PM Blog
Be a Product Inventor
If you manufacture things, be sure that it is a product that is "meaningfully unique" and differentiates/distances you from your competition.
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Determine Passivation of Stainless
Properly cleaned stainless steel is naturally protected from corrosion by a thin, passive film. But this passive layer can be removed or scratched. A passivation meter measures the surface potential under controlled conditions.
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Don't Chase Variability with CAM
A recent study showed that mechanical SuperTuning of a moderately priced CNC machine could dramatically improve volumetric positioning accuracy.
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Saving Energy with Air Gages
New technologies are available that allow the user to save as much as 40 percent in direct costs by conserving energy on air gages.
Read MoreWipe Away Rough Surfaces
Not only do wiper inserts accomplish smooth surfaces—and if the material allows, they will eliminate a grinding operation—but these additional radii are also designed to double the feed rates of roughing and semi-finishing operations while achieving the specified surface finishes.
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Sustainable Business
Beneath the din of bad economic news on TV and in the business pages, if you listen carefully, you’ll hear another theme: Sustainability.
Read MoreOf Golf and Manufacturing
Golf shots, like the workpieces found in metalworking shops, can be accomplished in a variety of ways.
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Czech Out This New CNC Multi-Spindle
A new CNC multi-spindle is available in the U.S. for the first time. Manufactured in the Czech Republic, it has a long pedigree in Europe, but has been reletively unknown here--until now.
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Al Horner to Discuss Business Strategy and Profitability at PMPA Annual Meeting
"Improving profits" will be the focus of Al Horner’s presentation at the PMPA Annual Meeting in Savannah, Ga. Mr. Horner will share his knowledge of the subject at the meeting’s Sunday morning business session on October 25.
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A Letter from the PMPA President, PMPA 76th Annual Meeting
Dear Industry Colleague:We’ve seen unprecedented spending by the federal government in recent months under the new administration. That includes plans to implement a public option for healthcare coverage.
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Material Impacts on the Precision Machining Industry - August 2009
We believe that it is time to fasten our seatbelts as an industry. Inventories continue to decrease, foreign nations (Japan and Taiwan) are actively seeking to accumulate scrap, primary mills see no compelling reason to restart facilities, and the Chinese are "arresting" employees of the iron ore supplier companies that they are in "negotiations" with. Surcharges are volatile as a result of the 40-percent increase in steel scrap this month alone. Severstal announced it was ceasing all North American operations today as I prepared this report (5 August 2009). I cannot confirm that any BOF melt bar capacity is currently running in North America.
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One-Part Solution With Huge Payoff
Machine shops prioritize different challenges daily, but some challenges are more critical than others. Precise Products Corporation (Minneapolis) was faced with a challenge when one of its original customers asked the company to reduce the cost of a family of parts or risk losing the job.
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