General Machining & Manufacturing Processes

Hwacheon Machinery America, Lincolnshire, Ill., recently appointed two new sales directors: Bob Pellegrini for the Eastern half of the United States, and Dan Pierce for the Western half, according to a Jan. 26 company news release. The two, who were promoted from regional sales manager positions held at the company since 2012, will be in charge of sales and dealer support.

SICK Inc., Minneapolis, Minn., today announced the launch of the deTec4 Prime safety light curtain for reliable protection even in the toughest environments. Additional functionalities of the deTec4 Prime include a built-in laser alignment aid—only from SICK—that provides a visible laser that saves time when setting up or readjusting the light curtain.

The machines in the VMC MT Series from EMAG LLC, Farmington Hills, Mich., are said to be ideal production systems for chucked parts with complex geometries, according to the company. Whether used for prototype production or for fast changes in small production runs, the VMC MT series is designed to meet the demands of flexible production situations due to the ergonomic accessibility of the machining area and the bottom-mounted workpiece spindle.

BENZ Inc., Charlotte, N.C., today announced it will be holding a Heavy Metal Sale to commemorate the company's upcoming expansion and relocation from Charlotte to Hickory, N.C. During the promotional period through Feb. 19, BENZ will offer 25 percent off select live tools, Solidifx Modular Quick Change Systems and angle heads.

The Heidenhain Corp., Schaumburg, Ill., recently announced the new hire of David Doyle as vice president of sales and marketing in North America, according to a Jan. 26 news release from the company. With more than 25 years of management experience, Doyle joins the Heidenhain family to assume the day-to-day responsibilities of the sales and marketing departments.

With the acquisition of Prometec GmbH, Aachen, Germany, Sandvik Coromant "strengthens its offering in digital manufacturing," according to a Sandvik news release issued Feb. 1. A supplier of advanced solutions for monitoring and controlling of machining processes in production machines, Prometec will be integrated with Sandvik Coromant, a product area within Sandvik Machining Solutions.

Emuge Corp., West Boylston, Mass., a manufacturer of taps, thread mills, toolholders, clamping devices and other rotary cutting tools, today announced the expansion of its patented Softsynchro® tap holder line, adding two new holder sizes. Constructed from precision-ground body and shank sections, Softsynchro's patented design is said to significantly increase tool life and performance.

The Suhner Industrial Products Corp., Rome, Ga., recently announced that its SOMEX division offers custom-made deep-hole drilling solutions capable of drilling up to 12mm diameters and as deep as 100x diameter. Utilizing a modular component concept, the SOMEX deep-hole drilling solutions can be integrated directly into transfer machines, special purpose machines or conventional machines.

The Adcole Corp., Marlborough, Mass., this week rolled out a new programming interface for its Model 1100 and 1200 Crankshaft Gages that reportedly simplifies part programming, sequence building and reporting. Adcole's PIR (Part Inspection & Reporting) Software features a single user-friendly interface allowing users to program a new part to measure in less than 15 minutes, including the crankshaft specification and inspection sequence. This fully integrated utility then creates a summary report, output plot and SPC templates, according to the company.

Coherent Inc., Santa Clara, Calif., recently enhanced its series of large-area, high-speed PowerMax-Pro laser detectors to enable power measurement of laser beams of up to 375W continuously, 600W for shorter durations, and modulated peak powers as high as 15 kW in intermittent (long-pulse) operation, according to the company. The PowerMax-Pro detectors, introduced in 2014, are based on Coherent's proprietary thin-film sensor technology that combines the broad wavelength sensitivity, dynamic range and laser damage resistance of a thermopile with the response speed of a semiconductor photodiode.

Though up two-tenths of 1 percentage point since December 2015, economic activity in the manufacturing sector contracted in January for the fourth consecutive month as measured by the Manufacturing ISM Report on Business, which is published monthly by the Institute for Supply Management, Tempe, Ariz.

The MILLAC VII Series of vertical machining centers from Okuma America Corp., Charlotte, N.C., represents the pinnacle of large VMCs with high rigidity, heavy cutting ability and high operability, according to a Jan. 29 company news release. The VMC series is said to feature a strong base column construction with optimally placed ribs to counter chatter and twisting during heavy-duty cutting. In addition, traditional box ways are used for all axes to provide high accuracy and rigidity over the long term.