Chris Koepfer Editor Emeritus

4 Jan 1999

Is It The Shaft Or A Shift?

Most of us who work in manufacturing are reeling from the fourth quarter news about the latest spate of corporate downsizing. Disturbingly large layoffs at Boeing and others beg questions about what's going on.

1 Dec 1998

Our Best Kept Secret?

If a couple of visitors from outer space came down and asked you, "Show us your planet's best and brightest," where would you take them? You think Harvard. That's a logical place to find some of our world's smartest people.

1 Nov 1998

Do What You Do Best

I recently returned from the international machine tool show in Italy. It's called BI-MU and is held every two years at the fairgrounds in Milan.

15 Oct 1998

Growing Into CNC

Like many manufacturing enterprises, this New York shop started with the most basic machine tools and processes. In just six years, they've gone from virturally zero to almost $40 million in sales. Here's a look at how the company's manufacturing has had to evolve to keep up with triple-digit growth in the sales of its products.

1 Oct 1998

It's Not Them. It's Us

It was a Friday evening. I was driving home from the Greater Cincinnati airport, listening to the radio, when I heard the news that Cincinnati Milacron sold the machine tool group.

15 Sep 1998

Consider Milling On Your Turning Center

Most shops are looking to reduce throughput time. One sensible method is to eliminate multiple part handlings and work-in-process time. Advances in machine tool capability and programmability enable more job shops and general-purpose manufacturers to take advantage of turn/mill machines. Here's a look at the state-of-the-art.

2 Sep 1998

The Long Term

For boomers like me this summer has been devastating. Three of our childhood icons have gone to that big TV screen in the sky.

2 Aug 1998

Let's Celebrate Together!

It's August, the dog days of summer. Evenings are long.

15 Jul 1998

Accelerating To Higher Speeds

At this year's biennial gathering of the Spanish machine tool industry, the atmosphere is upbeat and optimistic. Here's a report on what we saw in Bilbao.

15 Jul 1998

Shop Automates Small Diameter Machines

'Processes, not prayers' is a slogan at Starro Precision, a screw machine shop that's taking off like a rocket fueled by tightly focused growth and strategic planning. The use of appropriate technology, including automated bar feed systems, helps maximize resources.

Workforce Development 15 Jun 1998

Do-It-Yourself Training

Training and recruitment of good manufacturing people is like the weather, in that everyone talks about it. But unlike our ability to influence the weather, there are things a shop can do about training and recruitment. This story describes one shop's innovative and successful approach to this vexing problem.

15 May 1998

Can Palletizing Reduce Your Setup?

Locating and securing blanks and then unloading finished workpieces can take a significant amount of setup time. For some applications, palletizing workpieces off-line and then clamping them in common receivers can achieve dramatic setup reductions.