Industry News

On April 1, 2014, Fountain Valley, Calif.-based manufacturer Mitsubishi Materials USA will consolidate two business units — Rock Tools and Hard Materials — into a new unit known as Engineered Carbide Products in an effort to improve operational efficiency, according to a letter to stakeholders released by the company. 

EMAG LLC, a Farmington Hills, Mich.-based machine tool supplier, has launched an apprentice training program to encourage continuing growth in Michigan's mechatronics manufacturing industry and ensure an advanced workforce to close the sector's skills gap. Developed in conjunction with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Oakland Community College and Henry Ford Community College, the program offers high-school graduates a career in machine mechatronics, a discipline incorporating electrical, electronic and mechanical studies, providing all graduates an advanced associate's degree.

After more than 30 years of working together, collet chuck producer BIG Daishowa Seiki Co. Ltd. (Osaka, Japan) and tooling provider KAISER Precision Tooling Ltd. (Rümlang, Switzerland) have solidified their longtime partnership in the European and Asian markets. The two companies have come together to create a mutually beneficial distribution network similar to the decade-old US-based BIG Kaiser Precision Tooling Inc, Hoffman Estates, Ill. BIG Kaiser Germany ran as a pilot project to test efficacy of such a model in the European market and the company's success paved the way for a larger European partnership executed through KAISER Switzerland. 

CIMCOOL Fluid Technology, a Cincinnati-based provider of fluid technology, announced a contest in which the company will provide a year's supply of CIMCOOL fluids for one winner, up to a maximum value of $10,000. This offer is open to business entities engaged in the manufacturing industry having operations that utilize metalworking fluids.

Diamond Innovations merged with Sandvik Hard Materials as of Jan. 1, 2014, to create a new business, Sandvik Hyperion, focused on applied materials. The new company, with U.S. headquarters in Fair Lawn, N.J., has a broader portfolio of materials solutions and increased scale in R&D and application development. Sandvik Hyperion supplies cemented tungsten carbide, tungsten-carbide powders, diamond materials and CBN materials used in material-removal and wear-protection applications.

Tooling manufacturer BIG Kaiser Precision Tooling Inc., Hoffman Estates, Ill., hosted a group of U.S. manufacturers on a visit to the Kaiser Precision Tooling Ltd. headquarters in Rümlang, Switzerland, in February. The third annual event paired educational presentations, tours of the assembly and machining areas and traditional Swiss hospitality. "The challenges of manufacturing are universal," Dennis Rosene, owner, Rosene Machine, Firth, Neb., said. "Visiting factories outside the U.S. can help us find new ways to solve the same challenges we face at home." 

The Reshoring Initiative was honored by Frost & Sullivan's Manufacturing Leadership Council as one of the winners of the 2014 Manufacturing Leadership Awards (ML Awards) in the category of Industry Advocacy.

Students in the University of Washington's mechanical engineering program successfully petitioned the Dean of Engineering for a new furnace at the school's Engineering Instructional Shop as a replacement for an antiquated, unreliable, smaller unit. The new furnace, a model HL7-P36 from Lucifer Furnaces Inc., Warrington, Pa., with a work chamber of 18"x24"x36", will allow students to heat treat more parts in-house.

Mitsui & Co., parent company of Franklin Lakes, N.J.-based Mitsui Seiki USA Inc. is now a key strategic partner in the development of the GE9X aircraft engine for the next generation of wide-body airplanes, the latest in the GE90 engine family manufactured by GE Aviation, Cincinnati, an operating unit of General Electric Co.

Jenoptik Industrial Metrology has announced a 2014 event, The Better Parts Challenge., where U.S. manufacturers send their part quality challenges  to be reviewed by the Rochester Hills, Mich.-based metrology manufacturer's experts. These challenges will be reviewed  at "road shows" across the U.S., showing how Jenoptik measuring devices and software can help manufacturers make better quality parts and potentially reduce the cost of production.

Machine tool manufacturer SMTCL-Americas will hold a "March Machine Madness" open house event on March 20, 2014 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at its  City of Industry, Calif. technical center at 17038 E. Gale Ave. Various experts will host seminars on robotics and automation, 5-axis machining, titanium machining, new developments in CAD software and innovations in tooling.

Absolute Machine Tools Inc. is hosting a "Discovery Day" at its new Midwest Technical Center in Elgin, Ill., on April 9 from 10:00 am until 7:00 pm. New machine tool technologies from Nexturn, Precihole, Accutex EDM, Tongtai, Johnford and Fanuc Automation, among others, will be introduced. A complimentary lunch will be served courtesy of Elgin's Portillo's Hot Dogs Inc.

A mobile digital edition app to view Cutting Tool Engineering magazine on smartphones and tablets is now available.

CNC machine tool manufacturer Rollomatic Inc., Mundelein, Ill., is exhibiting several new products during the GrindTec show in Augsburg, Germany, to be held March 19-22, 2014. One product on display is the GrindSmart 6-axis CNC grinder that is furnished with a traveling work head that can produce drills with a flute length up to 12". In addition, other solid-carbide drills and high-performance endmills can be manufactured. Features include a camera to locate coolant holes and a 6-station wheel and nozzle changer. 

German clamping and gripping specialist SCHUNK has partnered with goalkeeper Jens Lehmann as the company's new brand ambassador. Managing Partner Henrik A. Schunk, an enthusiastic soccer fan, personally picked the athlete, citing "dynamics, precision, reliability and continuous top performance in the team." As a brand ambassador, Lehmann is able to communicate SCHUNK's credibly due to his proven competence in both soccer and society.

The new Metal Loss Monitor (MLM) from Erie, Pa.-based separation technology provider Eriez enables operators to determine the quantities of valuable metals that are passing through their scrap yards unrecovered. It accomplishes this by continually scanning the residue stream for metal that has escaped the process, according to the company.

The National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS), Fairfax, Va., announced that it awarded a record number of credentials last year to individuals seeking to enter into or advance in jobs in the metalworking industry. In 2013, NIMS issued 13,888 industry-recognized credentials, representing a 58.8 percent increase from 2012.

Owners of 3-year-old vehicles (2011 model year) report more problems than did owners of 3-year-old vehicles last year, according to the 2014 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study^SM (VDS) released by market information services firm J.D. Power and Associates, Westlake Village, Calif.

Manufacturing software provider CGTech has announced 22 North American VERICUT Users Exchange (VUE) events scheduled in 2014, with the first to be held on March 10th in Irvine, Calif., near the company headquarters.

Minneapolis machine shop NTM Inc. was named a partner in the KOMET SERVICE network and will provide localized tool regrinding and refurbishment services for tools from KOMET and other toolmakers, as well as sell standard and special KOMET solid-carbide tools.