Industry News

Hermle AG will welcome over 1,000 companies and 3,000 visitors from across the globe to its annual Global Open House event in Gosheim, Germany. from May 8-11, 2019. Visitors will have the opportunity to interact with more than 20 machine models in various configurations and with complementary equipment from high-tech industries to demonstrate the vast range of capabilities provided by Hermle products.

The rise of the robots is pervasive across all verticals, including the cutting tools industry. As more and more manufacturers turn to leaner processes robotics have been seen as a way to increase productivity, improve precision and reduce labor costs. It’s led to some asking whether robotics will replace humans completely. It’s also led others to ask if the benefits are just too good to be true.

Should we continue with classic machining and coolant lubricants, or do dry machining and minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) represent viable alternatives? From a technology point of view, it is important to consider material properties and machine performance, but plant costs, energy and health aspects increasingly need to be included in any assessment of the overall process. Lubrication system manufacturers and scientists commented on these aspects in the first of this two-part series. Part 2 now looks at various machining technologies from the practical perspective of tool and machine manufacturers: a preview of EMO Hannover 2019.

When you read this, 40 years will have already passed since the discovery of spark erosion for machining polycrystalline cutting materials. Lach Diamant named this process “spark grinding,” which accompanied the development of proprietary machines. Polycrystalline diamond tools conquered a multiple-application market traditionally reserved for carbides. Diamonds, baked under pressure and heat during synthesis, made this possible.

Whether traditional or new manufacturing processes are involved, none of the available technologies make it possible to produce component surface finishes in the required quality. Process steps such as deburring, rounding and cleaning, as well as targeted functional or decorative surface finishing, are thus indispensable. Solutions by means of which these tasks can be executed reliably and economically will be presented at DeburringEXPO at the Karlsruhe Exhibition Centre from Oct. 8-10, 2019. Beyond this, the third leading trade fair for deburring technology and precision surface finishing will provide valuable know-how at its bilingual expert forum.

Industry 4.0 is making inroads into several industrial sectors, creating massive demand for measurement and inspection technologies offering superior reliability precision, and stability. There has been a quantum leap in growth of the global industrial landscape, resulting in higher demands for high-quality precision measuring tools for reduced turnaround time and costs. Rising end user focus on quality-orientated operations as a key to high competitiveness is fuelling investments in the precision measuring tools market. Sensing the importance of a synchronized production as an essential aspect in optimal productivity, operators of manufacturing industries are willing to spend on better-than-the-rest precision measuring tools more than ever before.

Production managers in manufacturing often have to ask themselves: should we continue with conventional machining and coolant lubricants, or do dry machining or minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) represent viable alternatives? Several factors influence this decision. In Part 1 of this two-part series of technical articles being published in the run-up to EMO Hannover 2019, lubrication system experts and scientists give their assessment. Tool and machine manufacturers shed light on the subject in the second part.

Rock stars have been smashing guitars for decades, few with more enthusiasm than Swedish-born guitar virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen. Global engineering company Sandvik decided to test its cutting-edge techniques by building the world’s first all-metal, unbreakable guitar and letting Malmsteen unleash his smashing skills.

If you ever need a reason to be proud that you chose manufacturing as your career, just listen to Titan Gilroy, owner and CEO of Titans of CNC. “If you want to save this country, then you must fight for manufacturing,” Gilroy said in a keynote address on April 3 at Manufacturing & Technology, an IndustryWeek event. His topic: Key to the Training Transformation: Inspiration and Perspiration.

Industrial robotic applications have been growing exponentially across multiple industrial ecosystems, as value-addition to the existing operational paradigms become imperative. Rising eminence of collaborative robots (cobots) in the future is not surprising as automation continues to lie at the heart of industrial spaces for both regular and complex applications. Cost is also a key factor responsible for the rise of industrial robotics, owing to the fact that the average selling prices of robots have come down significantly over the past 20 to 30 years.

Greg Olson is the heavy machine shop supervisor at Washington Iron Works, Sherman, Texas. As a supervisor of a 12-person crew working on everything from crankshaft services to engine overhauls for oil and gas customers, he knows attention to detail is important. However, when Texas temps are pushing 90 degrees F in the shade and the sun is beating down on the metal shop, concentrating on details can be tough.

The fourth industrial revolution is upon us, and as you may know, this means change. As an industry, it is imperative that manufacturers adopt new technologies and increased connectivity that will enable more data-driven decisions. Thankfully, this also means increased efficiency, more parts produced, more accurate bidding, happier customers and increased revenue.

Carbide-tipped cutting tools, more popularly, carbide cutting tools, have been in use for a plethora of materials on engine lathes, CNC lathes, turret lathes, vertical turret lathes and chuckers. While excellent wear resistance of carbide tools manifests their enduring operational life, it also positions them superior to other counterparts when it comes to surviving longer production runs. Research has proven time and again that carbide tools are highly efficient in comparison with other solid cutting tools and high speed steel (HSS) tools.

The Innovation and Research Center (IFC) Tuttlingen of the Hochschule Furtwangen University of Applied Sciences (HFU) and FOBA Laser Marking + Engraving have officially launched their innovation cooperation for medical technology. At a ceremony on March 20 in the new rooms of the IFC on Katharinenstraße, a modern laser marking system was presented, which is now available to the university for its research as well as interested parties from the industry for demonstration purposes.

Process optimization is key to increase the productivity and quality of the machining processes and thus ensure the competitiveness of machining companies. Valid measurements of physical parameters are necessary for the ideal assessment of optimization and measures as well as the efficient use of production resources at their performance limits. MITIS, a leading manufacturer of systems for vibration-assisted drilling, relies on measuring systems from Kistler for cutting force measurement.

For the second time in its North American Headquarters, Zoller Inc. is hosting an Open House and Technology Days Event May 8-9.

A Ph.D. candidate from RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, has been awarded a $15,000 prize for developing a 3D-printed steel tool capable of cutting titanium alloys as well as—if not better than—traditionally manufactured steel tools. The achievement marks a first and could pave the way for increased applications of 3D printing in tool production.

At many facilities, when there’s a problem on the factory floor, the high-value, highly salaried engineers spend their time collecting data from different machines and systems, exporting it to spreadsheets and wrangling with it to find a solution. This process of data collection and analysis can take from days to weeks—and sometimes longer. There are two ways to transform this process: the traditional way and the intelligent way.

North American sales of machine vision components and systems that provide vision intelligence to robots and other machines reached $2.874 billion in 2018, an increase of 9.2 percent over 2017 and a new record for the market. According to statistics from the AIA, the industry trade group and part of the Association for Advancing Automation (A3), application-specific machine vision (ASMV) systems led the growth with $1.998 billion in sales in 2018, an increase of 7.8 percent over 2017, followed by smart cameras with $466 million, an increase of 14.2 percent.

Join Haimer USA LLC at its North American headquarters for an exclusive first look at the latest Haimer technologies. The company will introduce new innovations surrounding industry 4.0 – with products that enable enhanced data communication and collection.