Industry News

From the founding almost 20 years ago of Mikron Tool SA, Agno, Switzerland, with a six-page brochure, the company has grown to today's 600-page catalog. In this time, Mikron Tool has morphed from a supplier of special cutting tools for transfer machines to a globally present tool manufacturer. The company's range of standardized tools includes more than 2,600 items, which now are included in a "tool book" for end users.

July U.S. cutting tool consumption totaled $170.95 million according to the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI) and AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology. This total, as reported by companies participating in the Cutting Tool Market Report (CTMR) collaboration, was down 8.4% from June’s $186.57 million and up 16.0% when compared with the total of $147.43 million reported for July 2016. With a year-to-date total of $1.266 billion, 2017 is up 7.1% when compared with 2016.

The first day of Makino Corp.’s two-day 2017 Die/Mold Technology Expo included technology seminars, economic prognosticators, and demonstrations on more than 23 state-of-the-art machines at the company’s U.S. headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich. The company also unveiled a new vertical machining center for true 5-axis continuous processing.

MachiningCloud Inc., Camarillo, Calif., and Colibri Spindles Ltd., Lavon, Israel, have partnered to provide Colibri Spindles product data in the cloud.

Are you having vibration or power consumption problems? The solution might be to change the cutter pitch. Learn how the pitch affects productivity, stability and power consumption.

Renishaw PLC, Wotton-under-Edge, United Kingdom, a provider of hardware and software solutions for on-machine probing, including workpiece setup, workpiece inspection, tool setting and broken tool detection, has partnered with MachiningCloud Inc., Camarillo, Calif., a product data provider for cutting tools, CNC machines and workholding.

Melin Tool Co., Cleveland, and MachiningCloud Inc., Camarillo, Calif., have partnered to provide Melin Tool product data in the cloud.

Jasper, Ind.-based NAP Gladu, a Techniks Industries, Indianapolis, company, has acquired Ace Saw and Supply Co., Los Alamitos, Calif.

MachiningCloud Inc., Camarillo, Calif., and Garr Tool Co., Alma, Mich., have partnered to provide Garr Tool product data in the cloud.

Seco Tools, LLC has partnered with Ferris State University (FSU) in Big Rapids, Michigan, to offer local area engineering students an opportunity to participate in a multi-year internship program at Seco. The program invites the top three engineering applicants to participate for an initial first year internship. Based on their interest and performance, the students may be asked back for a second year. Graduates of the program will often be offered employment by Seco.

The CECIMO General Assembly that recently concluded in Rotterdam confirmed that, based on solid booking numbers, the European production of machine tool is set to grow by almost 4% in 2017 and surpass a volume of 25 billion euro. Members also agreed that policy-makers should refrain from designing strict regulations on access to and sharing industrial data. CECIMO is the European association representing the common interests of the Machine Tool Industries globally and at EU level.

Pinch grinding offers aggressive material-removal rates, excellent concentricity and low part runout when prepping cutting tool blanks.

ARNO USA, Harvard, Ill., has hired Kevin S. McCabe as the company's new Regional Technical Support Engineer for the Midwest region of the country. McCabe will provide technical sales, engineering and training activities for ARNO USA’s range of cutting tools over a four-state territory that includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Missouri.

The Star Cutter Co., Farmington Hills, Mich., plans to mark its 90th anniversary throughout 2017 by reflecting on the company's past and future. Founded in 1927 by Howard B. Lawton and Frank Burgess, Star Cutter is a fourth-generation, family owned business and one of the oldest Michigan-based manufacturing companies.

Without a doubt, cutting tools for machining titanium must be well-engineered. This was reinforced for me while attending Horn Technology Days 2017 May 10 to 12 at Hartmetall-Werkzeugfabrik Paul Horn GmbH’s in Tübingen, Germany.

March U.S. cutting tool consumption totaled $200.05 million according to the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI) and AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology. This total, as reported by companies participating in the Cutting Tool Market Report (CTMR) collaboration, was up 14.3% from February’s $174.98 million and up 8.4% when compared with the total of $184.57 million reported for March 2016.

At the first general session of NTMA’s annual meeting near Jacksonville, FL, Chris Kaiser, President/CEO of BIG KAISER, presented a donation for $4,100 to benefit the NTMA’s National Robotics League (NRL). 

Midwest Industrial Tool Grinding Inc. (MITGI), which manufactures and markets standard and custom cutting tools, has been named Manufacturer of the Year in the small company category by the Manufacturers Alliance, a Minnesota association that promotes education and peer-to-peer mentoring in the state's manufacturing industry.

Deniz Sari, Dr.-Ing., has been named Gear Technology Manager for Samputensili and its joint-venture Star SU LLC. In the newly created position, Sari will analyze all best practices coming from Samputensili and Star SU manufacturing plants around the world.

On Nov. 3, 2016, Greenleaf Corp. officially launched its phase-toughened ceramic insert grade XSYTIN-1 with a press event at the toolmaker’s global headquarters in Saegertown, Pa.