MMS Blog

14 Jun 2006

Succeeding Beyond A Specialty

This shop watched its chosen niche become less profitable. Its response was a dramatic investment in new equipment, along with an information-related change that has made all of the shop’s equipment more cost-effective.

1 Jun 2006

Spain Continues To Focus Abroad

This year’s BIEMH show proved that Spain’s machine tool builders, as well as its tooling and accessory manufacturers, are looking outward to a growing global market.

16 May 2006

Switzerland Is Learning To Be Lean

Earlier this year, visited a cross section of metalworking manufacturing companies in Switzerland to find out how they are meeting the challenge of globally competitive manufacturing.

3 May 2006

Machining’s Role In Making Cancer "History"

A machine shop in a new cancer treatment center produces components to precisely guide proton radiation to eliminate its target—cancerous tumors.

3 May 2006

Laser Measurement Enables Closed-Loop Centerless Grinding

This laser measurement system not only measures ground part diameters, but can also signal a grinder's control to make process adjustments on the fly.

3 May 2006

Direct-From-CAM Machining Streamlines Robotic Milling

The controller on this robotic milling system drives robot movement directly from a CAM model without requiring a postprocessor to generate machining code.

3 May 2006

A Two-Speed Approach To Plunge Roughing

In plunge roughing, the strategy is in the stepover. Here is a plunge roughing strategy that has worked well for Boeing researchers.

3 May 2006

From Donor To Shop To Surgery

This Florida shop machines bone to make surgical implants.

3 May 2006

Thinking Big

This shop specifies large machine tools for the machining possibilities of the future. To prepare for the feed rates the shop expects to use one day, the latest large gantry mills apply linear motors on all three linear axes.

1 May 2006

The More Things Change: Quality Gaging Tips, The Book

We’ve decided to break from our usual format in this column to make a special announcement (at least, I think it’s special): Hanser Gardner Publications has released a new book, “Quality Gaging Tips,” written and edited by yours truly and the original author of this column, the late Jim McCusker. The book is a compilation of more than 140 Quality Gaging Tips columns, arranged by measurement topic and incorporating additional material and illustrations that would not fit in the original magazine format.

18 Apr 2006

A New Approach To Critical Fluid Maintenance

Today, viscosity can be measured precisely by a sensor device that is immersed directly under a stream of fluid or mounted in the fluid tank or pipeline. In simplified terms, the sensor uses sound waves that lose energy when emitted along surfaces of a quartz crystal in contact with the fluid.

17 Apr 2006

Strategic Magnetic Workholding

Switching to a modular form of magnetic workholding enabled this global retread supplier to accommodate a greater number of parts in one setup while accelerating cycle times.