General Shop Equipment & Supplies

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.

Konecranes Machine Tool Service, Springfield, Ohio, offers retrofit packages that reportedly present customers with several approaches to maximize the performance of their equipment, the company announced in a Jan. 25 news release, noting that some of their customers have discovered a retrofitted machine tool can be a better option than new equipment—at about half the cost.

While data used to calculate the 2015 A.T. Kearney U.S. Reshoring Index contradicts reports of a reshoring trend for U.S. manufacturing, the index itself should not be construed as opposition to reshoring efforts, according to A.T. Kearney, the Chicago-based global management consulting firm that publishes the index.

A shop asks Dr. Jeffrey Badger, Cutting Tool Engineering magazine's "Ask the Grinding Doc" columnist, whether it's better to take several small, fast passes versus one large, slow pass when pinch-peel grinding tungsten-carbide shafts. Visit The Grinding Doc website for more advice from Dr. Jeffrey Badger at http://www.thegrindingdoc.com.

The new M4 Inline part marking system from Dapra Marking Systems, Bloomfield, Conn., is a turnkey solution that features an integrated 16 bus card and is said to eliminate the need for vision identification/control equipment, making the system ideal for efficient, cost-effective inline part marking for everything from automated production lines to manual loading stations and custom-engineered systems, according to a Dapra news release issued Jan. 25.

With the successful introduction of its STAHLWERK Premium Line, KNUTH Machine Tools USA Inc. reportedly achieves new standards for quality and technical innovation in the company's new 2016 catalog, which includes new and updated products.

Women in Manufacturing (WiM) and Case Western Reserve University's Weatherhead School of Management recently announced the creation of a Leadership Lab for Women in Manufacturing, which will provide executive education and training to WiM members in mid- to high-level management roles in the industry.

The National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS), Fairfax, Va., last year awarded a record number of credentials to individuals seeking to start or further a career in manufacturing, NIMS announced in a Jan. 26 news release. In 2015, NIMS issued 21,420 industry-recognized credentials, with 18,901 of them issued in the United States, the organization reported. Compared to 2014, that's a 20 percent increase in U.S. credentials issued by NIMS.

WorldSkills International, an Amsterdam-based organization promoting the need for skilled professionals through various means, recently welcomed Mastercam to its global partnership group, according to a CNC Software news release issued Jan. 26. The partnership begins in early 2016.

Take a video tour of our newly redesigned website to learn how new functionality integrates our industry headlines, product news, feature articles, video reports and Buyers Guide. Launched on Dec. 28, 2015, the new website features larger text to make everything easier to read and a responsive design to maintain that readability across all electronic platforms: desktop computer, laptop, tablet and smartphone.

Applications that require minimal batch sizes, high precision requirements, and complex geometries need high-tech solutions to get the job done. SCHUNK's new modular system for direct workpiece clamping is ideal for complex jobs. Modular clamping columns enable direct clamping of molding plates, freeform parts, and other workpieces on the machine table within seconds, without additional clamping devices or interfering contours. The clamping pillars guarantee collision-free processes, a defined clamping situation, and a reliable simulation of the machining. In addition, changes in the workpiece can be implemented quickly due to the high precision of this clamping solution.

AMT Innovations offers a state-of-the-art workholding product, Get-A-Grip. The new cutting-edge triangular dovetail will never distort or deform the workpiece. The dovetail provides three evenly spaced, radial force vectors for superior gripping. Through carefully thought out triangular contact geometry, this product eliminates the need for an indexing pen. The pioneering internal clamping geometry reduces material preparation area and can be strategically placed where the finished part may have a pocket, which greatly reduces secondary operations.