To Get on Industry 4.0 Path, Focus on the Here and Now October 11, 2017 Industry 4.0 is inevitable, and everyone is looking to find a way forward. But manufacturing leaders who focus only on the technology involved will be frustrated—because the new industrial revolution is just as much a culture and people thing as it is a technology thing.
Streamlining Processes at Small, Medium-Sized Manufacturers with ERP Software February 8, 2018 ECi services a multitude of industries, but we presently have four products that service manufacturing and what FABTECH attendees would be focused on: these include Macola, Max, JobBoss, and M1, which is the product I represent.
Applications Expand for Versatile Thread Milling March 1, 2018 Thread milling, a fundamental metalworking process to create threads, is often the operation of choice when working with difficult-to-machine materials, such as titanium, tool steels, stainless steels, hardened steels and other superalloys.
SPECIAL REPORT: Sensors’ Meteoric Rise February 20, 2018 The devices quickly become less costly, sophisticated and independent, gaining wider influence.
Good Times in Thermoplastic Composites March 30, 2018 Thermoplastic composites are gaining traction in manufacturing applications, offering benefits like lighter weight, faster production times, longer shelf life and easier shipping compared with metals or other composites.
Tough Slotting Solution Was Just the Beginning of Savings for Replaceable Tip Cutting Tool February 5, 2018 At Flexco Inc. (Downers Grove, IL), finding a solution to speed up slot-milling with Chip-Surfer replaceable tip solid-carbide cutting tool from Ingersoll Cutting Tools (Rockford, IL) has led to benefits in a host of other operations as well. Flexco, a manufacturer of belt conveyor components, estimates that retooling with Chip-Surfer replaceable solid-carbide tip cutting tools has saved about $200,000 a year overall on slotting operations and the company expects to save as much again on mill-turn operations.
Partnership between motion control, cameras more than stands test of time February 20, 2018 While cameras and motion control have worked in tandem for at least 15 years, their integration has improved because networks have gotten faster, more reliable, and more deterministic (i.e., nothing will interfere with a function that’s a priority).
Berkeley lab hopes to birth teachable robotic systems February 27, 2018 A team of researchers from UC Berkeley, led by Pieter Abbeel, is working on the creation of smart robots that are teachable and can learn new skills without pre-programming. Abbeel and his team also formed a startup called Embodied Intelligence with the aim of developing artificial intelligence (AI) software to enable robots to learn from humans to perform complex tasks.
Cutting Tool Manufacturer Fills Machinist Skills Gap in its Community January 4, 2018 Rapid growth has spurred a cutting tool manufacturer to reach out to its community to grow the pool of young people available to join its workforce. You don’t have to look farther than the lobby of Midwest Industrial Grinding Inc. (MITGI) to find evidence of its commitment to workforce development for its own benefit as well as that of its Hutchinson, MN, manufacturing community.
Medical Parts Maker Ups Efficiency, Capacity of EDM Machining January 4, 2018 With each new contract and change order to increase part volume and improve delivery, Johnson Matthey Medical Components expanded capacity and capabilities in the same way—by purchasing more equipment. The San Diego, CA-based company would invest in another EDM to meet growing demand for orthopedic, endoscopic, cardiology and neurological medical devices, which is at an all-time high. The tactic was effective, but costly.
