Industry News

Driven by improving demand and steady global economic recovery, Taiwan's manufacturing output in terms of revenue is expected to grow 3.87 percent to NT$17.54 trillion (US$576 billion) this year, said the Industrial Technology Research Institute's Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center. Meanwhile, IEK said that in value-added terms, Taiwan's machine tool industry is the worst-performing segment behind all other segments of the manufacturing sector.

President Donald Trump has issued an executive order on assessing and strengthening the manufacturing and defense industrial base and supply chain resiliency of the United States. He said strategic support for a vibrant domestic manufacturing sector, a vibrant defense industrial base and resilient supply chains is a significant national priority. A comprehensive evaluation of the defense industrial base and supply chains, with input from executive departments and agencies, has been ordered to assess the nation's strengths and weaknesses.

The Valley Morning Star (Harlingen, TX) reports on how tool and die technology at Texas State Technical College has given student and former college dropout Andy Juarez "a new lease on life." Juarez plans to get his associate degree this Fall. "After speaking to supervisors at Arlington-based United States defense contractor and industrial corporation, Raytheon, he has a position waiting for him immediately after he graduates." The whole story is at the link.

Japan’s manufacturing activity has fallen to an eight-month low in July, according to IHS Markit survey results. The Nikkei Flash Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for July is calculated to be a seasonally adjusted 52.2, following a 52.4 level in June. The Flash Manufacturing Output Index was pegged at at 51.4, down from 52.2 in June and the weakest growth in 10 months.

AGCO Corp., a worldwide manufacturer and distributor of agricultural equipment, announced ths week that it is increasing the efficiency, quality and safety of its manufacturing programs by doubling the number of Glass, an assisted reality, wearable headset device being used in its Jackson, Minnesota, factory, and will begin using Glass at six additional factories.

Seco Tools, LLC has partnered with Ferris State University (FSU) in Big Rapids, Michigan, to offer local area engineering students an opportunity to participate in a multi-year internship program at Seco. The program invites the top three engineering applicants to participate for an initial first year internship. Based on their interest and performance, the students may be asked back for a second year. Graduates of the program will often be offered employment by Seco.

For today’s manufacturers of precision components, there’s no getting around deburring, rounding and polishing. These production steps are often seen as a necessary evil due to the high costs associated with them in some cases. Use of the right technology permits reliable processing at reduced costs.

The 6 S system is a modified version of the lean manufacturing principle of 5 S. Developed by Taiichi Ohno, an industrial engineer for Toyota, lean production is a systemic method designed to optimize the efficiency of a business. Lean was born from the more specialized Toyota Production System, which is a system that helped Toyota grow from a small automobile manufacturer when it was founded in 1937 to where it is today: one of the largest manufacturing conglomerates in the world.

"The clunky, AR device never really clicked with 'cool cache' in the public domain, but in the professional or industrial workplace Google Glass is turning out to be incredibly useful. Stripped of the Insta-photo, email-checking trimmings, the device is now being used to cleverly enhance workflows and make it easier for people to do their jobs."

Stents and tubes are used in countless medical devices and new ones are being added every day, fueled in part by the growth of minimally invasive surgery and the commonplace use of stents. The sheer number and diversity of devices is rapidly increasing – and with it, the demand for more and more laser cut stents; flexible tubing, cannulas and micro cannulas, needles, biopsy devices and other minimally invasive tools.

KOMET GROUP is using Renishaw metal additive-manufacturing technology to produce new ranges of innovative cutting tools. As well as allowing special cutters to be produced more quickly, the use of additive manufacturing enables more complex shapes to be generated, both for the external shape of the tooling and for the internal cooling channels.

New commercial agreement between Spirit and Norsk Titanium identifies thousands of titanium parts currently manufactured at Spirit or by its suppliers as 3D-printing candidates.

Hanging on to talented older workers steeped in institutional knowledge has become a critical issue for many manufacturing businesses. The worker shortage is driving employers to take creative approaches to retirement. About 78 million baby boomers are nearing or at retirement, and the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) estimates that factories will need 3.5 million new factory workers in the next 10 years just to keep production lines and distribution routes going.

A bipartisan and bicameral group of lawmakers is proposing a bill that would incentivize and boost American manufacturing, in addition to research and development, as the Trump administration looks to keep a promise from the presidential campaign. Reps. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., and Ron Kind, D-Wis., with Sens. Chris Coons, D-Del., and Pat Roberts, R-Kan., have introduced the Invent and Manufacture in America Act, a bill that would give a tax credit to companies that not only conduct research and development, but also manufacture products resulting from that R&D as well.

With the advent of technologies like the iPad, the field of predictive maintenance has become an accessible and achievable goal for many businesses. The iPad allows anyone from small companies to large multi-facility corporations to implement and commit to a predictive maintenance program utilizing technology that is constantly improving.

The U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders report for May 2017 showed gains for the month and year over year, according to AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology. May orders were up 3.1 percent over April, and 21.8 percent over May 2016.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that manufacturing employment rose by only 1,000 in June after falling by 2,000 in May. Manufacturing sectors with gains in June included machinery, electrical equipment and appliances, primary metals, and computer and electronic products.

The worldwide installed base of Internet of Things (IoT) endpoints is expected to grow from 14.9 billion at the end of 2016 to more than 82 billion in 2025. However, a study conducted by Cisco shows that 60 percent of IoT initiatives stall at the Proof of Concept stage and only 26 percent of companies have had an IoT initiative that they considered a complete success. A third of all completed projects were not considered a success.

Amidst the ongoing discussion of how to interest young people in manufacturing careers comes news of one young person who certainly is. The Westfield (N.Y.) Republican profiles Andy Reinwald, the 24-year-old owner of Ripley Machine & Tool.

An Australian manufacturer of rotary shank cutting tools, Sutton Tools, has gained market share in the highly competitive aerospace industry by producing superior tools using the linear motor technology on ANCA’s MX7. To gain traction in the aerospace market Sutton’s needed to push the boundaries of what could be expected from a tool machining materials in the aviation industry.