Industry News

Titanium is the leading material for artificial knee and hip joints, but a discovery by Rice University physicists shows that the gold standard for artificial joints can be improved with the addition of some actual gold.

Penn State Behrend’s new Advanced Manufacturing and Innovation Center, a $16.5 million, 60,000-sq.-ft. building, will house Penn State Behrend’s mechanical engineering program, the college’s largest major, in terms of enrollment, and the industrial engineering program.

Scientific Cutting Tools (SCT), Simi Valley, Calif., has added the capability of coating its own cutting tools on premises in the form of a new coating machine from Platit which enables the coating of up to 500 tools in 4 hours.

Riten Industries offers a free 30-day, risk-free trial program to metal workers who are undecided about committing to this different type of workholding tool. Face driving can completely turn or grind a workpiece in a single cycle, without stopping to flip and rechuck the part, reducing cycle time and increasing productivity.

It is a matter of course for manufacturers of rail and train components to ensure that quality products and services continue to be delivered to the industry every day. Increasing reliability through new tools, materials and machining techniques, as well as supporting productive and cost effective maintenance of existing infrastructure, is crucial.

A new report produced by Research and Markets, a market research company based in Dublin, forecasts a compound annual growth rate of 7.6 percent for the global digital manufacturing market through the year 2020.

Jarvis Cutting Tools is constructing a 500W AC solar panel array in front of its property in Rochester, N.H. Jarvis President Costikyan Jarvis said the solar project will help the company cut production costs and capitalize on incentives for producing solar energy, according to a report on fosters.com.

Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in June for the fourth consecutive month, while the overall economy grew for the 85th consecutive month, say the nation’s supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM Report On Business.

IKONICS Corp., a Duluth-based imaging technology company, announced today that IKONICS Precision Abrasive Machining capabilities align with NASA test results to reduce aerodynamic drag on acoustic jet engine liners.

Most manufacturers offer at least occasional in-house instruction as factory work has become more about brains than brawn. But Tooling U-SME, an organization focused on manufacturing education that's part of an industrial nonprofit in Dearborn, Mich., found in a recent survey that just 25 percent have a structured training program.

Economists have been debating the performance of business investment during the current recovery. Much of the debate has centered around the relative importance of policy (such as regulation) and demand. Meanwhile, from a company’s perspective, it probably doesn’t make sense to invest when its existing plant and equipment are already underutilized.

Michigan Manufacturing International (MMI) was founded in 1991 in Michigan by Jacob Prak. A number of moves were necessary as the operation outgrew each location, but the name remained the same. In November 2013, MMI built a 40,000 square foot building in Stevensville, Md., and currently occupies 12,000 square feet of that space.

Sound website design and integration attracts new business and simplifies operations for manufacturers, internet marketing professional Gary Sargent said.

Manufacturing technology orders for April 2016 were down 27.5 percent from the same month a year ago, according to the latest U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders report compiled by AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology. Year to date, orders are down 16.6 percent compared to the same point in 2015. 

The National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS) released the first-ever industry Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) standards. Developed over the course of a yearlong intensive nationwide validation process with more than 125 subject matter experts from companies who use a variety of CAM software, the standards define the competencies and skills expected by industry for entry-level CAM positions. 

Indiana job shop cuts insert costs in half and triples tool life with Beyond Evolution grooving and cut-off tools, according to a case study submitted by Kennametal Inc.

The first automobile internal-combustion engines used a camshaft to open and close poppet valves. Now, more than 100 years later, camshafts are still used and their basic function hasn’t changed—even though camshaft geometries, materials, surface finishes and tolerances have improved greatly to achieve better fuel economy, lower emissions and larger torque.

With two in three manufacturers unware of the true cost of system downtime and mechanical failure, Gill Sensors & Controls discuss how its new condition monitoring sensors help reduce downtime, associated costs and improve reliability of large manufacturing gearboxes.

Haimer USA last month celebrated the grand opening of its new 25,000 sq. ft. North American headquarters with a ribbon cutting ceremony, distinguished guest speakers, on-site machine demos and presentations.

Technology advancements and the Industrial Internet of Things are making outcome orientation more feasible, according to the Harvard Business Review. For example, when Rolls Royce or GE provide a “power by the hour” engine solution, they are delivering an outcome and potentially more value to the customer.