General Machining & Manufacturing Processes

Machine tool builder INDEX Corp., Noblesville, Ind., named Craig Foster regional sales manager for the upper Midwest and Gino Viviani regional sales manager for the western U.S.

Drake Manufacturing Services Co. LLC, Warren, Ohio, named Bruce Dibble director of sales for North America. Drake builds machines for producing threads and gears.

Machine tool builder Cincinnati Inc., Harrison, Ohio, named Kristina Frontino regional sales engineer for northern California, Nevada, Utah and southern Idaho.

Bunting Magnetics Co., Newton, Kan., named Suzanne Hurst human resources manager. The company makes magnetic separation and material-handling equipment.

GTI Predictive Technology announces the next generation USB digital accelerometer. This product reportedly provides a major leap forward from other USB accelerometers in the market.

U.S. manufacturing industry is transitioning from solvent-based cleaning to water-based cleaning products.

Down, but getting back up: December 2016 U.S. cutting tool consumption totaled $176.04 million, according to the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI) and AMT — The Association for Manufacturing Technology. This total was up 4.4 percent from November's $168.69 million and up 12.5 percent when compared with the total of $156.49 million reported for December 2015, as reported by companies participating in the Cutting Tool Market Report collaboration. With a year-to-date total of $2.042 billion, 2016 is down 4.3 percent when compared with 2015.

It's always encouraging to read an article about a thriving machine shop, such as one by Cori Urban presented at MassLive.com. Gary T. O'Brien, president and owner of Knight Machine & Tool Co. in South Hadley, Mass., keeps his maternal grandfather's oak toolbox in his office. Andrew Kriesak worked at the Van Norman Machine Tool Co. in Springfield as a machinist, and the toolbox is, for his grandson, a symbol of success.

For the 2020 Olympics and Paralympic games in Tokyo, recycled electronics will be used to make the needed 5,000 medals.

Student apprentices graduating from a new automated equipment program will hold demonstrations in front of high-tech industry representatives in February and March at Oakland Community College and Henry Ford College in Dearborn, Calif.

AMT — The Association for Manufacturing Technology released its December 2016 U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders Report this week, noting that orders finished 2016 down 4 percent compared to 2015. But the report also holds some good news: month over month data showed December orders up a whopping 20.6 percent compared to November.