Industry News

A public-private partnership announced June 8 seeks to enhance and expand training to fill the largest number of open manufacturing jobs in states along the automotive corridor, according to a news release issed by the National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS). 

A Cleveland-based trade association, Women in Manufacturing, now counts 510 members from across the country, with a strong online presence and a growing network of state chapters designed to support the advancement of women working in the field and to increase their numbers at all levels, from the shop floor to the corporate suite and everywhere in between. 

LNA has been appointed as a Fanuc Robotics Authorized Integrator to provide customers with automated laser marking solutions. Combined with LNA's experience with high-performance lasers and applications, customers benefit from lower manufacturing costs, vastly improved throughput, repeatability and resolution, according to the company.   

Northshore Technical Community College, Hammond, Ind., offers a machinist training program that it hopes will offset the gap in manufacturing job openings and qualified people to fill them, according to the school. The 2-year program acts as an introduction to a machining career, with students getting an associate degree in applied science with a concentration in machine tool technology, said Bridget LaBorde, dean of the campus. 

Machine tool supplier Methods Machine Tool, Inc., Sudbury, Mass., has expanded its Southern California operation, increasing the number of sales/application engineering and service personnel by eight and offering a full range of machine tool solutions from all of Methods' partner brands. In addition, Robert Serrano has been added to the leadership team as sales manager, bringing 25 years of machine tool experience to the position. 

Jack Beckman and Spencer Massey of the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series will be joined by key members of Don Schumacher Racing on June 3 from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. for an open house at Sandvik Coromant headquarters in Fair Lawn, N.J. Beckman and Massey, who will drive DSR's Sandvik Coromant Top Fuel Dragster that weekend in the NHRA Summernationals at Englishtown, N.J., will be joined by DSR Senior Vice President Mike Lewis and Crew Chief John Medlen to highlight Sandvik Coromant's role in DSR technology and machining of key parts.

The National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS), a standards and certification body, and the Gene Haas Foundation (GHF), which provides scholarships to schools for students entering technical training programs, are partnering to provide scholarship funds directly to select SkillsUSA students. 

Machine tool builder Okuma America Corp. and machine tool distributor Morris South have partnered to host Southern Tech Fest, June 24—25, at Morris South's Tech Center and Okuma's Partners in THINC facility in Charlotte, N.C.

Alicona Corp. will host a training program for its optical 3D measurement systems June 23-25 at the company's Bartlett, Ill. headquarters. The three-day program costs $4,500 per person.

Ceratizit SA has acquired German solid carbide toolmaker Klenk GmbH & Co. KG, augmenting the Ceratizit Group's product portfolio with custom solutions for solid-carbide round tools, according to the company. With the addition of Klenk, the Ceratizit Group aims to further strengthen its position in the solid-carbide tool market, according to Thierry Wolter of the Ceratizit Group's executive board. "It is our aim to be perceived as a global premium player for all cutting tools," he said.  

Toolmaker SGS Tool Co., Munroe Falls, Ohio, has completed and held a grand opening of its new 76,000 sq. ft. endmill facility in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. The new plant was constructed next to the company's existing manufacturing facilities and creates increased toolmaking capacity.

According to the Global Waterjet Machine Market 2015-2019 research report, enhanced R&D innovations are expected to reduce costs in the worldwide waterjet machine market, with customers other than traditional end users generating demand. 

Transor Filter USA, Elk Grove Village, Ill., has established Transor Filter Japan Co., Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary. Transor filters had previously been sold and serviced by an independent representative. To lead this new operation, Transor President Irv Kaage announced the appointment of Yuji Nakamura as president/managing director.

DE-STA-CO, Auburn Hills, Mich., is celebrating its 100th anniversary. The global automation and workholding company has provided productivity solutions to the manufacturing industry since 1915, when William H. Roberts founded the Detroit Stamping Co., providing contract stamping to the rapidly growing automotive industry. 

United Grinding North America Inc. will highlight methods for improving tool performance using the latest advancements in grinding at a Tool Event on July 22-23 at the company's facility in Fredericksburg, Va. Attendees will also get a preview of a new two-in-one machine with a minimal footprint that provides eroding and grinding of PCD and carbide tools in one setup, according to the company. 

LANDS Superabrasives, a cooperative venture between the synthetic diamond division of Lieber & Solow Ltd. in New York and Premier Diamond Corp. in Antwerp, was awarded an ISO 9001:2008 certification for its quality management system standards. According to the company, various standard tests are performed in order to assure and maintain consistent standards in its product line, and the ISO 9001:2008 certification is an extension of its existing quality control program.

Machine tool builder GF Machining Solutions is planning a 3-day technology and education event called Solutions Days at its Competence Center in Lincolnshire, Ill. The event will feature advanced part-processing demonstrations and include a series of manufacturing-based workshops. According to Gisbert Ledvon, director of business development for GF Machining Solutions, the company intends for Solutions Days to be the year's foremost event for manufacturers that specialize in precision part production for industries that include aerospace, automotive, medical and moldmaking. 

MSC Industrial Supply Co., Melville, N.Y., a distributor of metalworking and maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products and services, is expanding its portfolio of metalworking products from Accupro, Davidson, N.C. The new line adds more than 3,000 new precision-engineered metalworking tools to the existing 20,000 Accupro products MSC currently offers. 

Toolmaker OSG Corp. and toolholding manufacturer Haimer GmbH signed a strategic partnership and licensing agreement in which the OSG-Group's round endmills will include Haimer's Safe-Lock system. The Safe-Lock design in cutting tools and toolholders combines a press fit clamping with a positive form locking mechanism. This prevents round cutting tools from being rotated or completely pulled out from a toolholder during heavy machining, according to the company.

KAISER Precision Tooling Ltd., Rümlang, Switzerland, reports that it has strengthened its long-term partnership, BIG Daishowa Seiki Co. Ltd., Japan, by agreeing to be acquired by the BIG Daishowa group as of April 15. KAISER Precision Tooling, a supplier of modular boring tools, and BIG Daishowa Seiki, a producer of toolholders and measurement devices, have had a technology and distribution partnership since 1980.