Prototyping / Rapid Manufacturing

The effective use of prototypes can lead the way to continuous improvement.

By 2020, 5G is expected to be the standard for mobile communications.

Western Precision Products backs up its commitment to high-quality service and a top-notch customer experience by investing in the equipment and technology to get the job done.

Picum MT, a startup at Leibniz University in Germany, is collaborating to redefine the manufacturing workflow, which traditionally has involved moving a workpiece from machine to machine or from station to station.

Last year, Sandvik Coromant Co. introduced its CoroPlus Collision Detector, which is designed to effectively use data to minimize damage to both a machine tool and a workpiece in the event of a crash.

Since 2013, members of the MIT Media Lab community have set out from their research groups every summer to observe work in about 10 factories in China. Last summer, they went with a different approach—not just to visit but to collaborate on experimenting and cooperative design with two facilities in or near the city of Shenzhen.

Desktop Metal Inc., a 2-year-old startup, developed a different method of metal 3D printing that it calls an "office-friendly" system for rapid prototyping. The Desktop Metal (DM) Studio system is based on a new approach—Single Pass Jetting (SPJ), which was created by the inventors of the binder-jetting and the single-pass inkjet processes.

Machine tool builders, tool suppliers and software developers now deliver technology that makes it possible for CNC operators to set up jobs in minutes rather than hours, and deliver parts in days instead of weeks.

A new breed of 3D printers has begun producing parts made of engineering-grade plastics and fully dense metals suitable for long-term use in a variety of applications. These include jet engine components, engine mounts, medical implants and a host of other products that were once machined or fabricated by conventional means.

To spur significant innovation and growth in advanced manufacturing, as well as save over $100 billion annually, U.S. industry must rectify currently unmet needs for measurement science and "proof-of-concept" demonstrations of emerging technologies.

EWI, a non-profit organization dedicated to innovating and implementing advanced manufacturing technologies for industry, soon will add an Electron Beam Additive Manufacturing (EBAM) system to its R&D toolbox. Chicago-based Sciaky Inc. announced the sale of its EBAM system in a news release issued July 20.

Once word got out that PTooling, a self-described small, family-owned machine shop in Amherstburg, Canada, had added a Lasertec 65 3D laser deposition welding and milling machine to its arsenal, major aerospace manufacturers began knocking on its door.