Milling vs. Grinding for Rapid Stock Removal February 16, 2015 A recent effort by the Norton Advanced Applications Engineering Group demonstrates that for difficult-to-machine materials, grinding can be an economical alternative to other machining processes.
Extrusion and Drawing Knowledge January 2, 2015 Extrusion and drawing, two related, stalwart topics in material forming, are covered from top of punch to bottom of die in more than 200 papers in the SME Technical Paper library. The range of contributors is broad, from companies like Alcoa, Westinghouse, ASEA, Western Electric and General Electric to universities in Japan, Germany and the US, as well as individual entrepreneur metalworking shops.
Seven Organizational Design Tips for Aerospace Executives January 23, 2015 Your company had a big reorganization last year? Great speech from the CEO about transformation, they moved a bunch of boxes around on the organization chart, closed a plant, laid some people off, and centralized (or decentralized). You’re good to go, right? Think again.
Heller Receives Innovation Award for NANOSLIDE Technology November 21, 2014 The US tech-specialist magazine, R&D Magazine, chose NANOSLIDE® as one of the 100 most important high-tech products launched in 2013. NANOSLIDE® is an innovative cylinder coating technology which reduces friction in combustion engines.
What’s New on the Wire? EDM Machines Offer More November 1, 2014 “You guys are crazy!” That’s what Makino EDM product line manager Brian Pfluger was told—loudly—by a medical-industry customer after Pfluger recommended he use coated wire to make a custom housing for cancer treatment machines.
Taking the Factory’s Pulse with Shop-Floor Monitoring October 1, 2014 To run factories at optimal efficiency, plant managers need to mine real-time shop-floor operational data as fast as possible, to quickly determine where and when any manufacturing process bottlenecks occur. With today’s shop-floor data management software and related hardware solutions, manufacturers can leverage more key production performance data than ever in order to fine-tune their manufacturing processes.
Change-up Pitch: From Metal to Plastic October 2, 2014 Even though it’s been around since the 1950s, when engineering-grade resins were first introduced, many manufacturers still are not familiar with the many benefits that metal-to-plastic conversion provides.
Interpreting the Language of GD&T in Metrology September 1, 2014 The industrial world is continuing its adoption of Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T), the advanced tolerancing methodology. The symbolic language is intended to be both more precise while providing more latitude in allowable variations, replacing the simpler method of adding tolerances to each dimension.
Real-Time SPC Software Drives Bottom-Line Benefits July 1, 2014 The latest statistical process control software offers manufacturers easy-to-use and effective real-time process quality control
3D Printing Builds Up its Manufacturing Resume June 1, 2014 The additive manufacturing revolution is in full stride, flying in aircraft and giving manufacturers a robust tool for design and production