Industry News

David Harroun, recently named Sales Manager of Koepfer America, South Elgin, Ill., is tasked with strengthening the company’s sales efforts of all gear manufacturing products, comprising hobbing machines, shaping machines, worm milling machines, hard finishing tools, and cutting tools. With the addition of Harroun, Koepfer expects to provide more focused technical sales support for North American manufacturers of all types and sizes of gears, according to a recent company news release.

Okuma America Corp., Charlotte, N.C., recently added two industry experts to its Sales and Product Specialist Teams. With more than 50 years of combined experience in the CNC machine tool industry, Brian Sides and Tom O'Toole will be responsible for supporting regional sales teams and Okuma distribution partners.

March billings among 40 U.S. cutting tool companies increased 5.7 percent over February and 15.4 percent over January, according to a recent report from the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI), which surveys U.S. cutting tool companies each month for USCTI's Current Business Report. Total billings in March reached nearly $166 million, compared to nearly $157 million in February and nearly $144 million in January.

GF Machining Solutions, , will purchase micromanufacturing machine builder Microlution Inc., Chicago, according to a comany news release issued May 11. Described as a specialist of micro-machining based on milling and laser technologies, Microlution was founded in 2005 and reportedly generated $10 million in 2015 with a workforce of 30 employees.

IBAG, which offers a broad line of machine tool spindles, has launched a new website at www.ibagnorthamerica.com featuring content-rich product coverage about high-speed spindles.

Abtex Corp., Dresden, N.Y., recently hired Christian Donovan as Operations Manager in response to "dramatic growth in all lines of business," according to an April 29 company news release.

Jana Davis steps into a new role as Chief Operating Officer at Bunting Magnetics Co. effective May 30. Davis, who joined the company in 2011 as Chief Financial Officer, will oversee day-to-day business operations at the company's Newton, Kan., location, as well as at its Magnet Materials Division in Elk Grove Village, Ill., Bunting Magnetics Europe in Berkhamsted, U.K., and Magnet Applications Inc. in DuBois, Penn.

NanoMech announced that it has secured $10 million in capital for leading its Series C Financing round from Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures (SAEV), the corporate venturing subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s national oil company. This capital infusion and new global customer relationship with the largest producer of oil in the world will significantly accelerate NanoMech’s manufacturing of the most advanced nanoengineered and nanomanufactured lubricants, coatings and specialty chemicals, addressing major industries such as energy, transportation, aerospace, manufacturing, automotive, racing, agricultural equipment and military.

Standing in front of a ma-chining center, waiting for the drilling cycle to end so you can squirt some tapping compound into the holes is a big waste of time. But with challenging materials, such as Hastelloy or Inconel, it’s the only way to avoid a broken tap. Or is it?

The Berghoff Group, a German manufacturer, recently announced plans to open its first U.S. plant, which will be located in Auburn, Ala. The company reportedly will invest $30 million to open the manufacturing facility, which is expected to create 100 precision-machining jobs over the next 5 years, according to a news release from the Alabama Department of Commerce.

Once word got out that PTooling, a self-described small, family-owned machine shop in Amherstburg, Canada, had added a Lasertec 65 3D laser deposition welding and milling machine to its arsenal, major aerospace manufacturers began knocking on its door. 

Doug Wetzel, managing director at contract manufacturer Protomatic, Dexter, Mich., is finding business to be slower than he wishes. Like many other U.S. job shops, the 45-year-old company is experiencing a slowdown caused by tumbling oil prices and worldwide political and economic uncertainty. The difference is Wetzel isn’t too worried. His advice to fellow manufacturers is to not let market uncertainty paralyze them from seeing a slowdown’s silver lining— namely, time to prepare for the inevitable upturn.

In America’s factories, jobs are inevitably disappearing. But despite the political rhetoric, the problem is not mainly globalization. Manufacturing jobs are on the decline in factories around the world.

General Motors officials are expected to make a "positive plant manufacturing announcement" at the Bay City Powertrain factory this week.

MachiningCloud GmbH, a product content provider for cutting tools, CNC machines and workholding, today announced partnerships with Mitsubishi Materials and Destiny Tool to make product data from both companies available through its web-based platform, according to an announcement from MachiningCloud issued today.

David A. Dornfeld, mechanical engineering professor, founding faculty director of the Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation and a leader at the College of Engineering, died of a heart attack on March 27. He was 66. Dornfeld was a renowned manufacturing expert, widely admired as a teacher and well-regarded as a thoughtful leader.

Ceramics Expo takes place April 26-28, 2016, in Cleveland and is dedicated to providing a marketplace for all raw materials, equipment, machinery and technology used within the ceramic manufacturing supply chain. Ceramics Expo is attended by technical leaders, production directors, engineers, project leaders, buyers and senior executives interested in exploring the latest ceramic manufacturing innovations.

Allied Machine & Engineering Corp., which manufactures holemaking and finishing products for the industrial tool and machining sector, this year celebrates its 75-year history with an eye on the future.

German toolholder maker Haimer GmbH recently agreed to license its Haimer Safe-Lock System to the Melin Tool Co., a cutting tool manufacturer based in Cleveland. Melin Tool will offer its endmills to the U.S. market with the Haimer Safe-Lock System, according to a recent Melin Tool news release.

Cline Tool, Newton, Iowa, recently added two new sales positions. Jeff Prothero has been named the regional manager and project engineer for Cline Tool's Southern Wisconsin/Northern Illinois branch. The company also appointed Brian Krebs as field application engineer at its Houston branch.