Many OEMs are better equipped to insource manufacturing than they imagine themselves to be. Utilization data can reveal the capacity that is ready to be used an alternative to supply chains.
The Colonial Pipeline shutdown was a warning about the dangers of malicious use of data networks. However, as the full value of Industry 4.0 becomes apparent, isolating CNC machine tools from networks will be seen as an increasingly costly way to protect manufacturing from threats.
To take advantage of a lull in business, JR Machine devised a week-long cutting tool event that elevated the shop’s capabilities with aerospace alloys.
A new video series looks at technology and practices for thriving as a very small machining business. In this episode, how workholding using air pressure permits rapid setup of parts too delicate to be held in a vise.
Small business ownership is conducive to the kind of oversight and commitment that serves machining well, but small business also relies on the support and commitment of enterprises around them.
Material advances have produced a ceramic end mill that performs well at lower cutting speeds and competes with carbide in a broad range of applications. Your shop might begin using ceramic tools.
So far, Made in the USA has looked into system-wide effects of broken supply chains, automation, skilled workforce issues and our perception of manufacturing jobs — examining each topic through a prism of individual experiences. For this final episode for Season 1, let’s look at one more system-wide question and bring it back to personal perspectives: Is there today a new dawn, a new moment for American manufacturing?
Mergers, acquisitions and other ownership changes are an effect of Boomer-age shop owners retiring, but only in part. Also important: The way we think about machining has changed.