Industry News

Single Source Technologies, Auburn Hills, Mich., a distributor of machine tools and consumables, is collaborating with SmalTec International LLC, Naperville, Ill., to bring the EM203 and GM703 microprecision EDMs to SST’s West, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions.

​​​A year ago, a leading aerospace manufacturer approached Sandvik Coromant with a machining challenge. The operation in question was finishing deep titanium pockets, a common feature in structural aircraft components.

The skills gap is a well-known, widespread dilemma across the manufacturing industry. Now that the gap is a mainstream problem, what are the steps industry leaders can take to solve it?

Open Mind Technologies AG has announced that its hyperMILL CAM software has provided 5-axis programming to successfully replicate a basketball hoop. The basketball hoop was machined on a GROB G350 5-axis machining center using conical ball barrel cutters from OSG.

In response to the question of whether custom CNC aluminum is better for the CNC machining process, the answer is “yes” in the majority of cases. Today, demand for CNC machining is on the rise, and to ensure superior quality parts and components, customization makes a significant difference.

Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence, North Kingstown, R.I., will open its newest Hexagon Solution Center on Jan. 11 in Irvine, Calif.

Eriez Manufacturing Co., Erie, Pa., appointed Modern Tools Inc., Stoneham, Mass., the company’s exclusive HydroFlow Fluid Filtration Systems sales representative agency for Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.

J.M. Sales-USA, Troy, Mich., is the representative in North America for Swiss Tool Systems AG, Bürglen, Switzerland, a modular boring system provider.

Eriez Manufacturing Co., Erie, Pa., celebrated its sales representative agencies that have been partners with the company for 50 years or longer.

Scottie Mahl joined finishing toolmaker Osborn, Richmond, Ind., as director of marketing and product management.

Brett Green joined dimensional metrology equipment manufacturer Mahr Inc., Providence, R.I., as vice president of sales for the Americas.

Dimensional metrology equipment manufacturer and member of the worldwide Mahr Group, Mahr Inc., Providence, R.I., announced that Karen Gardner joined the company as director of human resources.

Proto Labs Inc., Maple Plain, Minn., acquired privately held company Rapid Manufacturing Group LLC, Nashua, N.H., a custom parts supplier specializing in quick-turn sheet metal fabrication and CNC machining.

Bunting Magnetics Co., Newton, Kan., which makes metal detection, material-handling and magnetic separation equipment, appointed Kevin Miller general manager of the company’s primary manufacturing facility in Newton.

Abco Automation Inc., Browns Summit, N.C., a designer and builder of high-end factory automation systems, signed a value-added reseller agreement with Visual Components, Espoo, Finland, a maker of 3D manufacturing factory simulation software.

Mezzanine, vertical material lift and safety guarding products manufacturer Wildeck Inc., Waukesha, Wis., is fully integrating its Goodyear, Ariz., subsidiary, Ladder Industries Inc.

Since its founding in 2008, 421 graduates of the nonprofit school Workshops for Warriors, San Diego, have earned 2,500 nationally recognized certifications from the National Institute for Metalworking Skills Inc., the American Welding Society and more. Even more noteworthy is the fact that the educational institution exists to train military veterans for metalworking careers. Manufacturers have lined up to support that mission, with more than 70 corporations each donating $10,000 or more in cash, equipment or materials in 2016 and the first 7 months of 2017 alone. Workshops for Warriors must raise $2.5 million annually just to maintain current operations.

Frost & Sullivan's latest analysis, "Adoption of IIoT in the Global Test and Measurement Market, Forecast to 2022," finds that the value of the Industrial Internet of Things in test and measurement market is expected to reach $104.8 million by 2022 growing at a compound annual growth rate of 6.7 percent from 2016. The research assesses market dynamics including trends, drivers, restraints, forecasts, mega trends and industry convergence implications, and opportunities in end-user verticals.

Harrison Manufacturing, a custom plastics injection molding manufacturer specializing in molded plastics and light assembly, recently deployed Rethink Robotics' Sawyer robot at its Jackson, Miss. facility and saw immediate tangible benefits. Deployed within hours, Harrison Manufacturing is reducing labor costs and increasing throughput by using Sawyer in ergonomically challenging tasks.

October U.S. cutting tool consumption totaled $198 million, according to the United States Cutting Tool Institute, Cleveland, and The Association for Manufacturing Technology, McLean, Va. This total, as reported by companies participating in the collaborative Cutting Tool Market Report, was up 13.2 percent from September’s $174.92 million and up 17.2 percent when compared with the $169 million reported for October 2016. With a year-to-date total of $1.835 billion, 2017 is up 8 percent when compared with 2016.