Industry News

Troy, Michigan – December 1, 2018 - HELLER Machine Tools is pleased to announce our new partnership with Compumachine.

FLORENCE, Ky., December 10, 2018 – With its sights set on further strengthening customer support, especially for those in the high-tech industries, Mazak Corporation has announced it will open a new Mazak San Francisco Technical Center.

Erie, PA—Eriez® Executive Vice President of Strategy and Development Lukas Guenthardt announces that Jaisen Kohmuench has been promoted to the newly created position of Senior Director of Asia-Pacific Operations and Strategy.

CRESCO, Pa. — December 6, 2018 — Weiler Abrasives, a provider of abrasives, power brushes and maintenance products for surface conditioning, announced two new positions within the company to serve key metal fabrication industries.

Odense, Denmark, December 5, 2018: When Linatex, a Danish supplier of technical plastics and rubber for industrial applications, bought a UR5 robot arm from Universal Robots (UR) to automate CNC machine tending in December 2008, they did something unthinkable.

Milwaukee, WI—PFERD INC, a global manufacturer of abrasives, brushes and power tools, has announced the appointment of Mariano Presas as President—Americas effective August 31, 2019.

Vero Software has hired new Territory Sales Manager Justin Duke, who will oversee sales of the Radan solution for sheet metal in the Great Plains region.

FLORENCE, Ky., December 3, 2018 – Mazak Corporation has announced its acquisition of MegaStir, a supplier of friction stir welding (FSW) tools and technology located in Provo, Utah.

December 1, 2018 - HOUSTON, TX USA—In order to provide premium levels of support to its customers, Tool-Flo, a member of the IMC Group, has consolidated its sales, engineering & manufacturing operations in a new 88,000 square foot facility located in Houston, TX.

By now, you’ve probably heard the troubling statistics. IndustryWeek reports that nearly 25% of manufacturing employees are age 55 or older, and many will soon be leaving to enjoy a well-earned retirement. Unfortunately, there’s no influx of new talent waiting to take their places. Some people feel shut out of job opportunities by degree requirements they don’t have; others lack on-the-job experience they can’t get; and then there are those who still view all manufacturing jobs as “dark, dirty, and dangerous,” and simply aren’t interested in the industry.

When machining for precision, there’s no such thing as planning too much. There are many important aspects to account for, from bit tapers to material burrs to caliper readings. Even what direction you attach your material to the stage can matter. Here are some quick tips to keep in mind as you plan your next machining project.

The operations manager at the largest nail manufacturer in the United States, Mid Continent Steel and Wire Inc., says his company has fought hard to survive in the face of unfair foreign competition over the past 12 years. The business planned for further growth and was on a great path until the Trump administration levied steel and aluminum tariffs, which took effect in June.

The General Aviation Manufacturers Association expresses optimism about the industry’s prospects for 2019. Also, increased third-quarter 2018 aircraft delivery figures were seen across all aircraft segments.

If not for a high school technical program that introduced Matt Schauer to the manufacturing industry, the 25-year-old might have never ended up at Fredon Corp., operating a machine as big as a room in a house.

Inevitably, disagreements arise in the manufacturing industry, whether involving applications, performance, specification compliance, intellectual property ownership or any of a number of other subjects. What has not kept up with technological change is the sophistication of dispute resolution. That is a particularly serious problem for manufacturers because the increasing complexity of manufacturing technology often makes disputes more complex, even arcane, than disputes of the past.

In the United States, the universal complaint about recruitment for manufacturing jobs is that there aren’t enough qualified candidates for all the positions that people are working feverishly to fill. So why are recruiters hobbling their own efforts by purposely limiting the candidate pools they’ll even consider?

The Oregon Manufacturing Innovation Center (OMIC) R&D facility is the only one of its king in the United States. It's mission is to “Develop and apply advanced metals manufacturing technologies and processes for industrial competitive advantage and academic growth, while inspiring and educating the next generation’s manufacturing workforce.”

No matter how well your manufacturing business performs, it can always perform better. If you want to keep up with emerging trends, such as shop floor automation, additive manufacturing and the industrial internet of things, you’ll need to make a quantum leap with your manufacturing technology. The surest route is to embrace connected manufacturing.

Digital manufacturing as a service now delivers big manufacturing advantages regardless of customer size. The freshly leveled playing field is great news for upstart and small businesses no longer priced out by the costs of equipping, maintaining, operating, staffing and upgrading complex production lines.

New research by the Copper Development Association Inc., McLean, Virginia, shows that U.S. machine shops may be underutilizing the machinability of brass by as much as 85 percent in part-processing operations. The study says manufacturers can and should be machining the material at significantly higher speeds and feeds—often five to 20 times faster—to increase productivity and profitability.