Industry News

Ort Tool and Die Corp., Erie, Michigan, saw significant sales growth in 2019, which matched its best year of sales in 2007.

OMAX Corp. announces that Landmark Solutions will be taking over Southern California distribution of all lines of OMAX waterjets.

As part of the company’s recent sales and marketing realignment efforts, GF Machining Solutions, Lincolnshire, Illinois, has announced that Peter Eigenmann, former head of sales for the Southeast region, has been promoted to the position of director of sales and marketing, effective Oct. 7, 2019.

Industrial cutting processes have played a significant part in the overall manufacturing of products. From metal foundries to automobile manufacturing, the effectiveness of cutting technologies has been employed across multiple industrial verticals. Among which, plasma cutting methods have gained lucrative grounds in the global industrial landscape.

6-D Laser LLC was formed in 2018 as an affiliate of leading nanometer-level motion control specialist ALIO Industries, with the mission of integrating ultrafast laser processing with precision multiple-axis motion systems. 6-D Laser offers Hybrid Hexapod-based laser micromachining systems for wide-range taper angle control, 5-axis laser Gimbal-based systems for laser processing 3D substrates, and unlimited field of view scanning solutions for laser processing large-format substrates.

Marubeni Citizen-Cincom Inc. (MCC) announces a ribbon cutting and grand opening celebration for its new technical center and showroom at 800 Silver St., Agawam, Massachusetts. The doors will open at 9 a.m. on March 9, with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. An open house will follow to introduce the new L12 Type X and the new 12mm laser cutting and welding machine.

Romi Machine Tools Ltd. announces that Clayton Andrello has assumed the position of direct sales manager. Based out of the company’s U.S. headquarters in Erlanger, Kentucky, Andrello is responsible for managing all of Romi’s direct sales efforts in the U.S. and Canada, with a focus on Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.

The U.K. has approximately 10,000 miles of railway track on its network while the U.S. boasts over 140,000 miles. One thing that both networks have in common however is the need to maintain and repair the rolling stock, especially the wheels which can be prone to flat spots or other damage causing them to run out of round. In the case of the U.S. however, the scale of the network exacerbates these issues, so to maximize efficiency and productivity in their repair workshops, Simmons Machine Tool Corp. turned to Güdel for a solution.

MachineMetrics, a leading data analytics platform for manufacturers, has announced the release of its much anticipated 2019 State of the Industry (SOTI) for CNC Machining. Driven exclusively by real manufacturing data collected from hundreds of companies and thousands of machines globally, MachineMetrics’ report is a first of its kind to deliver confirmation for many gut feelings about the industry as well as to uncover unexpected manufacturing behaviors and trends never made visible before.
“Our unique ability to easily connect to any machine has allowed the MachineMetrics platform to quickly gain tremendous traction and aggregate what we believe is the most powerful global dataset of machine performance in the world. We can now use this data to provide the highest level of insight back to our customers, partners, and the manufacturing community.” says Bill Bither, CEO of MachineMetrics, “We are excited to continue to break new ground for the industry as a whole.”

To support rapid growth within its mechanical testing department, Hermitage, Pennsylvania-based Solar Atmospheres of Western Pennsylvania has invested in a new Haas ST-10 CNC lathe.

Mazak Corp. has launched All Axes, a new podcast developed to keep manufacturers in-the-know about all things manufacturing. The podcast features original content on a wide range of industry-critical subjects and issues affecting today’s North American manufacturers – from additive technologies, automation, multitask machines and the skilled labor shortage to the industrial internet of things, digitally connected factories, cybersecurity and more.

Milltronics USA has named Foothills Machinery Sales as its exclusive full-service distributor for the states of Colorado and New Mexico. Founded in 1984, Foothills Machinery Sales is Colorado’s oldest independent dealer of machine tools. Located in Broomfield, Colorado, Foothills Machinery Sales is home to both knowledgeable sales and service support staffs.

Emuge Corp., a leading manufacturer of high performance taps, thread mills, drills, endmills and other rotary tools, and precision machine tools supplier Brooks Associates Inc. have announced a collaborative effort that expands their respective capabilities for customer training, machining demonstrations and applications testing.

GF Machining Solutions and GF Piping Systems are further enhancing their direct sales and service support to customers in Mexico with the opening of a new Nuevo Leon joint headquarters. In late October 2019, the companies conducted a groundbreaking ceremony for the 75,000-sq.-ft. facility.

Broadening its presence in Canada, GF Machining Solutions and GF Piping Systems will open a new joint headquarters to further strengthen direct sales and service support for Canadian manufacturers. The companies broke ground for the 67,000-sq.-ft. facility located in Ontario in late October 2019.

Computer numerical control machining is an exercise where software controls how machinery moves as it produces an object. For example, when you want an automotive device from Geomiq.com, written codes are fed into the system whereby the machine runs as instructed. Consequently, your automotive item will be ready without the intervention of humans because the program runs independently.

Machining a part requires knowing the correct speeds and feeds for a cutting tool and material — a skill that can take years to master. What if a resource existed that made it possible for anyone to run a CNC machine and successfully cut a range of materials, from plastic and stainless steel to titanium? What if the same resource could help seasoned machinists learn how to optimize a new cutting tool or a new material?

As manufacturers continue to be challenged by a shortage of skilled workers and the need to boost productivity, automation remains a topic of significant interest. That was certainly the case at the Wisconsin Manufacturing & Technology Show. The biennial trade show took place Oct. 8-10 at the Exposition Center at Wisconsin State Fair Park, West Allis, Wisconsin.

After a bit of a hiatus, I received a new book about metalworking, “Essential Guide to Metals and Manufacturing” by Krishan Katyal. The author is a mechanical engineer who has worked for four decades designing and manufacturing machine tools, consumer appliances, diesel-electric locomotives and heavy concrete construction products for Chicago area companies.

The Oregon Manufacturing Innovation Center Research and Development (OMIC R&D) announced this week that Urmaze Naterwalla has joined the organization as its Research Operations Officer. Naterwalla, formerly senior engineer for machining solutions at Boeing Portland, will be developing research operations at OMIC R&D in this new role for the organization.