EDMs Take a Big Step Up To Unattended Eroding September 27, 2018 For the most part, EDMing is an unattended, or at least lightly-attended process. Unlike CNC lathes and machining centers, where a broken cutter during the night can make for a truly bad morning, sinking a mold cavity or cutting a trim die requires little in the way of babysitting—why wouldn’t you let the machine run on its own after everyone’s gone home for the day?
Software, Quality Inspection Deliver Auto Parts Safety September 4, 2018 Although drivers may not know it, cable connections for the airbags and seatbelt buckle systems in their vehicle simply would not work without components manufactured by ODW-Elektrik. A development partner and supplier for high-quality cabling, solenoids and mechatronic systems used in vehicles around the world, ODW-Elektrik supplies most of its products to Bosch, Autoliv, Brose, VW, and ZF.
Cobot Fuels Plastics Manufacturer’s Growth September 4, 2018 Step inside Pride Solutions LLC’s bustling shop floor in Hutchinson, MN, and you’ll see a shiny new CNC lathe turning out tube after tube of aluminum. While Pride’s machinists do more important things, a Universal Robot model UR10 collaborative robot (cobot) does the grunt work, loading and unloading the machine to keep up with high-volume orders.
Metrology, Product Design and the Next Revolution September 6, 2018 When I graduated with an engineering degree some decades ago, I learned that the organizations I was going to work for had internal communication problems. This was especially true for those that designed and manufactured complex machinery such as engines, aircraft, or automobiles.
Quality Assurance Passes with Flying Colors at IMTS August 14, 2018 The world of quality measurement devices and software continues to expand, and IMTS years are especially exciting times. If there is a theme in the many offerings—new devices, new software—it might be how quality devices are continuing to burrow their way into the heart of manufacturing on the shop floor.
Hexagon Thinks Big, Gets Bigger August 8, 2018 It’s easy to become dazed by the continuing stream of buzz words. For those of us in manufacturing, all this buzz creates a sense of impending change, but no clarity on what that change might be. Uncertainty means anxiety.
Humatics, Eckhart Demonstrate New AGV August 23, 2018 Humatics Corp. and Eckhart Inc. this week demonstrated a new factory automatic guided vehicle (AGV) capable of changing routes on the fly.
Speeding Up the Additive Manufacturing Design Process with New CAD/CAM Tools June 5, 2018 PowerMill 2019 provides a dedicated suite of tools to program high-rate additive processes—commonly known as directed energy deposition [DED]. The DED process utilizes a CNC machine tool or industrial robot that can focus a power source—typically laser, arc or electron-beam—at a point in space.
Better Together: Machinists and Programmers April 27, 2018 Spend enough time on shop floors and you’ll learn about the two different groups of skilled workers that reside there. On one side are the old-school machinists—skilled craftspeople who use their hands, eyes and ears to guide machine tools. On the other side are the programmers and engineers.
Optical Metrology in Three Dimensions May 29, 2018 Basic trends in modern manufacturing are driving growth in 3D optical metrology. “One is the highly complex and high-tech material that manufacturers are using today. For example, in the aerospace turbine blade market, they simply cannot touch the part like they used to—the surface finish of the material is too readily affected by any kind of contact metrology."