Click through the IMTS Zone before coming to the show.

IMTS 2010, presented by AMT—the Association for Manufacturing Technology, boasts more than 1.2 million square feet of exhibition space and is expected to attract nearly 90,000 visitors to Chicago’s McCormick Place this September. To help you learn more about some of the new products companies will display at the show, we’ve created the IMTS Zone on MMS Online. The IMTS Zone offers 13 product categories containing product announcements provided to us by companies exhibiting at IMTS 2010.

You can also get more information about IMTS 2010, register for the show and begin planning your visit there by using the helpful My Show utility.

Go to the IMTS Zone.

In July, real consumer durable goods spending increased 6.4% compared to the same month one year ago. This is the 10^th straight month of such increases, but the rate of growth has slowed each of the last four months. Since March, real consumer spending on durable goods had been falling each month. However, July saw spending rise just slightly above the March level. Spending is up 11.4% since its bottom in December 2008, but it still has not reached the level seen in August 2009 – the peak of the cash for clunkers program. While spending is still improving, real personal income excluding government transfers is virtually flat. In July, income less government transfers was just 0.5% higher than it was last July. Income had been improving slightly month to month through late 2009 and early 2010 but incomes haven’t budged the last three months. As I have repeatedly said, spending improving more and prior to incomes is out of whack from the normal economic cycle and is not sustainable in the long run. For more on income and spending and their relationship to manufacturing, go here.

Are you planning for how you will spend your time at IMTS? I wrote a commentary about this for our August 2004 issue that reads like it could have been written today. 2004 was also an IMTS year, and also a year in which we were tired of the lingering impact of a recession. We couldn’t have known how much more tired the country would be just six years later, but that’s another story.

The advice I offered in that column still stands, I think, as the best tip I have to give about how to get the most value from attending IMTS. Namely, in addition to planning time for all the companies you know you want to see, give the show an extra half-day that doesn’t include any plans at all.

Read the article here.

Since this program aired in October 2000, machine tools have become even more marvelous.

Yesterday’s blog post by MMS Senior Editor Peter Zelinski featured news about an upcoming episode of “The Edge Factor,” in which he makes an appearance. This isn’t the first time an MMS editor has been involved in a TV show.

Ten years ago, I had the privilege of being part of the History Channel’s “Modern Marvels: Machine Tools” program. Thanks to YouTube, this program is still viewable — click on the player above to watch one of the segments.

The message of that program is still quite valid. Machine tools are not only marvelous, but also they are the foundation of our industrial progress and the prosperity it brings.

Filming took place at Myles Tool in Sanborn, New York. Modern Machine Shop (in the form of me) was part of the episode, too.

Jeremy Bout worked in a machine shop before he worked in film, and he has remained an enthusiast of CNC machining. Now an independent film producer, he decided to share his enthusiasm with others. The result is “The Edge Factor,” a show that aims to portray the excitement and challenge of modern metalworking and manufacturing for a mainstream audience. The pilot episode — filmed in 3D — focuses on a custom machining job carried out by a New York job shop.

The episode won’t be released until later this year, but the 3D preview makes its screen debut at IMTS. You can watch it in Modern Machine Shop’s IMTS area, the Advanced Manufacturing Center.

To learn more about The Edge Factor, click here.

Shops can benefit from MQL “clean machining” in a variety of ways.

I recently got the chance to visit Ford’s Van Dyke transmission plant in Michigan to create an article about how it’s benefitted from minimum quantity lubrication (aka MQL). You might not think that a simple change in the way a tool and workpiece are cooled/lubricated would have such a dramatic effect on transmission component manufacturing, but it certainly has in Ford’s case. The article, which I’m currently writing, will appear in Modern Machine Shop’s October issue.

I’ve been sorta on an MQL kick here lately, so I figured I’d provide links to a few other articles we’ve published about MQL in addition to an instructional video that explains how a shop might get started with the near-dry machining technique. Check these out:

Understanding MQL — Minimum quantity lubricant can save money, improve tool life and improve the part finish. But it may involve changes to both the equipment and the processing strategy.

Toward More Seamless MQL — One of the small perils of a new technology is that it often involves new steps or new considerations that present special opportunities for error. MQL is a technology that exemplifies this point.

Complementary Technologies Make MQL More Accessible — An add-on system for MQL combines an external pump with repeatable control over nozzle position.

Video: Getting Started with Minimum Quantity Lubrication — MQL does not require a special machine tool or special tooling. This video makes the case for MQL and describes how to apply it effectively.

If your shop has recently begun integrating MQL, shoot me an e-mail. I’d like to hear about your efforts.

Todd Schuett and I conducted an experiment during one of my most recent shop visits. Todd is MMS Online’s video contributor. Find some of his recent work here and here. He proposed that we go together to visit Die Tech & Engineering so that he could capture footage for online video that would closely complement the article I would be writing. Unfortunately for Die Tech, the result was one of the more intrusive shop visits I’ve ever done. The photo above conveys a sense of what it was like to have a video crew invade this mold shop’s production floor. However, the people of this shop could not have been more gracious—and I think the content and quality of the video are fitting rewards the imposition. You can read the article here, and also see the video presentations about Die Tech’s inspection strategy and its use of five-axis machining.

It turned out I would soon see a film crew in a machine shop again—this time as part of a much larger project. It was in 3D. “The Edge Factor” is a new show assisted by Modern Machine Shop that will bring CNC machining to a mainstream audience. Details are coming soon—watch this space for more.

Consumer durable goods industrial production in July was up 13.1% compared to July 2009. This is the seventh straight month of growth in industrial production; however, July was the first month where the rate of growth slowed compared to the previous month. The index dropped back down to 78.8, but a fall in industrial production in July is a normal occurence as the automotive industry (and others) typically has significant plant closings for maintenance. Other economic data shows that the economy could be slowing down again.

So, a slowing rate of growth in industrial production could be a confirming signal that indeed the economy is beginning to slow. This would make sense because much of the increase in production was due to inventory replenishment and not expanding consumer spending. If the growth rate of industrial production continues to slow in future months then it is quite possible that the metalworking industry will be in for another slow down. For more information on industrial production go here.

Motoman Robotics’ groundbreaking featured this ambidextrous robot. Watch him dig here.

On August 13, 2010, ground was broken for Motoman Robotics’ new facility in Miamisburg, Ohio. The new facility will serve as Motoman Robotics’ headquarters and main manufacturing facility for its North and South American operations. The company is a division of Yaskawa America, Inc.

According to reports, stealing the show was a Motoman SDA10D robot. Nicknamed Dexter Bot, this dual-armed robot showed off its agility by wielding a shovel to turn the first dirt in the construction process. (Perhaps a hidden message to other manufacturers is that robotic automation can help them hit pay dirt, too.)

Company executives and local officials also took turns breaking ground.

When construction is completed next June, the new 300,000 square foot office and production facility will combine the current West Carrollton, Ohio headquarters, along with a manufacturing plant and a warehouse located in Troy, Ohio.

The new facility will house approximately 250 to 275 employees. The 25-acre site allows for the building to be expanded by an additional 200,000 square feet to support future growth.

To learn more about robots from Motoman, click here.

Four basic elements of a process for producing a CNC machined part are: (A) the machine tool, (B) the cutting tool, (C) the CAM software and (D) the inspection device. A and B certainly work together, A and C get integrated via the postprocessor, and A and D are often integrated as well—because the probe might reside in the machine.

However, few people would put B and C together. That is, few think about how the CAM software and the cutting tool might complement one another more effectively.

Steve Bertrand, sales manager for Mastercam, says bringing these two elements together only stands to reason. Of the four elements above, the cutter and the software are the two that change the most quickly. These receive frequent upgrades; the others do not.

Soon, he says, CAM from his company and tooling from Iscar will be able to work together more effectively than perhaps any CAM and cutter combination ever has. Within Mastercam X5, a simple slider device will make it easy for programmers to obtain high-efficiency machining parameters that are tailored particularly to specific Iscar tools. High speed machining will become that much easier to implement. Read the full story here.