Industry News

Carol Z. Perez, U.S. ambassador to Chile, presented Eriez Manufacturing Co., Erie, Pennsylvania, with the Export Leadership Award during Expomin 2018 in Santiago, Chile.

The 54th annual National Leadership and Skills Conference scheduled for June 25-29 in Louisville, Kentucky, is expected to draw more than 6,000 students, with a fraction of them competing to be named the best CNC milling specialist, CNC technician and CNC turning specialist in the nation. “This is a great opportunity for students to see where their skill levels are compared with their peers,” said Steve Arteman, technical support engineer at CGTech Inc., Irvine, California, the developer of Vericut CNC simulation and verification software.

I’ve had a problem recently with our vertical blinds. The damn things keep breaking. Every few weeks, I’ll find a vane lying on the ground after the tab at the top busts loose, sending the 6'-long hunk of plastic flying. I know when it happens because the dog runs and hides under the bed, whining like someone said “veterinarian.”

Advanced economies always lean toward services as they grow. But there are many other advanced economies out there with more robust factory sectors than the United States, employing much larger shares of their workforces and spinning off much more productive research and development. Let’s not give up without a fight, which in this context means the application of smart policy at every level of government.

That employee engagement decisively contributes to manufacturing success has long been known. However, many studies show there is a deep and broad lack of employee engagement in our nation’s manufacturing industry. This lack is known as the Engagement Gap. Though manufacturing leaders agree that the gap urgently needs to be closed, the fact remains that for at least two decades, it has
remained relatively constant and by some measurements has even widened.

Cincinnati Inc. named Eric Blasiman sales engineer for the Midwest U.S., covering northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan.

ATEK Metal Technologies LLC, New Hampton, Iowa, a permanent mold foundry, is expanding its plant and technical capabilities to keep up with growing demand.

Vero Software Ltd. hired Customer Service Representative Dawn Anderson to support its growing base of Edgecam, Surfcam and WorkNC users in the Midwest.

Master Fluid Solutions continues its drive toward sustainably serving customers in high-technology industries with the appointment of Z. Ahmed Tahir as global vice president of strategy and marketing.

Mazak Corp., Florence, Kentucky, announced the start of assembly operations at its latest production facility in Inabe City, Mie Prefecture, Japan.

As the sky-high demand for jet engines shows no signs of slowing down, one Connecticut manufacturer is rising up to meet the challenge.

Vero Software Ltd. hired Eastern Region Account Manager Trey Tucker to support a growing base of manufacturing customers in the Southeastern United States.

Coldwater Machine Co., Coldwater, Ohio, an engineered solutions company that manufactures and integrates assembly automation and special machines for a variety of industries, appointed Nathan Wenning, P.E., to application engineering manager.

It’s a rite of passage for any new machinist. You order dial calipers, a few micrometers and a dial indicator or two, and before long you’re wondering where you’re going to stick all this stuff. It’s time to get your first toolbox.

When Aly Pinder Jr. came across an article that explored how a luxury auto manufacturer looked to achieve 100 percent customer satisfaction, he thought that it seemed like a goal on a billboard or a goal found on a motivational poster in a contact center. But this manufacturer truly believed that it can and should have this as its target. Pinder writes that he doesn’t think 100 percent customer satisfaction should be the goal for a manufacturer looking to scale and grow its business.

It is certainly not news that, more and more, dedicated gages are being placed at the point of manufacture. Tight-tolerance measurements that were once performed in a semiclean room by a trained inspection technician are now being done right next to the machine, often by the machinist. But just because shop floor gaging has become commonplace, doesn't mean that just any gage can be taken onto the shop floor. To assure good gage performance, there are a number of specifications and care issues which need to be addressed.

When the topic of energy efficiency comes up, energy-efficient machine tools don’t immediately spring to mind. Yet machine tools contain motors and auxiliary components whose energy demand varies widely during machining operations. Happily, a new series of ISO standards can help measure energy supplied and improve machine design and performance.

Cincinnati Inc. named Nick Thielmann sales engineer for the Midwest, covering Wisconsin, northern Illinois and northern Michigan.

To further serve customers in Michigan, Röhm Products of America Inc., Suwanee, Georgia, partnered with industrial manufacturers representative Motor City Industrial Marketing.

Coherent Inc., Santa Clara, California, expanded its portfolio of industrial laser-based machine tools with its recent acquisition of O.R. Lasertechnologie GmbH, Dieburg, Germany.