Industry News

Camfil Air Pollution Control, Jonesboro, Ark., appointed John Poehler director of reseller/rep sales. As part of its reorganization, the manufacturer of dust, mist and fume collection equipment named Matt Caulfield director of mining/pharma and Kevin Tucker automotive market manager.

Cline Tool, Newton, Iowa, added two new field application engineers: Bill Gindhart at the toolmaker's Rockford, Ill., branch and Thomas Koons, who will serve Knoxville, Tenn., and the surrounding area.

Automation equipment manufacturer FANUC America Corp., Rochester Hills, Mich., named Mike Cicco president and CEO and Rick Schneider chairman.

Osborn, the Richmond, Ind.-based supplier of industrial brushes, polishing compounds and buffs, named Ty Weber product manager for its abrasives division.n

Optomec, Albuquerque, NM, a global supplier of production-grade additive manufacturing systems for 3D printed metals, launched a new tool series today at IMTS 2016 that reportedly enables low-cost, high-value metal additive manufacturing.

A video posted by Cutting Tool Engineering (@cteplus) at IMTS 2016.

"The 30-foot-by-35-foot pit in a concrete floor is empty, shiny and immaculate as it awaits the arrival of a massive machine for use by Connecticut manufacturers to cut, shape and do a range of other tasks with composite materials," writes Stephen Singer in the Hartford Courant.

With rising salaries, labor unrest, environmental devastation and intellectual property theft, China is no longer an attractive place for Western companies to move their manufacturing, writes Vivek Wadhwa. "Technology has also eliminated the labor cost advantage. [China] built its dominance in manufacturing by offering massive subsidies, cheap labor, and lax regulations.

At GreenBiz, Mark Johnson, director of the Department of Energy's Advanced Manufacturing Office, describes the importance of manufacturing innovation to the burgeoning U.S. clean-energy industry.

Los Angeles Times reports: Factories south of the border are fueled by American goods and services—creating a silver lining for at least some workers in the U.S.