Industry News

Mastercam 2018 Public Beta is now open to all currently maintained Mastercam customers. Shops all over the world, from small job shops to Fortune 100, get a chance to test-drive Mastercam 2018 before it is released and provide valuable feedback to help shape the final product. Participants in the Public Beta get an early look at dozens of powerful new tools for simple to complex jobs.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and mHUB’s board of directors announced the official grand opening of mHUB, a physical product innovation center and microfactory designed to galvanize the manufacturing ecosystem by generating innovative ideas, attracting world-class talent and fostering collaboration. Born through the combined efforts of Chicago’s leaders in business, innovation and research, mHUB offers Chicago’s burgeoning product manufacturers access to state-of-the-art facilities, along with resources to develop and bring new products to market.

Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in February, and the overall economy grew for the 93rd consecutive month, say the nation's supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM Report On Business. The February PMI registered 57.7 percent, an increase of 1.7 percentage points from the January reading of 56 percent. The New Orders Index registered 65.1 percent, an increase of 4.7 percentage points from the January reading of 60.4 percent. The Production Index registered 62.9 percent, 1.5 percentage points higher than the January reading of 61.4 percent.

To a certain extent, other countries have taken advantage of the United States since the turn of the last century. Beginning with World War II and the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe after much of it was destroyed, the United States insisted in promulgating our version of democracy and continued to fund economic assistance to underdeveloped countries, and not-so-underdeveloped nations as well.

Cerasis, a transportation-management company that works with the manufacturing industry, recently shared a list of manufacturing-technology trends that it says are growing in importance. Among them are green manufacturing, IIoT and computer analytics.

It’s no secret that shop owners and managers frequently bellyache about the difficulty of attracting skilled workers and poach staff from other manufacturers by offering better pay.

Looking at the variety of certificate programs available at Sheridan College, Sheridan Media’s Judy Hagerott offers a report on the Machine Tool Technology Program at Sheridan.

According to newly released figures by industry analyst EDA, new machine tool equipment sales jumped from 1,288 units in November 2016 to 1,744 in December—its highest number of the year and just slightly under 2015’s highest monthly number of 1,825 units, also in December. Used machine tool equipment sales also jumped at the end of 2016, from 762 units in November to 1,241 in December. That’s still well below its 2015 peak month of 1,637 units sold in October of that year.

In a recent article, a few Forbes Technology Council members examined what jobs they think will be automated in the next five to 10 years. But what about the flip side of the issue: What kind of positions or work will be safe from the automation process?

GF Machining Solutions, Lincolnshire, Ill., named Stephan Swanson as its new head of sales in the Central region of the United States, according to a Feb. 27 news release. In this new post, Swanson will further enhance GF Machining Solutions’ sales, service and support presence in the territory, which includes 15 states.

MachineTools.com, Birmingham, Mich., in February announced it had provided its 2-millionth lead. Since its founding in 1999, leads have gone to dealers for used machinery, to builders and distributors for new machinery, and to other companies in the industry, according to a company news release.

While the Trump administration focuses on trying to bring back coal-industry jobs, the outlook for renewable-energy employment, including in manufacturing, has increased. Solar showed bright prospects in 2016 and the wind industry is picking up.

Automated inspection equipment can offer advantages, such as enabling lights-out machining, but manual methods are typically less expensive and can provide quicker results. One example is a manually operated gage for inspecting round cutting tools.

Renishaw Inc. announced a new 133,000 sq. ft. office and warehouse facility in West Dundee, Ill., about 40 miles from Chicago. The two-story facility will be the company’s new North American headquarters, but also includes space for product development, testing, warehousing and distribution.

Midwest Industrial Tool Grinding Inc. (MITGI), which manufactures and markets standard and custom cutting tools, has been named Manufacturer of the Year in the small company category by the Manufacturers Alliance, a Minnesota association that promotes education and peer-to-peer mentoring in the state's manufacturing industry.

Wall Colmonoy, a global group of materials engineering companies engaged in the manufacturing of surfacing and brazing products, castings and engineered components, this month appointed Nathan Stroud as commercial director for its European headquarters in Wales, U.K.

Waterjet systems manufacturer Jet Edge Inc., St Michael, Minn., promoted Michael Wheeler to Engineering Manager.  Wheeler is responsible for managing all aspects of Jet Edge’s engineering, including technical writing, inspection, sales engineering and estimating, research and development and product development.

Georgia will see an influx of more than 500 new aerospace manufacturing jobs at Columbus-based Pratt & Whitney, which reportedly will invest $386 million into expansion.

A joint research project known as “Scaling Ultrafast Laser Productive Precision Processing Technology”, or ScULPT, was conceived to develop an efficient, powerful, ultra-short pulsed laser system with a tenfold increase in throughput on the machining of different types of glass and metals.

Whereas the retention knob is an unmistakably critical component of the machining process, conventional retention knobs, when installed in a toolholder, may deform the precision taper because of the elastic nature of a toolholder’s thin walls. This taper deformation prevents a toolholder from properly mating with the spindle of a CNC machine. JM Performance Products Inc. has worked to overcome this manufacturing bind with its lower-deformation High Torque Retention Knobs.