Industry News for 12/2017

Marion Technical College's new $500,000 mobile training lab has the potential to train hundreds of workers each year throughout central Ohio, writes Hasan Karim in The Marion Star. The vehicle's 400-sq.-ft. simulation center accommodates eight students, each with a laptop and other training equipment, officials say. Bob Haas, the college's chief strategy officer, says the purpose of the mobile lab is to provide on-site training to local manufacturers.

In addition to helping counteract any automation-caused unemployment, writes Brad Jones for the website Futurism, a universal basic income could provide a huge boost to the U.S. economy. A study from the Roosevelt Institute predicts that 8 years of universal basic income would result in a $2.48 trillion increase in the nation's gross domestic product.

In the decade since the beginning of the Great Recession industrial production (e.g. manufacturing, mining and electricity production) has been a political football of both the left and right. It’s time to stop playing that game, and a good way to start is to review some facts about these industries, which continue to provide a significant share of the Midwestern economy.

Residents and activists in California continue to fight business interests over exposure to the carcinogen chromium-6, made famous by the 2000 film "Erin Brockovich." One issue involving the substance concerns its use at metal-treating companies. They oppose tightening air regulations. The metal-finishing industry provides about 9,000 jobs in the state, with more than half of them in Southern California.

As reported in The Wall Street Journal, nearly 200 parents of high school students in Fort Collins, Colo., recently gathered for “Parents’ Night.” Their children, they were told, could have great, well-paying careers while being “the next generation of makers.” The venue? Woodward Inc., an engine and equipment components plant looking for ways to line up the next generation of employees amid a dearth of manufacturing workers nationwide. “We’re really trying to get after the parents—the parents are influential with their kids,” said Keith Korasick, Woodward’s vice president of operations, who started as a machinist there 26 years ago. “Our message to the parents was, ‘There’s another option.’ You can’t have everybody be a lawyer.”

Aircraft Tooling, a Dallas-based repair center for the aviation industry, was surprised to find that Universal Robots could withstand the high temperatures and harsh environment while performing metal powder and plasma spray processes. The UR “cobots” have been in operation for 3 years without breakdown or service requirements.

​​​A year ago, a leading aerospace manufacturer approached Sandvik Coromant with a machining challenge. The operation in question was finishing deep titanium pockets, a common feature in structural aircraft components.

The skills gap is a well-known, widespread dilemma across the manufacturing industry. Now that the gap is a mainstream problem, what are the steps industry leaders can take to solve it?

Open Mind Technologies AG has announced that its hyperMILL CAM software has provided 5-axis programming to successfully replicate a basketball hoop. The basketball hoop was machined on a GROB G350 5-axis machining center using conical ball barrel cutters from OSG.

In response to the question of whether custom CNC aluminum is better for the CNC machining process, the answer is “yes” in the majority of cases. Today, demand for CNC machining is on the rise, and to ensure superior quality parts and components, customization makes a significant difference.

Frost & Sullivan's latest analysis, "Adoption of IIoT in the Global Test and Measurement Market, Forecast to 2022," finds that the value of the Industrial Internet of Things in test and measurement market is expected to reach $104.8 million by 2022 growing at a compound annual growth rate of 6.7 percent from 2016. The research assesses market dynamics including trends, drivers, restraints, forecasts, mega trends and industry convergence implications, and opportunities in end-user verticals.

Harrison Manufacturing, a custom plastics injection molding manufacturer specializing in molded plastics and light assembly, recently deployed Rethink Robotics' Sawyer robot at its Jackson, Miss. facility and saw immediate tangible benefits. Deployed within hours, Harrison Manufacturing is reducing labor costs and increasing throughput by using Sawyer in ergonomically challenging tasks.

October U.S. cutting tool consumption totaled $198 million, according to the United States Cutting Tool Institute, Cleveland, and The Association for Manufacturing Technology, McLean, Va. This total, as reported by companies participating in the collaborative Cutting Tool Market Report, was up 13.2 percent from September’s $174.92 million and up 17.2 percent when compared with the $169 million reported for October 2016. With a year-to-date total of $1.835 billion, 2017 is up 8 percent when compared with 2016.

Satellites gather speed and travel through a variety of different atmospheric conditions during orbit. Many of the fluctuations in temperature and atmosphere are unlike anything experienced on Earth. This is one of the challenges faced when sourcing materials for the construction of satellite parts.

Sonaca Montreal, a manufacturer of large aerostructures and a subsidiary of Belgium-based Sonaca Group, inaugurated a new high-speed milling center at its plant in Mirabel, Que.

Clemson University announced the creation of the Center for Advanced Manufacturing. CU-CAM will consolidate all interdisciplinary education, research, innovation and engagement involving manufacturing-oriented activities under one umbrella with the overarching goal to improve manufacturing effectiveness, quality and sustainability. This confluence of expertise and infrastructure will enable the center to provide timely, relevant translation of innovation directly to industry partners.

The unemployment rate in the manufacturing industry for private wage and salary workers is at its lowest point in 17 years, reports the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. November had a rate of 2.6 percent unemployment, down from a high of 13 percent in January 2010 and the lowest since 3.1 percent in June 2000.

Deloitte projects that in the next decade, 3.5 million manufacturing jobs will need to be filled. However, many manufacturers struggle to fill the employment vacancies they have now. With five website enhancements, a manufacturer can improve its chances of recruiting talented, experienced millennials.

The structural steel industry is bracing for – and counting on – a huge increase in demand for structural steel products. The anticipated surge in demand arises from a renewed focus on improving the country’s infrastructure, as well as a high level of private sector construction. Manufacturers are investing in machinery that enables them to increase part production speed. This emerging metalcutting trend is supported by a variety of new tools, including the structural steel GEN3SYS XT holder and insert system and T-A structural steel drilling system made by Allied Machine & Engineering.

Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in November, and the overall economy grew for the 102nd consecutive month, say the nation's supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM Report On Business. The November PMI registered 58.2 percent, a decrease of 0.5 percentage point from the October reading of 58.7 percent. This indicates growth in manufacturing for the 15th consecutive month led by expansion in new orders and production, offset by supplier delivery improvement and declines in raw material Inventory.