Industry News

Vero Software Ltd., Cheltenham, England, hired Application Engineer Kevin Wedderburn to support customers who use the company’s SMIRT software products for the tooling industry.

Solar Manufacturing Inc., Souderton, Pa., a manufacturer of advanced industrial vacuum furnaces, is relocating its headquarters to Sellersville.

Dieter Kress announced during his 75th birthday celebrations that he planned to gradually step down from the day-to-day business.

With the August 1985 issue, Cutting Tool Engineering launched a decade-long series of articles titled, "History of Tools." The first installment, which you can download and read by clicking here, began as the ultimate Throwback Thursday endeavor: urging readers with their eyes on the future to recall the machine tool industry's humble beginnings. So, yeah, The Stone Age.

Some tool builders in the expanding economy are having a hard time obtaining machine components, which is delaying production, said Logan McGhan, technical salesman at KD Capital Equipment LLC, Scottsdale, Ariz., a machinery dealer specializing in used CNC machinery, plastic molding machinery and sheet metal fabrication. He said U.S. manufacturers must meet delivery deadlines in a demanding market. “You could potentially lose a customer," McGhan said, adding he is hearing about wait times of 6 months to a year for certain machinery. This environment may make it a good time for some companies to buy or sell used CNC equipment, even if doing so is new for them.

If you’re reading this, it means that Earth wasn’t destroyed. On Feb. 9, the asteroid 2018 CB passed overhead with just 39,000 miles to spare—well within the moon’s orbit and, by outer space standards, way too close for comfort. The pocket protector-toting space nerds at NASA call the asteroid a near-Earth object, which is defined as any object that passes through our solar system at less than 1.3 astronomical units (about 120 million miles) from the sun.

Manufacturers are ripe targets for hackers. According to a report from IBM Security, the manufacturing industry moved into the position of second most attacked industry in 2015, behind health care.

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.