Industry News for 01/2016

Irvine, Calif.-based CGTech, the developer of Vericut CNC verification and simulation software, recently formed a subsidiary company in South Korea. Headquartered south of Seoul, CGTech-Korea is responsible for marketing, sales, technical support and reseller support throughout South Korea, according to a company news release.

While data used to calculate the 2015 A.T. Kearney U.S. Reshoring Index contradicts reports of a reshoring trend for U.S. manufacturing, the index itself should not be construed as opposition to reshoring efforts, according to A.T. Kearney, the Chicago-based global management consulting firm that publishes the index. 

Women in Manufacturing (WiM) and Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management recently announced the creation of a Leadership Lab for Women in Manufacturing, which will provide executive education and training to WiM members in mid- to high-level management roles in the industry.

John Gardner, a founding partner of Razorform Tools, has started CNC Broach Tool LLC to provide a line of off-the-shelf, inserted keyway broach tools for CNC lathes and mills, Gardner announced in a news release Jan. 20. CNC Broach Tool will continue to sell direct to provide CNC keyway broaching technical support and cut costs for end-users.

The National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS), Fairfax, Va., last year awarded a record number of credentials to individuals seeking to start or further a career in manufacturing, NIMS announced in a Jan. 26 news release. In 2015, NIMS issued 21,420 industry-recognized credentials, with 18,901 of them issued in the United States, the organization reported. Compared to 2014, that's a 20 percent increase in U.S. credentials issued by NIMS.

WorldSkills International, an Amsterdam-based organization promoting the need for skilled professionals through various means, recently welcomed Mastercam to its global partnership group, according to a CNC Software news release issued Jan. 26. The partnership begins in early 2016.

Harry Moser, the founder and president of the Reshoring Initiative, an industry-led group out to prove offshoring is not always the best economical decision for companies, takes issue with the recently released 2015 A.T. Kearney U.S. Reshoring Index, which suggested that the reshoring trend was an aberration. A.T. Kearney, a global management consulting firm headquartered in Chicago, reported in December that its reshoring index dropped to -115 in 2015. A negative value is said to indicate net offshoring, according to the consulting firm.

Okuma America Corp., Charlotte, N.C., recently named Caron Engineering its Partner of the Year, according to an Okuma news release issued Jan. 6. Based on Okuma's annual distributor survey, Caron Engineering received the highest overall partner rating from among all 50 members of Okuma's Partners in THINC, which is a collaboration network of more than 40 industry leaders who come together to solve problems and explore new productivity ideas for real-world manufacturers. 

A partnership between GF Machining Solutions, Lincolnshire, Ill., and a Colorado community college that brought 5-axis training to the school's machine technologies program recently earned recognition from the Obama administration for its efforts to confront an estimated 2 million manufacturing jobs expected to go unfilled over the next decade, according to a GF Machining Solutions news release issed Jan. 21.

U.S. manufacturing reshoring trends appear to have been short-lived, according to a Dec. 21 news release from A.T. Kearney, a global management consulting firm headquartered in Chicago. "The reshoring phenomenon appears to have been more a one-off aberration than an inexorable trend," the firm reported, citing new data from its second annual A.T. Kearney U.S. Reshoring Index. "Data from 2015 confirms that offshoring is gathering steam, while the reshoring train has yet to leave the station."

Norsk Titanium AS, Oslo, Norway, announced the first shipment of Airbus test parts manufactured by the company's patented Rapid Plasma Deposition (RPD) process has been delivered to Premium AEROTEC's plant in Varel, Germany, where it has already undergone finish machining, according to a joint company news release issued Jan. 20.

Manufacturers face "unprecedented global complexity," according to a Jan. 12 blog post on the website for the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation (MAPI). "The sector is now powered by software and data every bit as much as by steel and electricity," continued the post, which was authored by MAPI Marketing Council Manager Cam Mackey. "The ability to access insights about how to survive and thrive has never been more critical. "Recent shifts in technologies, demographics and markets have created a new normal for manufacturers. Those that adapt quickly will emerge more innovative and agile than their competitors, but not without undergoing a transformation in everything from the people they hire to how they create value," Mackey observed in report titled, "The Impact of Megatrends on U.S. Manufacturers." 

Briney Tooling Systems, Bad Axe, Mich., recently worked closely with a leading medical manufacturer to develop a special HSK50E balanceable grinding wheel arbor for a precision CNC grinding machine producing shaped bone fragments for surgical grafting, according to a company news release issued Jan. 19.

CECOR, which manufactures the "Sump Shark" coolant sumpcleaners and industrial carts, announced Jan. 8 that Urso & Urso Inc. has acquired the Verona, Wis.-based company from the RuMo Group LLC. The transaction, accorinding to a CECOR news release, will provide the company with greater access to more opportunity and resources for future growth.

Dorner Mfg. Corp.’s newly completed 25,000-square-foot facility, which became fully operational last month, reportedly positions the company to become even more responsive to customers, while meeting future production goals and anticipated growth in the low-profile conveyor market.

Hardide Coatings Inc., a U.K.-based provider of advanced surface coating technology, recently opened a new production facility in Martinsville, Va. The $7 million expansion, which began a year ago, allows Hardide to expand its production operations to North America.

OMAX Corp., which offers advanced abrasive waterjet technology, this month signed exclusive distribution agreements with Mid Atlantic Machinery and Southern States Machinery to market, sell and support premium OMAX JetMachining Centers and MAXIEM JetMachining Centers to fabricators in the Mid-Atlantic and Southern states.

The Gleason Corp. early this month announced the acquistion of the gear cutting tools business from Hurth Infer Indústria de Máquinas e Ferramentas Ltda., located in Sorocaba, Brazil. Now known as Gleason Indústria de Ferramentas Ltda., the gear cutting tools business includes shaving cutters, shaper cutters, chamfering and deburring tools, as well as tool sharpening services for such products.

Mastercam developer CNC Software Inc., Tolland, Conn., late last month announced a partnership with the Onshape App Store that offers an open marketplace for a wide selection of CAD applications and seeks to modernize the way CAD users find and buy engineering apps. In the past, the comapny noted, desktop CAD users had to search multiple application vendor websites to find compatible products to purchase, register, license and install. 

Jay Timmons, National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) president and CEO, will kick off the 2016 State of Manufacturing Tour on Jan. 28 at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H. Joining Timmons will be Neil Levesque, executive director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics and Political Library, and Jim Roche, president of the Business and Industry Association of New Hampshire.