Industry News

As product miniaturization continues, micromachining continues to make inroads into the manufacturing industry, and CTE will once again provide a special section about micromachining in our May issue. At the other end, I’ve noticed more developments in large-part machining, and, coincidentally, our April issue will include a focus on that topic.

Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in January, and the overall economy grew for the 105th consecutive month, say the nation's supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM Report On Business. The January Purchasing Managers' Index registered 59.1 percent, a decrease of 0.2 percentage point from the seasonally adjusted December reading of 59.3 percent. This indicates growth in manufacturing at strong levels for the 17th consecutive month, led by continued expansion in new orders and production activity, with employment growing at a slower rate and supplier deliveries continuing to struggle.

The Eriez Metalworking Demo Truck, a 32-ft. Peterbilt diesel rig with a 24-ft. equipment showroom belonging to Eriez Manufacturing Co., Erie, Pa., is once again traveling across North America to deliver hands-on training and education to customers and distributors. The 2018 tour has started with West Coast stops.

Without a fully optimized manufacturing process, individual machines and entire manufacturing operations fall short of their full productivity and cost-effectiveness potentials. To avoid this fate, shops should take advantage of engineering and process optimization support services typically offered by those well-equipped and truly capable manufacturing equipment suppliers. Such services can encompass just a few lines of code for a cutting program or a comprehensive, turnkey solution for the development and maintenance of an entire production line.

Heule Tool Corp., Cincinnati, has launched a new website at www.heuletool.com designed to provide a more user-friendly experience with improved mobile-responsive navigation and functionality throughout.

Computer Aided Technology LLC, Buffalo Grove, Ill., a provider of engineering and manufacturing solutions, partnered with Roland DGA Corp., Irvine, Calif., to bring to market the DGShape line of office-friendly, benchtop CNC milling machines, including the MDX-50, MDX-540 and MDX-40A.

Verisurf Software Inc., Anaheim, Calif., appointed Pat Bass director of sales for the Americas.

Established in 1918, J.A.M. Taylor Tool Co. Ltd., Cambridge, Ontario, is a family-owned, fourth generation Canadian manufacturing company specializing in cutting tools comprising taps, reamers and dies.

Forbes & Co. Ltd., Mumbai, India, and MachiningCloud Inc., Camarillo, Calif., are partnering to provide Forbes & Co. product data in the cloud.

Ed Mohrbach joined materials engineering company Wall Colmonoy Corp., Madison Heights, Mich., bringing extensive experience in the industrial segment with leadership roles in sales, marketing and general management.

Significant company growth and key initiatives led to important management changes at Heidenhain Corp., Schaumburg, Ill., in North America.

Machine tool builder Matsuura Machinery USA Inc., St. Paul, Minn., announced the territory expansion of distributor Yamazen Inc., which has offices in Knoxville, Tenn., and Roswell, Ga.

Pferd Inc., Milwaukee, which manufactures abrasives, brushes and power tools, appointed John Hibbard regional sales manager of the Western U.S.

Heidenhain Corp., Schaumburg, Ill., which manufactures encoders, digital readouts and numerical controls, acquired AMO Corp., an Austrian specialty encoder company.

Cincinnati Inc., Harrison, Ohio, which manufactures laser-cutting, automation and other metal fabrication equipment, named Adam Yborra sales engineer for the Eastern U.S., specifically eastern Pennsylvania, south New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and northwest New York.

Machine tool builder Fives Machining Systems Inc., Hebron, Ky., acquired Konecranes Machine Tool Service, which has facilities in Erlanger, Ky., and Massillon, Ohio.

Shop Floor Automations Inc., La Mesa, Calif., is celebrating its 20th year.

Industrial parts distributor Motion Industries Inc., Birmingham, Ala., a wholly owned subsidiary of Genuine Parts Co., announced three management changes.

Rockford Systems LLC, Rockford, Ill., appointed Bill Holliday vice president of finance.

Gilman Precision USA LLC, Grafton, Wis., which manufactures customized linear and rotary motion systems, added Rich Olson to the sales force as a business development specialist.