Industry News

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. 

On Aug. 11, Hutchinson, Minn.-area businesses partnered with the local Economic Development Authority (EDA), the Southwest Initiative Foundation, and the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development as part of a statewide initiative to promote Minnesota as a viable manufacturing area for businesses that are considering locations in the U.S. Dividing the state into eight regions, The Site Selector Familiarization Tour brought in site-selecting consultants to familiarize them with the assets and infrastructure that Minnesota has to offer international and domestic businesses.

Indiana Technology and Manufacturing Cos. donated a Zeiss DuraMax coordinate measuring machine to the Precision Tool Manufacturing Training Program for students who attend Plymouth High School. The donation was announced at the 2014 International Technology Manufacturing show in Chicago. The new machine shows ITAMCO's continuing support for the program that Mark Neidig, purchasing manager at ITAMCO, proposed to the Plymouth School Corporation superintendent in 2013.

Methods Machine Tools Inc., Sudbury, Mass., a supplier of machine tools, automation and accessories will show 20 new machine tools and demonstrate 40 machines and automation solutions at IMTS 2014, booth S-9119. The show will be held McCormick Place in Chicago, IL from Sept. 8 - 13, 2014. Methods will demonstrate new machine tools and automation from YASDA, KIWA-Japan, Nakamura-Tome, FANUC and FEELER.

Minneapolis machine shop NTM Inc. is now certified to regrind and refurbish KOMET tools, manufacture solid carbide tools and to provide KOMET brand standard solid carbide tools as the sixth KOMET SERVICE Partner in North America. On June 12, NTM and KOMET of America, Schaumburg, Ill., held a celebration to mark the official start of NTM's KOMET SERVICE Partnership. Attendees included representatives from KOMET of America, as well as NTM employees' families and NTM's customers and business partners.

On Sept. 10, the Guinness World Record for the "World's Largest Coin Mosaic" was broken during the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) in Chicago. In an effort to raise awareness of the role the manufacturing industry plays in the U.S. economy and the opportunities it presents for the next generation of workers, the mosaic incorporated more than $65,000 worth of coins to represent the amount of money manufacturing contributes to the U.S. economy each second.

Air Products, Allentown, Pa., an industrial gas and chemical supplier, has licensed its proprietary cryogenic machining technology to Advanced Research Systems Inc. (ARS), a manufacturer of industrial and research cryogenic equipment in nearby Macungie, Pa. The technology license agreement gives ARS extensive rights to Air Products' patented Icefly Cryogenic Machining Technology, which has been applied to the machining of metals and polymers. Also included in the agreement is the transfer of Icefly cryogen delivery equipment design information and cryogenic machining know-how developed by Air Products.

Midwest Industrial Tool Grinding Inc., Hutchinson, Minn., is a first-time finalist in two categories for the Minnesota Business 2014 Manufacturing Awards. Awarded annually by Minnesota Business magazine, the awards recognize achievements in 10 categories. This year, the toolmaker is a finalist in two categories: Best in Class (small company, 1 to 50 employees), recognizing companies for overall excellence in the manufacturing industry in Minnesota, and Image Award, honoring an organization for improving the industry's image and showing the appeal of careers in manufacturing. 

Deburring solutions provider Abtex Corp., Dresden, N.Y., acquired Bloomfield, N.Y.-based robotics manufacturer Nihmble Technologies to enable manufacturers to use robotics technology to integrate Abtex's deburring equipment into existing operations. Robotic systems can provide manufacturers a range of benefits when deburring, from enhancing the flow of a single operation to connecting multiple operations to deburring multiple surfaces of a part in a single step, noted Mark Fultz, Abtex owner and president.

Hexagon AB, a Stockholm, Sweden-based provider of design, measurement and visualisation technologies, has acquired CAD/CAM software provider Vero Software, Cheltenham, England. Brands in Vero Software's portfolio include Alphacam, Cabinet Vision, Edgecam, Radan, SURFCAM, VISI, and WorkNC. The company has offices in the U.K., Germany, Italy, France, Japan, U.S., Brazil, Netherlands, China, Korea, Spain and India supplying products to more than 45 countries through its wholly-owned subsidiaries and reseller network.

Deloitte University Press, New York, has launched what it calls a "massive open online course" (MOOC) on the business implications of additive manufacturing, titled "3D Opportunity: The Course on Additive Manufacturing for Business Leaders," designed to help educate the market on the business drivers of additive manufacturing.

Machine tool builder Fadal Engineering, Troy, Mich., has joined forces with Saginaw-based, family-owned manufacturer Merrill Technologies Group (MTG) to launch a full-range Fadal CNC product line.

Sandvik Coromant, Fair Lawn, N.J., is dedicating the months of July, August and September to raise money for "Workshops for Warriors." For every pound of carbide received for recycling during those months, Sandvik Coromant will donate $1 to the non-profit organization that is dedicated to training, certifying and placing veterans into manufacturing careers.  

Allied Machine & Engineering Corp., Dover, Ohio, broke ground July 15 on the second phase of its expansion project. The project involves a 30,000-sq.-ft. addition to its West Third Street facility, which includes R&D space, training areas, offices and a cafeteria. The addition is expected to cost $15.1 million.

Heritage Cutter is the new "brand family" name for cutting tools manufactured by Data Flute, Pittsfield, Mass., as well as Brubaker Tool and Weldon, both based in Millersburg, Pa. The toolmakers are now united under the new Heritage Cutter family of brands. Brubaker was founded in 1881, Weldon is nearly 100 years old, and Data Flute specializes in high-performance carbide endmills.

CNC Software, Inc., Tolland, Conn.-based developers of Mastercam CAD/CAM software, is one of the two initial underwriters of Purdue University's MSTEM3 Grant Initiative, aimed at changing young peoples' perception of manufacturing through the eduFACTOR multimedia resource from Edge Factor. CNC Software has underwritten $50,000 to help increase the number of schools that can take advantage of the grant, while The Gene Haas Foundation has contributed $250,000. Because of the grant, upper elementary and high schools can qualify for eduFACTOR's suite of products for as little as $99 per year.

Look for a special digital supplement to the August 2014 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering (CTE) magazine in your email inbox next month. The special digital edition, sponsored by Makino Inc., will feature the results of our biennial salary survey, a variety of video reports and a preview of IMTS 2014.

H-D Advanced Manufacturing Co., Pittsburgh, acquired San Diego-based Sungear Inc., a manufacturer of precision gears and assemblies for the aerospace industry.

Machine tool builder Mazak Corp. has invited manufacturers to its "Discover More With Mazak" event July 29 and 30 at the company's Southwest Technology Center in Houston. The company will demonstrate its latest multitasking, 5-axis, milling and turning processes on Mazak machines. Applications engineers will also be available to discuss new ways attendees can streamline their operations. For example, performing multiple processes in a single setup helps minimize material handling and work-in-process. Furthermore, the company encourages attendees to present their part-production challenges so its engineers can offer solutions for overcoming such difficulties.

Machine tool builder Hwacheon Machinery America (HMA) will relocate to a new headquarters and technical center in the Chicago suburb of Lincolnshire, Ill., on July 15.