Industry News

The late Jerry Magnuson is a legend in the hot rod racing and aftermarket industry. Extending his love of the sport beyond the track, Jerry and his wife, Maureen Magnuson, started Magnuson Products LLC, Ventura, California, after many years of designing and building supercharger kits for the aftermarket. The company also supports OEMs.

Has your workplace received low safety grade scores because it has a poor program or, worse, no written safety program in place at all? Having an expert safety manager is optimal. For companies that do not have the resources, there are outstanding online programs, such as those offered by Occupational Health & Safety and the National Safety Council, that provide excellent free and paid content and classes for Occupational Safety and Health Administration 30-hour training, first aid, CPR and more.

In the rise of esports, or professional gaming, some see a new generation of athletes. I see our next-generation workforce. I see natural leaders in digital manufacturing and the future coders of smart cities. But we can’t expect a generation of digital natives who never experienced an analog workplace to want to go back in time. They will join us if their provided workspaces and tools clearly represent the future.

Sean Holt, head of sales area Americas for Sandvik Coromant Co., Fair Lawn, New Jersey, announced that a new Sandvik Coromant Center will open in Mebane, North Carolina, where customers and partners will be fully immersed in the latest technology and digital machining techniques, including CoroPlus, the platform that brings connectvitity to manufacturing. Currently, Sandvik Coromant has a production unit in Mebane that manufactures special and standard products and will expand the existing production site space to fully utilize the capabilities of the current building.

Two industry leaders in the tungsten carbide world join forces to serve the U.S. market. Sinter Sud has named Castlebar Corp. its exclusive distributor in the U.S. for all its Premium Carbide Products. The addition of the Sinter Sud product line to Castlebar’s already expansive carbide offerings, will greatly increase product availability for tool makers across the U.S.

ProShop USA, Bellingham, Washington, is donating ProShop ERP software to the student-run Eagle Manufacturing business at Brown County High School in Nashville, Indiana.

Solar Atmospheres Inc. has long been a model of innovation and leadership in the heat treating industry. As long-time members of the Metal Treating Institute (MTI), Hermitage, Pennsylvania-based Solar employees are actively involved in the many programs available through the institute and MTI recognized three Solar employees for their commitment to MTI.

In 2017, AccuRounds began talks with MachineMetrics and installed their machine monitoring system on 10 CNC machines in January 2018. Within a year, they had connected 23 machines and were driving process improvements and greater collaboration between engineers and machinists. Because of AccuRounds’ history of building a strong culture from the front office to the shop floor, the team worked to deliberately manage the tensions that came to the surface during their first few months after installation.

Hy-Tech Engineered Solutions, Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania, is pleased to announce the acquisition of Blaz-Man Gear and Gear Products & Manufacturing; both Chicago-based companies specialize in the manufacture and distribution of custom gears and power transmission gear products. The addition will triple Hy-Tech’s capacity in gear production, as well as bring new expertise to expand into more complex spiral and straight bevel gear design and manufacture.

The new Heidenhain Life Sciences brand partnership is now in place, offering ground-breaking technology that enables lab automation for the advancement of medical technology. This development consists of the business partnerships from the Heidenhain Group that includes Heidenhain, IMT and ETEL brands.

Index Corp. has announced the hiring of Matt Voyles for the role of service manager. In his position, Voyles will be responsible for overseeing the 22 field service engineers that respond to customer needs across the U.S. and Canada, as well as coordinating with personnel at the Noblesville, Indiana-based machine tool builder's network of 19 distributors, many of whom provide service to customers as well.

Solar Manufacturing Inc. commemorated the opening of a new, 59,000-sq.-ft plant with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Oct. 24. The company, located at 1500 E. Clymer Ave., Sellersville, Bucks County, is the first business to build in the newly established Sellersville Business Campus. On hand to celebrate were a number of Bucks County notables, including Thomas C. Hufnagle, mayor of Sellersville Borough; Mary Smithson, chair of the Bucks County Industrial Development Authority; and Robert G. Loughery, chairman of the Bucks County Board of Commissioners.

The success of modern product development and manufacturing efforts depends increasingly on being able to iterate quickly, test innovative ideas and shorten time to market. Products must be designed, materials evaluated, prototypes tested and parts manufactured faster than ever. With access to the right technology, agile teams can quickly go from design to production, using less resources and meeting customer demand. A comprehensive rapid prototyping and manufacturing strategy offers an obvious advantage to businesses looking to keep their products and services competitive.

In the 2019 Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence, three $100,000 first-place prizes were awarded to Cesar Gutierrez, a manufacturing teacher from Tucson, Arizona, Wendy Schepman, a landscape operations teacher from Stuart, Florida, and Brent Trankler, a welding teacher from Sikeston, Missouri, with the prize winnings shared between the individual teacher or team and their high school skilled trades program.

Airbnb came along and offered travelers the opportunity to get lower prices and better service, along with better proximity to where they wanted to be, from less established service providers, including private homes. Now, by leveraging the idle 3D-printing capacity of small manufacturers, Techniplas Prime has started to do the same for automotive companies looking for the best solutions for their manufacturing services needs.

The cumulative stress of President Donald Trump’s escalating trade war is leading to if not an irreparable breach between the U.S. and China, then certainly a significant fraying. Trade talks notwithstanding, the rising cost of the tariffs is already inducing some U.S. manufacturers to exit China. But in most instances, they are not returning to home shores.

Star SU LLC, Hoffman Estates, Illinois, has formed an alliance with Profilator GmbH & Co. KG, Wuppertal
Germany, to manufacture Scudding tools for the global market and in North America in cooperation with GMTA, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Scudding significantly improves on traditional power skiving technology for gear production, long proven in the market to be fast, accurate and versatile in use.

High QA Inc., the developer of Inspection Manager quality management software, has established a headquarters operation in Sevenum, Netherlands, to directly serve its customers on the European continent. High QA Europe is headed by its European Sales Director Hans Derks. Netherlands native Derks is a 30-plus year veteran of the manufacturing software industry.

When Suttner adopted a growth strategy 15 years ago, the company decided to significantly increase the manufacturing depth. Priority was to be focused on parts with complex designs and high added value. The executive management brought Arno Werkzeuge on board as their partner and facilitator to also increase productivity. This success story has brought about manufacturing competences and products that were inconceivable in the past. At the same time, it is an effective solution to the lack of skilled workers.

Methods Machine Tools Inc. has announced that it is representing OKK Corp. in North America. For over 100 years, customers worldwide have relied on OKK horizontal, vertical and 5-axis machines for quality, reliability, precision and innovation.