Industry News

New robots will be able to generate savings in manufacturing and plug short-term gaps while helping create future jobs.

Private equity firms are snapping up manufacturing companies at a quick pace, setting off a merger and acquisition gold rush while leaving multicloud manufacturing systems unprotected in a zero-trust world.

It’s hard to believe that the phrase “war for talent” was coined more than 20 years ago. Today, the fight to attract and retain talented employees rages on in virtually every industry — and manufacturing is no exception.

The Oregon Manufacturing Innovation Center Research and Development (OMICR&D) has welcomed Sumitomo Electric Carbide Inc. as its 30th member. Sumitomo, whose U.S. subsidiary is headquartered in near Chicago, also has other several other U.S. based cutting tool manufacturing facilities, and its main headquarters is in Hyogo, Japan.

Continental needed a high capacity system capable of rapid inspection cycles combined with fast surface scanning and accurate feature measurements, the aim being to gain more comprehensive insight into the company’s products. The range includes electronic and hydraulic brake and chassis control systems, wheel and engine speed sensors, airbag electronics and electronic air suspension systems.

ATV and InnovationQuarter’s investment in IMSystems will help further accelerate the development of their technology in robotics. IMSystems’ Archimedes Drive takes a leap forward in transmission systems. In contrast to conventional gears, which rely on cogs with fragile teeth to produce torque, IMSystems came up with a design that harnesses traction.

MachineMetrics, a leading data analytics platform for manufacturers, has announced the release of its much anticipated 2019 State of the Industry (SOTI) for CNC Machining. Driven exclusively by real manufacturing data collected from hundreds of companies and thousands of machines globally, MachineMetrics’ report is a first of its kind to deliver confirmation for many gut feelings about the industry as well as to uncover unexpected manufacturing behaviors and trends never made visible before.
“Our unique ability to easily connect to any machine has allowed the MachineMetrics platform to quickly gain tremendous traction and aggregate what we believe is the most powerful global dataset of machine performance in the world. We can now use this data to provide the highest level of insight back to our customers, partners, and the manufacturing community.” says Bill Bither, CEO of MachineMetrics, “We are excited to continue to break new ground for the industry as a whole.”

As part of an ongoing effort to make processes and products more environmentally friendly, BIG KAISER Precision Tooling Inc., Hoffman Estates, Illinois, is making modifications to production materials and packaging. Specifically, the company switched to unleaded steel and recyclable packaging.

Clippard, Cincinnati, produces fluid control products and other high-precision components, and prides itself on having been vertically integrated for decades, since its founding in 1941. The company operates two ISO-certified manufacturing locations in Ohio and does advanced machining of all types to produce its extensive catalog of standard and custom product for a myriad of markets worldwide. At the heart of its machining capabilities are 12-axis CNC Swiss machines, CNC milling centers and CNC wire EDMs, plus numerous post-finishing operations, including anodizing, EN plating and thermal deburring.

To support rapid growth within its mechanical testing department, Hermitage, Pennsylvania-based Solar Atmospheres of Western Pennsylvania has invested in a new Haas ST-10 CNC lathe.

Tooling Tech Group (TTG), a Macomb, Michigan-based provider of engineered tools and automated assembly equipment to a wide range of industries, has hired Craig Fullenkamp as its Segen Quick-Change and standard products sales engineer.

Magnetic Specialties Inc., Telford, Pennsylvania, announces the addition of Michael K. Smith as business development manager.

According to a new market report pertaining to the global electric discharge machine (EDM) market, that market is projected to reach a value of US$ 6.1 billion by 2027. The EDM market is expected to expand at a CAGR of ~6% from 2019 to 2027, in terms of volume. Growth of the EDM market can be attributed to increasing need for EDMs for the development of high-end machining designs in various industries. Asia Pacific is anticipated to lead the global electric discharge machine market, followed by North America during the forecast period.

API Services has added coordinate measuring machine calibration to its portfolio of machine tool, industrial robot and laser tracker calibration services. API offers both a standard CMM certification and a premium CMM calibration service to original OEM CMM specifications.

Being a Tier 3 supplier to automotive and appliance OEMs is high-volume, extremely competitive work, where success depends in large part on fast, accurate and above all dependable equipment. Fortunately for Bill Overbay, manufacturing supervisor at Miyama USA Inc., Louisville, Kentucky, his latest round of machine tool purchasing gave him exactly that. “We now have five Kent USA machining centers in all, and most have been running nonstop for the past four years,” he said. “We’ve had no problems whatsoever.”

German Machine Tools of America is now the North American distributor of WEMA Glauchau GmbH.

In 1969, during a spring trade show in Hanover, Germany, Lach Diamond reports that the company was the first manufacturer worldwide to demonstrate the grinding of HSS and high-alloy steel on a tool grinding machine.

Hurco Cos. Inc. continued its commitment to help customers navigate the ever-evolving technology landscape by partnering with BMO Automation, a company that shares Hurco’s mission to help manufacturers increase productivity and profitability.

The L.S. Starrett Co. has announced the appointment of David Allen as vice president, Starrett Metrology Systems. In this newly created role, Allen will be responsible for the strategy, growth and profitability of the advanced metrology systems including Starrett Bytewise, Starrett Tru-Stone Technologies, Starrett-Kinemetric Systems, metrology software development, force measurement systems and Starrett Special Gage Department.

Mazak Corp. has launched All Axes, a new podcast developed to keep manufacturers in-the-know about all things manufacturing. The podcast features original content on a wide range of industry-critical subjects and issues affecting today’s North American manufacturers – from additive technologies, automation, multitask machines and the skilled labor shortage to the industrial internet of things, digitally connected factories, cybersecurity and more.