Laser Takes Heat Out of Tough Tool Grinding December 1, 2016 Cutting tool maker Shape-Master Tool Co. (Kirkland, IL) needed to expand its tool grinding capability beyond that of its conventional machines or run the risk of losing work to the competition.
Auto Industry Faces Short- and Long-Term Challenges December 6, 2016 Sales of cars and light trucks plummeted during the Great Recession and General Motors Co. and Chrysler emerged from government-back bankruptcies in 2009. Since then, total industry deliveries have surged, hitting a record 17.47 million in 2015, according to Autodata Corp.
Oerlikon to Build Advanced Materials Manufacturing Facility in Michigan November 11, 2016 Oerlikon announced today that it will be building a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Plymouth Township, Michigan, USA, dedicated to producing advanced materials for additive manufacturing and high-end surface coatings.
Geometry Lesson Teaches Corvette How to Lighten Up October 14, 2016 It’s been almost two decades since the C5 Corvette hit the streets with its groundbreaking chassis built around hydroformed steel bumper-to-bumper frame rails. The technology gave engineers a chance to create components that were both lighter and stiffer than traditional stamped and welded assemblies.
Faurecia Goes All In on Industry 4.0 October 18, 2016 Automotive supplier Faurecia (Nanterre, France) decided it needed to get serious about Industry 4.0 fast.
A Crazy, Mixed-Up Method of Welding September 1, 2016 Friction welding may be just the recipe for joining lightweight materials
How A Vendor Managed Inventory System (VMI) Benefits Business April 12, 2016 When a manufacturer has excess inventory not adding value to the process, the inventory is hurting the company’s balance sheet, and is by definition wasteful.
Creating New Value at Toyota February 25, 2016 I traveled to Toyota headquarters in Japan with Jeff Liker for a research project. We wanted to learn more about the engineering and collaboration that created the Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA), the strategy and innovation behind hydrogen vehicles, and how they had adapted and improved their development system to meet the increasing demands of the ultra-competitive global auto industry.
Lasers Grow Manufacturing June 1, 2015 Today, laser technology in manufacturing touches all of our lives on a daily basis; lasers cut air bag material and weld air bag detonators for our in-car safety; lasers weld the batteries in many of our mobile devices; lasers drill aero-engine components for planes; lasers cut the glass for our smart phones and tablets screens; lasers weld the drivetrains in our cars and trucks; lasers cut medical stents that increase and enhance our lives, just to name a few.
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.
