, an increase of 1.7 percentage points from the January reading of 56 percent. The New Orders Index registered 65.1 percent, an increase of 4.7 percentage points from the January reading of 60.4 percent. The Production Index registered 62.9 percent, 1.5 percentage points higher than the January reading of 61.4 percent.

News • March 6, 2017

The New American Reshoring Movement By the Numbers

Many people are under the impression that manufacturing jobs are only moving in one direction: offshore. While many corporations are shifting certain jobs overseas to reduce manufacturing costs, there’s a lot more to the story. In reality, there are many businesses that have been making strenuous efforts to bring jobs back to the United States,...

News • March 6, 2017

Sam Asano: Manufacturing ecology of the U.S. has been devastated

To a certain extent, other countries have taken advantage of the United States since the turn of the last century. Beginning with World War II and the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe after much of it was destroyed, the United States insisted in promulgating our version of democracy and continued to fund economic assistance to underdeveloped countries, and not-so-underdeveloped nations as well.

News • March 3, 2017 • Michael C. Anderson

Cerasis: Green, IIoT and analytics among manufacturing trends in 2017

Cerasis, a transportation-management company that works with the manufacturing industry, recently shared a list of manufacturing-technology trends that it says are growing in importance. Among them are green manufacturing, IIoT and computer analytics.

News • March 3, 2017 • Alan Richter

Hermle Machine takes on manufacturing skills gap

It's no secret that shop owners and managers frequently bellyache about the difficulty of attracting skilled workers and poach staff from other manufacturers by offering better pay.