General Machining & Manufacturing Processes

Asheville, North Carolina, isn't just tourism and beer. Well, sometimes it's beer. But on the other side of the Great Recession, the city's economy has become increasingly tied to the manufacturing industry.

Blockchain could help manufacturers solve the problem of copycat parts, said Shane Wall, HP's chief technology officer. While the technology is in the nascent stages for industrial uses, HP is doing trials and prototyping to test it, he told Forbes during a conversation at the tech giant's Palo Alto, California, campus.

Camcraft Inc. in Hanover Park, Illinois, manufactures high-precision components and assemblies. Utilizing the latest machining technology and automation, the company makes complex hydraulic engine management and fuel system components for on- and off-highway applications. It specializes in producing difficult, precision-machined components—parts that require heat treatment, grinding, bore sizing, hard turning and superfinishing to achieve micron tolerances and provide superior performance for customers' applications.

Zoller Inc. hosted its open house and Innovation Days event June 19-20 at the tool presetting and measuring equipment manufacturer's new facility in Ann Arbor, Mich.

The metalworking fluids market is diverse and includes giant multinational players to medium-scale companies as well. The MWF industry has some chief global players, including Total, Lubrizol Corp., The Dow Chemical Co., Apar Industries Ltd., ExxonMobil, Castrol Ltd., Henkel, PPG Industries, Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Sinopec.

Fuji Machine America Corp. says its ANW-3500 fully automated twin-spindle Lathe is impressive on its own, but when combined with Fuji's Fully Automated HM-3400 milling machine (optimized to integrate), it opens up a whole new world of machining possibilities and efficiencies. Both machines of this cell have built-in robots.

The VP Series Performance Plus miniature spiral bevel gearboxes pack high performance in a small package with a high torque density, range of ratios and torque capacity.

Nanotec offers captive linear actuators with short design in sizes NEMA 11 (28 mm) and NEMA 17 (42 mm). With the LGA28 and LGA42 series, the overall length of the guide is just 10 mm longer than the working stroke, therefore they are particularly suitable for use in small installation spaces.

Its latest investment in the MX7 Linear is grinding high-quality tools 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Tarık Öztürk, production manager at tool manufacturer Turcar, said: "Turkey is experiencing phenomenal growth and it is important to keep a close eye on trends so that you can take advantage of the opportunities. Aerospace, automotive defence and engineering industries are booming and I am happy that we have managed to grow with these markets."

Manufacturing and the market have changed significantly since VaporTech began designing and building PVD coating systems more than 20 years ago. These days, industry competition is fierce, and manufacturers must often fight for their customer's business. For this reason, VaporTech has unveiled its VT-3000i, a new coating system that helps manufacturers differentiate their products and increase their return on investment (ROI) with the latest materials and technologies and a right-sized design for today's manufacturing needs.

Allied Machine & Engineering announces the release of its newest GEN3SYS XT Pro high-penetration insert designed specifically for beam and plate production in the structural steel market. With an exclusive combination of substrate and multilayer coating, the insert is engineered to withstand heat generated while drilling in structural steel beams or plates in high production facilities.

Renishaw introduces InfiniAM Spectral, a new additive manufacturing (AM) process monitoring software. Developed for use on Renishaw systems, the software package helps AM users gain a greater understanding of their processes and overcome the difficulties with AM in critical applications, process stability and part quality. InfiniAM Spectral is part of a developing family of products that help users capture, evaluate, present and store process data from Renishaw laser powder-bed fusion (LPBF) technologies.