Collaboration is Key for the Next Big Additive Manufacturing Leap May 13, 2019 My first experience with additive manufacturing was 10 years ago when I managed a project to develop a 3D-printed, remotely piloted aircraft. Within this program, a 3D-printed parts producer, that mainly printed prototypes at the time, collaborated with a university and an aerospace systems manufacturer.
GF Machining Solutions to Debut Four New Products at 2019 Solutions Days May 15, 2019 GF Machining Solutions will unveil four new products for the first time in North America at its 2019 GF Solutions Days: the AgieCharmilles CUT C 350; the Microlution ML-10 and MLTC; and the DMP Flex 350.
Manufacturing: New and Improved! May 9, 2019 The state of manufacturing is always a combination of tried and true methods; improvements (sometimes dramatic) in traditional processes; and brand new technology few people even conceived of a few years ago.
New Approaches to Making Parts for the Oil Patch January 28, 2019 Rod Zimmerman of cutting tool manufacturer Iscar Metals lives in a pleasant green zone in a Fort Worth suburb. Yet within a half mile of his home, an oil company has sunk a vertical hole 7,500′ (2,286 m) deep, from which it has splayed nine lateral lines, each going about half a mile.
Rethinking Control Systems for Multi-Well Pads November 20, 2018 Drilling advancements have spurred the evolution of oil and gas operations from simplistic single-well pad fields to more complex multi-well pads. Today, many producers are using fracking and lateral drilling techniques to place 10 or more wells on one pad.
Tool Life, Scalability Drives New Thinking in Machining November 20, 2018 With larger turbine components, compared to automotive and aerospace, plus assembly challenges, new machining technologies are gaining popularity. The conventional milling and broaching techniques in turbine blade machining, with the high tooling costs and abrasive flow issues, are fast fading, as modern assembly methods continue to drive machining tolerances to new heights
Beyond Niche: Alternative Manufacturing for Aerospace Parts April 3, 2019 A typical commercial jetliner contains millions of discrete components, yet provided the plane arrives at its destination safely, on schedule, and hopefully without a screaming baby behind them, most of the flying public could care less how any of those parts were made.
Non-Automotive Manufacturing Sectors Flocking to Robotics February 28, 2019 Cheaper robots with more functions, along with more flexible work cells and installations that facilitate robotics, are accelerating the growth of automated manufacturing facilities in the non-automotive sector. Ideas on whether robotics and automation lead to lights-out manufacturing on the shop floor, though, are mixed.
Ensuring the Security of Additive Manufacturing January 8, 2019 One of the key advantages of additive manufacturing is its digital thread, which allows for rapid communication, iteration, and sharing of a design model and its corresponding physical representation. While this enables an efficient design process, the flow of data opens vulnerabilities to cyber-attack.
Automotive Industry Improves Automation, Adopts Advanced Tech March 1, 2019 The U.S. auto industry has been automated for decades. Production of cars and trucks is associated with large, hulking robots fenced off from human employees. Inside those fenced off areas, tasks such as welding are performed. The industry, though, is advancing on the automation front.