Industry News

In 2017 robot supplies in the Americas will surge by 16 percent from 2016, according to the International Federation of Robotics. IFR estimates that by 2020 the worldwide stock of operational industrial robots will increase from about 1,828,000 units at the end of 2016 to 3,053,000 units—an average annual growth rate of 14 percent between 2018 and 2020.

Coldwater Machine Co., Coldwater, Ohio, an engineered solutions and precision machining company that manufactures and integrates assembly automation and special machines, announced a 27,500-sq.-ft. expansion to its manufacturing space, enlarging the facility to 132,500 sq. ft.

The online magazine Fast Company reports that while the rest of the auto industry increasingly uses robots in manufacturing, Toyota has taken a contrarian stance by accentuating human craftsmanship: "The central role that people play in this corner of [Toyota's] Georgetown plant is repeated throughout the factory and exemplifies the uniqueness of Toyota’s manufacturing philosophy."

Drake Manufacturing Services Co. LLC, Warren, Ohio, has been sold in a court-ordered receivership.

The global ceramics market is expected to reach $287 billion by 2022, according to a recent report by Grand View Research Inc. Furthermore, advanced ceramics are expected to be the fastest-growing segment in terms of volume at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 9 percent through to 2022.

The American manufacturing industry is charging ahead. Despite losing five million jobs over the past decade due to automation and offshoring, the American manufacturing industry is now producing up to 12% of the country's gross domestic product. That's the same percentage of product produced in 1960, but with three times the growth in productivity experienced in 1978.

Scott Lister has been appointed regional sales manager covering Texas and Louisiana for Dorner Manufacturing Corp., Hartland, Wis.

UI LABS and ManpowerGroup have released a workforce analysis that identifies 165 data-centric jobs that will define the future of manufacturing in the United States. Descriptions for jobs such as collaborative robotics specialist, manufacturing cybersecurity strategist and enterprise digital ethicist give a window into the advanced skills and knowledge needed to put new technology into practice and remain globally competitive.

Motion Industries Inc., Birmingham, Ala., a wholly owned subsidiary of Genuine Parts Co., Atlanta, has agreed to acquire Numatic Engineering Inc., Sun Valley, Calif.

Lincolnshire, Ill.-based GF Machining Solutions LLC's System 3R, which supplies modular workholding/tooling systems, automation and software, is celebrating its 50-year anniversary.

Boeing and Georgia Tech formally opened a new advanced development research center designed to solve some of the toughest technical challenges in manufacturing. In the Boeing Manufacturing Development Center, company researchers and Georgia Tech engineering students will work together to implement automation in industrial applications. The center is located in Georgia’s Tech new 19,000-sq.-ft. Delta Advanced Manufacturing Pilot Facility.

Capgemini’s Digital Transformation Institute reports that manufacturers expect investments in smart factories will drive a 27 percent increase in their operation efficiency over the next five years. This would add $500 billion in annual added value to the global economy. Fifty-six percent of surveyed manufacturing executives said their companies have invested $100 million or more in smart factory initiatives over the past five years, while 20 percent claim to have invested $500 million or more.

Creditsafe USA has released the findings of an in-depth analysis of the US manufacturing industry. Despite recent overall consistent performance, the study highlights several areas of concern across the entire sector in particular the rate of bankruptcy signaling the possibility of an industry slowdown. With the manufacturing industry being the largest area of employment in the US, any decline could have a catastrophic effect on the overall US economy.

In 2007 the KUKA Titan entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest and strongest robot in the world. A decade later a modified version of the behemoth has been given accuracy unprecedented for its size—better than 100µm (0.0039").

In 2016, Pilatus Aircraft Ltd. installed new manufacturing systems for machining structural parts made of aluminum. To achieve the desired surface quality and precision during high-speed milling operations, the aircraft manufacturer continuously relies on the solutions provided by Haimer: a large selection of toolholders and the corresponding shrinking and balancing machines.

According to Frost & Sullivan’s Industrial Automation and Process Control team, cognitive technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) are "poised to transform all manufacturing sectors." Partnership, collaboration, and technology investment are crucial for growth opportunities in an era when "data is the new currency."

Heller Machine Tools will open its doors for Tech Days 2017, July 26 and 27, at its facility in Troy, Mich. The machine tool builder will demonstrate new 4- and 5-axis machining solutions for automotive, oil and gas, heavy-duty diesel and general machining applications.

By now, most manufacturers have heard of the promise of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). In manufacturing's future, newly installed sensors will collect previously unavailable data on equipment, parts, inventory and even personnel that will then be shared with existing systems in an interconnected “smart” system where machines learn from other machines and executives can analyze reports based on the accumulated data.

Kitagawa NorthTech, Inc., which offers standard chucks, custom engineered workholding and Steady Rests solutions, in April announced that Shaun Thomas joined the company as Senior Manager of Engineering & Manufacturing. In his position for the workholding company, Thomas will be instrumental in managing all design, engineering and manufacturing processes. 

It takes knowledge and skill to get a robot to do exactly what you want it to do in a manufacturing environment--and those are hard to come by in this skills-gap era. A new interface designed by Georgia Institute of Technology researchers is simpler and more efficient than most interfaces, and doesn’t require significant training time. The user simply points and clicks on an item, then chooses a grasp. The robot does the rest of the work.