Automation & Robots
Drafting New Players For Swiss Precision
Consistent operations play a big part in attaining high productivity. That’s why, as a shop grows (as this Swiss shop has), it should look to add machines—and employees—that complement each other.
Read MoreAutomation Determines The Industry's Future
Industrial history will repeat itself. Automation technology will continue to drive productivity increases in the precision machining industry. Fewer skilled workers will be needed to manufacture ever-increasing volumes of parts. Offshore labor costs will become all but irrelevant. In Darwinian competition, manufacturers that focus on productivity will thrive, and those that don't will die.
Read MorePM News: Machine Named A Notable Innovation
Hardinge Inc.'s (Elmira, New York) Quest LMC42 Lean Manufacturing Cell was recognized by Industry Week Magazine as part of its 2004 Technology and Innovation Awards Program as a "notable innovation" for its potential to improve operations.
Read MoreWhen Automation Has A Ring To It
How do you automate a CNC lathe? If the job can be done from bar, put a bar feeder behind the headstock and a parts catcher or a robot in the work area. If it is a chucking job, then apply a robot. It seems, however, that once the system is set up and gets going, then the problems start.
Read MoreCompeting In Challenging Times
Competition is the keenest, customer demands are the meanest and lenders are the flintiest that have been seen in years. No one is pretending that this will change soon. So the stakes are high on competing effectively. Where do we turn for competitive effectiveness? Even if the business is a lights-out totally automated factory, it’s people, the employees [that make competition effective].
Read MorePM News: Hexagon To Purchase Sheffield CMM Business
As a result of the Hexagon acquisition of Sheffield Automation’s CMM business, a new company named Sheffield Measurement Inc. will be formed. It will remain headquartered in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and will be operated as a separate business unit reporting to Hexagon Metrology North America, based in North Kingstown, Rhode Island.
Read MorePM News: Methods Machine Tools Forms New Group
Titled “Methods Automation,” Methods Machine Tools’ new group will assist customers in maximizing the performance of their individual machine tools as well as their overall manufacturing processes.
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Consider A Programmable Guide Bushing
An example of the "set it and forget it" guide bushing adjustment is a programmable guide bushing available on Traub’s TNL series by Index Corp. It offers the ability to program the CNC to provide a series of guide bushing pressures on the bar based on dynamic conditions.
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Ingenuity Wins New Business
To find new business, often all a shop needs is management with experience in other areas of the industry and a little ingenuity. For more than 50 years, Acro-Feed Industries was solely a designer and builder of automatic bar and shaped bar feeding systems for screw machines, as well as automatic part loaders and unloaders, bar load assists and automatic bundle feeders.
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The New American Night Shift
Strong customer service is what has made this company successful. However, while keeping the customer happy is a primary goal for American Eagle, it is the customer service it has received that has made the biggest difference. Now, increased lights-out operations are allowing the company to be even more competitive by providing lower shop rates for the customer.
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