Industry News

In its research for Wohlers Report 2014, Wohlers Associates, Inc. found that revenues from the production of parts for final products represents 34.7 percent of the entire market for additive manufacturing (AM) and 3D printing—terms that are used interchangeably. Since 2003, this market segment has gone from less than 4 percent to more than one-third of total revenues from AM products and services worldwide.

KommaTrade, an online mechanical engineering trade fair, was recently launched at www.kommatrade.com. Through the Web portal, based in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, manufacturers from different sectors can make presentations with product pictures and a company description. The website allows users to click through to an exhibitor's website, which provides communication coordinates and contact information.

New York equity firm Uni-World Capital LP has acquired CNC machine tool builder Drake Manufacturing Services Co., Warren, Ohio.

CNC tool grinding machine builder Strausak AG, Lohn-Ammannsegg, Switzerland, opened a subsidiary in Mundelein, Ill., and incorporated in the state of Illinois on July 1. Hank Ecker, previously regional sales manager of Rollomatic Inc., is the new president of Strausak Inc.

BENZ Inc., Charlotte, N.C., has released new catalogs for its Solidfix, CAPTO and Trifix modular quick-change tooling systems. BENZ specializes in tooling systems for turning and milling machines such as live and static tools, angle heads, multi-spindle heads, spindle speeders, large scale drill heads, 5-axis heads, and its lines of modular tooling systems. BENZ tooling systems are engineered in Germany and sold and serviced in the U.S. and Canada by Benz Inc.

Mitee-Bite Products LLC., Center Ossipee, N.H., has expanded its customer service program. The company continues to assist customers with no-cost clamping recommendations and on-site visits through its national sales team, and now also offers workholding design services, from simple conceptual CAD drawings at no cost to top-level CAD designs ready to import into CAM software, which are part of the company's fee-based services. Mitee-Bite engineers work with customers to develop and build turnkey workholding designs at the company's Center Ossipee location.

The Village of Elk Grove, Ill., will host the second annual Made in Elk Grove Manufacturing and Technology Expo on Oct. 21 at 1925 Busse Road. The Expo provides attendees from around the Midwest an opportunity to connect, collaborate and cultivate relationships with Elk Grove-based manufacturing companies. Over 1,000 people attended the inaugural Expo in 2013, which featured approximately 100 exhibitors from industries ranging from precision machining, plastics and electronics to packaging and industrial services.

To celebrate the opening of its new facility in Irvine, Calif., GF Machining Solutions will hold an open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony Oct. 9-10. During the event, visitors can tour the facility and consult with application and product specialists from the company.

Philip Paull, owner of Noblesville, Ind.-based Excavating Solutions, won the Hurco Chipmaker Challenge Championship at the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) in Chicago. The prize package includes a new Hurco CNC mill worth over $100,000, a tooling package from Sandvik Coromant Co., and $10,000 of Hurco credit that can be used for training or machine options.

Tsugami/Rem Sales, the exclusive North American importer of Precision Tsugami machine tools, will host the Precision Machined Products Association's (PMPA) first East Coast Mini-Tech Conference at its Windsor, Conn., facility on Nov. 12, 2014. The conference targets machine shop workers in the Northeast U.S. and will include 6 hours of training, including metal cutting technology, production risk assessment based on part drawing analysis, and an interactive machining demonstration. PMPA Industry Research and Technology Director Miles Free will also explain material certification terminology.

Midwest Industrial Tool Grinding Inc. (MITGI), Hutchinson, Minn., has been awarded a 2014 Image Award, one of eleven Manufacturing Awards presented by Minnesota Business Magazine. A first time finalist for the award, MITGI was honored for its efforts to improve the industry's image and for promoting careers in manufacturing.

A new survey shows that there is one group of potential employees that should not be overlooked: young women. Women in Manufacturing, a group of nearly 500 women dedicated to attracting, retaining and advancing women in the manufacturing sector, co-produced the survey with Plante Moran. 

Widia, a Fort Mill, S.C.-based toolmaker, has launched its NOVO desktop and tablet application, which gives users on-demand delivery of cutting tool data and expertise for reduced product development and manufacturing lead times, according to the company. NOVO assists shop personnel in a number of intuitive ways. It can help define machining features and reduce the product set to those that can do the job, taking into account constraint requirements such as material, tolerance and machining sequence for both single tools and multi-tools.

Toolmaker Walter USA LLC, Waukesha, Wis., has expanded its Walter Xpress line to include specials with the addition of indexable insert tools for drilling, boring and counterboring. Using customer-specific parameters for drilling and boring applications, including diameter, number of steps (up to three), step lengths, chamfer angles, relevant cutting tool material options, insert shapes, machine features and cooling, the Walter configuration system designs the required tool and generates comprehensive documentation, including a 3D model.

U.S. Shop Tools, Anaheim, Calif., has released its 2014/15 Express catalog. The 178-page catalog contains information and pricing on the company's most popular offerings, including chuck jaws, lathe chucks, lathe toolholder bushings, collet pads, live centers, internal lathe workholding, ER, TG, DA & AF collets, retention knobs, vise jaws, milling toolholders and indexable drills.

The editors of Cutting Tool Engineering visited IMTS 2014 with a mission to find and report on new, innovative technology. The following products are some of what we found. 

Methods Machine Tools Inc., a supplier of machine tools, automation and accessories, will hold an open house at its Tempe, Ariz. Technology Center on Nov. 5th and 6th from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.  Manufacturing professionals are welcome and encouraged to attend. For more information, click here.

Machine tool builder Romi Machine Tools Ltd., Erlanger, Ky., announced Mike Burchill, president of Marshall Manufacturing, Minneapolis, as the winner of the "It's Time I Had a Romi in my Shop" sweepstakes, conducted at IMTS 2014 in Chicago. Burchill will receive a Romi C 420 CNC lathe, valued at $63,000.

MSC Industrial Supply, Melville, N.Y., opened its fifth distribution center, or Customer Fulfillment Center, in Columbus, Ohio. The distributor of MRO supplies marked the occasion with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. MSC first announced plans for the new facility in 2012 when it purchased the 70-acre plot where the 400,000 sq.-ft. facility now sits. The new CFC is currently home to 100 full-time associates, a number that is expected to grow to 300 by the end of 2017. The site is also designed to accommodate future expansion. 

For the sixth year in a row, Corp! magazine named Seco Tools LLC one of "Metropolitan Detroit's 101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For," for providing a highly motivating and rewarding work experience to employees, the company said.