Industry News

In the past 18 months, several Whirlpool Corp. plants have added collaborative robots to the assembly process. Collaborative robots are at the forefront of manufacturing technology and are designed to work alongside their human counterparts. "Collaborative robots allow us to be much more flexible," says Eric Howe, Whirlpool senior engineer and automation lead.

Following the election of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) released a letter from more than 1,100 manufacturing and business leaders pledging to help bring the country together after a divisive election. NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons also pledged manufacturers' efforts to find ways to work with the president-elect and the 115th Congress on the pressing issues facing the country.

Methods 3D, Inc., a newly formed subsidiary of Methods Machine Tools, Inc., continues to broaden its presence in 3D printing through the completion of seven additive manufacturing laboratories strategically located across the U.S. The labs are outfitted with printers capable of Direct Metal Printing (DMP), Select Laser Sintering (SLS), Stereolithography (SLA) and Multi-Jet, running 14 different materials.

Allied Machine & Engineering offers a program of technical education seminars. Allied's highly trained and knowledgeable engineers focus the 3-day TES program on problem-solving.

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd. and the Council on Competitiveness have released their 2016 Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index. In it, CEO survey respondents were asked to rank nations in terms of current and future manufacturing competitiveness. Top performing nations have each demonstrated strengths across multiple drivers of manufacturing excellence. They also clearly illustrate the close tie that exists between manufacturing competitiveness and innovation. The 2016 study takes a closer look at six focus nations: United States, China, Japan, Germany, South Korea, and India.

ANCA Inc. will expand its plant in Wixom, Mich., by 50 percent, expanding its inventory and spare parts warehouse capacity, adding a dedicated customer focus and training center, and doubling its machine demonstration area. The announcement was made by Russell Riddiford, ANCA president. ANCA, a private company, did not disclose the dollar value of the investment.

DP Technology joined the College of Electromechanical Engineering at Beijing Union University and the Beijing Intelligent Mechanical Innovative Design Engineering Research Center to host the ESPRIT CAM & Smart Manufacturing seminar in Beijing on Sept. 22, 2016. The seminar brought into focus the most critical manufacturing topics in China today in order to better support the 10-year national plan, Made in China 2025.

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., recently visited Performance Micro Tool, a manufacturer of micro tools in Janesville, Wis. The senator said he intends to give American manufacturing a boost by easing regulatory burdens and smoothing tax rules, which are among his major campaign platforms.

For National Manufacturing Day, Aerotek, a leading provider of industrial staffing services, today released its second-annual list of "Opportunities in Manufacturing," including the top 10 fast growing U.S. industries for manufacturing employment as well as the top states driving employment. Although the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a softening in the manufacturing industry, Aerotek notes the demand for manufacturing talent is still critical.

Especially within the aerospace, energy and mechanical engineering sector, production managers have to bridge the gap between economic efficiency and high process reliability when working with materials that are difficult to machine. Fortunately, there is peace of mind in knowing that the machine technology innovations continue to develop to meet the ongoing demands of manufacturing.