New Year, New Growth

What do you hope to accomplish in 2020? Is there one big goal that comes to mind immediately, or do you have many small ones? If you’re like me, you made time to sit down at the end of 2019 to create a list of professional and personal goals. Then, you broke down each goal into more detailed action plans that describe the steps you will take to accomplish those goals.

One of my goals for this year is to expand the Parts Cleaning coverage of Production Machining and Products Finishing. As the editor for this section, I am committed to finding valuable and informative articles, news and product technology to share with those of you who machine and clean parts under one roof. Another goal of mine is to learn as much as possible from the people and companies that clean parts on a regular basis by exploring the many facets of this industry in order to bring you the best coverage.

If you don’t already know me, I’ve been an editor with Production Machining for 16 years, helping to report, write and edit articles in the precision machining industry and, more recently, in the manufacturing cleaning segment of the industry. I also manage the production of the magazine, in print and online. I started at Gardner Business Media, Production Machining’s parent company, as assistant editor of Modern Machine Shop. My journalism career began in 1999 in Chicago, writing technical articles for two trade publications in the trucking industry.

Along with a fresh look to this Parts Cleaning section starting this issue, expect to see four times year a feature article, a cleaning Q&A clinic that covers a technical cleaning process, a column from me, and occasionally, an extra article on a cleaning process or new equipment (see “Combining Deburring, Cleaning, Drying in One System”) all of which focus on manufacturing cleaning.

In this issue, read about ultrasonic cleaning technology, including the solvents used and the benefits of implementing this type of cleaning process. A new technology from Ecoclean combines deburring, cleaning and drying in one unit. Learning about this modular machine makes me wonder if this “done-in-one” machine is the beginning of a trend in precision machining where we will see other OEMs combine processes in one piece of equipment for efficiency. Last, but not least, if your company cleans nonferrous metals, be sure to read “How to Reduce Steps Required in Nonferrous Surface Finishing,” to simplify this process.

Please reach out to me if you have thoughts on cleaning, article ideas, or a cleaning topic you would like to learn more about. Good luck with your 2020 goals!