The Future of Manufacturing – Big or Small? February 1, 2017 Taking stock of a surprising and challenging 2016, a number of trends may point to a future where manufacturing output increases while continuing to decentralize.
Conductive Thermoplastics for 3D Printing February 9, 2017 As inventive and imaginative as 3D printer technology is, so are the materials that R&D labs have come up with to build parts, including conductive thermoplastics.
Technology: The Job Shop Differentiator January 4, 2017 Contract manufacturers, aka job shops, are the heart and soul of US manufacturing. Their survival and success are imperative.
Advanced Technology Depends on Controls, Design January 6, 2017 Nothing seems so obvious in subtractive machining than that milling and turning processes really are very different: single point vs. multipoint tools; rotating workpiece vs. rotating tool; static tool vs. rotating tool, etc.
The Digitization of Modern Manufacturing January 4, 2017 Today, the ideal factory can achieve levels of self-controlling (and perhaps self-learning) production processes, in which production reacts autonomously to changes or faults and takes appropriate measures.
Genesis Systems Teams with Virtual Reality January 6, 2017 Immersive visualization in the manufacturing world has proven its value time and time again during design reviews, proof-of-concept validation, and customer engagement, decreasing time to market and minimizing risk. Organizations are experiencing faster buying cycles, decreased time-to-market, and minimized risk as they optimize designs in virtual space.
Cutting Tools for Use with New Aluminum-Compound Materials January 6, 2017 New work materials are developed continually to improve the capabilities of finished parts, making them lighter and stronger, among other properties. When these materials catch on, cutting tools must adapt to their often challenging properties.
Smashing Silver Microcubes Toughens Up Materials January 4, 2017 Scientists at Rice University (Houston) are smashing tiny silver cubes into a hard target in order to make these metallic microcubes ultrastrong and tough by rearranging their nanostructures upon impact.
Robotics Can Create Jobs, Says ARM Chief January 20, 2017 Will automation and robotics create jobs or only cut them? Less than a week after the Advanced Robotics Manufacturing (ARM) institute was announced as the fourteenth hub in the network of Manufacturing USA institutes, Reuters News Agency published an article headlined “U.S. investors see more automation, not jobs, under Trump administration.”
Successful Sabotage of Drone Highlights Additive Manufacturing Security Needs January 26, 2017 Additive manufacturers seeking to protect their products must secure every point in their manufacturing process, a need highlighted by the recent successful hack and sabotage of a drone produced by 3D printing, Richard Grylls, technical director at SLM Solutions, said.
