Both the importance and the technological advance of manufacturing are becoming more widely seen. Modern Machine Shop’s publisher is helping with this visibility.
The current crisis is a reckoning. Right now, the challenge is saving livings. But once we are free to look ahead, let’s learn the lessons and prepare ourselves better for the next crisis that comes.
When should a machine shop consider production metal 3D printing? Part of the answer might be when that machine shop also does design. Cobra Aero is a small shop thriving with AM, because it’s also an OEM.
Off-the-shelf imaging technology is now so good it can pick up the distinct surface features of seemingly identical parts. This startup company’s technology leverages what cell phones and other imaging devices can now do, identifying parts by their own unique features so that no serial number is needed.
The machine tool monitoring that many CNC machining facilities are doing today could be a first step toward their use of machine learning. In this conversation, MMS’s “Data Matters” columnist Matt Danford speculates on the coming role of AI for refining machining processes.
Designatronics’ CEO says, “We can access a few million dollars more business” with each skilled machining employee who can perform complex setups and other sophisticated work from day one.
U.S. molders are now buying their tooling from U.S. mold builders. Precise Tooling Solutions illustrates this, and its owner makes the case for why the tariff matters.
Straton Industries employs a full-time HR person as part of its staff of 78. The owner now realizes the shop could have benefited from this help even when the staff was much smaller. Companies overlook the value and importance of this role.
Machining is a complement to AM as a means of finishing metal 3D printed parts. The increasing adoption of AM for production means more need for postprocessing, particularly machining.
The design freedom of additive manufacturing delivers increased performance to cutting tools. At the world’s leading exposition for machine tools, I saw various examples of this.