Industry News

Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, allows Seco Tools to create products that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to manufacture. The advantages include shorter lead times, improved tool life and increased sustainability.

The tool manufacturing industry is embracing automation solutions at an unprecedented pace. This is a worldwide trend driven by several factors, and manufacturers need to be more flexible and responsive than ever before.

The automotive industry has the largest number of robots working in factories around the world. Operational stock has hit a record of about 1 million units.

Safety managers take on the hefty responsibility of keeping employees safe. Here are five tips to make the job easier.

PVI Esskå in Landeryd, Sweden, manufactures chassis and body parts for trucks and uses hydraulic presses supplied and installed by AP&T. In summer 2022, AP&T upgraded and future-proofed one of the company’s press lines by rebuilding the control systems and installing new automation equipment. The investment reduced the line's cycle times by about 50% and increased production capacity by about 500 hours a year.

“Accelerate Success” was the theme of this year’s Zoller Open House & Technology Days, which took place May 9-11 at Zoller Inc.’s headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Presented here are highlights from the May 10 agenda.

Aerospace and defense giant Leonardo — tasked by the Ministry of Defense to provide AgustaWestland AW101s for the British Royal Navy — found that its pre-existing main rotor blade restraint cradles were not living up to its standards. Additive manufacturing may have provided a solution.

In metal additive manufacturing, post-processing of parts introduces time and financial constraints to the overall cost per part that can negate the benefits of AM altogether. How can you transition to automated support removal (and finishing) solutions, and what are the advantages of CNC systems?

CNC time is expensive, and engineers always look to decrease machining time to improve productivity. Today’s operations managers need more skilled help and are strategizing to reduce cycle time, automate more processes and be more productive. 

For customers looking to embrace the possibilities that exist through the micromolding of parts or components, there is a given. They need to understand what micromolding can do in terms of stimulation of innovation, what it can deliver in terms of manufacturing efficiency and what — above all — it can do to achieve increased functionality in parts that are often required to be smaller and smaller.

TN Vaerktoejsslibning, Denmark’s second-largest precision tooling company, is deploying NUMROTO, the programming system for tool grinding from NUM, across its entire production floor. The company cites highly successful long-term experience of the software, together with excellent technical support from NUM, as the key reasons for choosing to standardize on NUMROTO.

In an age of online shopping and mass production, distribution centers are on the rise. Naturally, the amount of packaging is also increasing, and a practical solution is needed to close the loop of recycling so much waste. One major tool distribution company in the Midwest has found its own “circular economy” answer to this problem by using EcoShield Heat Sealable Paper to recycle used boxes into dunnage bags.

With a market full of PPE options, choosing the right safety gear isn’t always an easy task. Plus, finding safe, comfortable PPE that workers will want to wear is more important than ever as the Occupational Health & Safety Administration continues to increase fines.

The transnational ‘EuProGigant’ project aims to ensure smart, sovereign use of data for production and bring this to Europe.

Get improved machining quality, higher availability and longer working life with hydrostatic machine tool components.

As big electronics players squeeze more functionality into smaller devices and printed circuit boards, new challenges are presented in applications, such as microdrilling.

The stock of operational robots around the globe hit a record of about 3.5 million units, and the value of installations reached an estimated $15.7 billion (U.S.). The International Federation of Robotics analyzes the top five trends shaping robotics and automation in 2023.

Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe went from being a specialist in high-performance motor sports to an open-market vendor of five-axis CNC machining.

The Occupational Health & Safety Administration (OSHA) recently issued new enforcement guidance that will make “penalties more effective in stopping employers from repeatedly exposing workers to life-threatening hazards.” Here is some guidance.

The rise of electrification is happening more widely and suddenly than anyone expected, both for automobiles and for other types of electric vehicles (EVs). A new all-directional tooling method, combined with the next-generation CoroTurn Prime B-type insert from Sandvik Coromant, holds the answer.