Additive Manufacturing

ITAMCO (Indiana Technology and Manufacturing Companies) is delivering components to the medical device industry made with their new EOS M 290 additive manufacturing printer. The EOS printer was delivered in June 2017 and ITAMCO was shipping components to a medical device supplier in August.

END USER: Lowercase, (212) 510-7621, www.lowercasenyc.com. SOLUTION PROVIDERS: Axis Inc., (908) 429-0090, www.axisnewjersey.com; Robotiq, (888) 762-6847, www.robotiq.com; Universal Robots USA Inc., (844) 462-6268, www.universal-robots.com. CHALLENGE: Cost-effectively integrate automation into the production of eyewear frames. SOLUTION: A collaborative robot tooled with an easy-to-use, flexible gripper.

A milestone in the 3D printing revolution is the appearance of CNC metalcutting machine tools incorporating additive-manufacturing capabilities. Manufacturers of the hybrid additive/subtractive systems tout their advantages over conventional machine tools, but the hybrids raise important issues that their builders and users must address.

Much of 2016 and 2017 has been a stressful roller coaster ride for our shop and me and my family as we have fought through a difficult economy—the worst in 30 years. Challenges remain, and business isn't completely wonderful again, but we have more optimism than a year ago, writes Keith Jennings, the Manager's Desk columnist for Cutting Tool Engineering magazine.

KOMET GROUP is using Renishaw metal additive-manufacturing technology to produce new ranges of innovative cutting tools. As well as allowing special cutters to be produced more quickly, the use of additive manufacturing enables more complex shapes to be generated, both for the external shape of the tooling and for the internal cooling channels.

Skills Inc. is a unique nonprofit manufacturing company that serves the aerospace industry and is dedicated to helping people with disabilities thrive in today's manufacturing environment.

GE Power opened its "Factory of the Future," the 125,000-sq.-ft. Advanced Manufacturing Works (AMW) facility in Greenville, S.C., with great fanfare in April 2016. So, what's futuristic about the place?

On May 16th at a reception held in conjunction with EASTEC, SME and AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology announced partnering on creating "a new kind of event," designed to "help fast-track the adoption of Smart Manufacturing technologies." That event, the Smart Manufacturing Experience, is scheduled to take place April 30 through May 2, 2018 at the Boston Convention Center.

Proactive security measures become even more important as manufacturing software moves into the cloud, machine tool intelligence and automation continue to grow, and the Industrial Internet of Things makes big data an increasingly big deal.

Machinist's Corner Columnist Michael Deren shares a cautionary tale for vendors and machine shops. Do your vendors realize how important they are to you? Do they appreciate your business or do they think they're the only game in town?

The Look Ahead column in the April 2017 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine features a project to improve robot mobility as much as humanly possible.

Commit to a German-style, dual-training apprenticeship program so your shop can produce its own skilled workers, suggests the director of the German American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest Inc.