Emily Probst joined the metalworking world in 2006 as the IMTS intern for Modern Machine Shop. Landing a permanent position as assistant editor for the magazine in 2007, her duties include covering new products each month, among others. Recently, Emily has put her journalism degree from Ohio University (Athens, Ohio) to use by administrating Modern’s blog as well as its Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Click on the photo above to watch a highlight video for the event.
DMG/Mori Seiki USA will host Innovation Days 2013 at its U.S. headquarters near Chicago, Illinois May 7-10. The company anticipates that the event will be its largest U.S. open house to date. The show will feature more machines and seminars than previous years, and will last for an additional day. Attendees will have access to more than 40 machining demonstrations and one-on-one application consultations. Showcased industries will include aerospace, automotive, die and mold, gear production, medical, dental, heavy industry, and general machining.
There’s more than one way to attract the next generation of skilled employees to the shop floor. Tooling component manufacturer Rego-Fix recently expanded its Tenniken, Switzerland headquarters with a new 75,000 square-foot, three-floor addition to its existing facility, and with it, expanded the company’s appeal to a younger workforce.
While Rego-Fix wasn’t actively vying to attract a younger talent pool—one of its many long-term employees has been with the company for 40 years—the expansion’s advanced energy and natural resource-conserving features could be part of what has piqued their interest. For example, the facility includes a heating system that burns wood pellets as opposed to fossil fuels and a “green” or planted roof, which is covered with soil and growing sod for better insulation.
The company has also focused its attention on automating many of its processes to provide increased capacity and greater quality control. Automation and software is a key aspect of attracting younger employees to a manufacturing career, says Richard Weber, President and CEO.
The facility expansion and added automation will enable Rego-Fix to improve the production processes for its tooling products, including the new SecuRgrip toolholder. This toolholder uses a special threaded insert, or key, that eliminates the need to alter cutters to prevent pullout. It builds on the capability of the company’s PowRgrip mechanical holding system.
Fives (Paris, France) has entered into an agreement to acquire MAG Americas, a global supplier of high-performance machining solutions and composite processing. As a subsidiary of the MAG Group, MAG Americas provides large and complex parts machining solutions and composite processing for aerospace, oil and gas, mining, agriculture and off-road-vehicle industries.
This acquisition encompasses several business units: Giddings & Lewis, Cincinnati and Forest-Liné, specializing in composite processing and large metal cutting machines, as well as a unit dedicated to aftermarket services.
Frédéric Sanchez, chairman of the executive board of Fives, says, “This acquisition marks another step forward in the development of our group, which will add to its portfolio the innovative know-how of more than 1,000 employees located in five different countries. As a global supplier of superior and innovative technologies and products, MAG Americas perfectly matches Fives’ strategy to focus on high-value-adding industries, such as aerospace. Through this combination, we are also reinforcing our exposure to a well-positioned North American industry and opening to new opportunities for development in emerging countries.”
Completion of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.
Or so says Editor-in-Chief Chris Koepfer about the new PM Blog recently launched by MMS sister publication Production Machining. Instead of using social media to tweet about breakfast plans, this blog will get to the stuff you actually care about: the business of making precision machined parts. The blog will include reports on the PM staff's travels, updates on articles and shops they’ve visited and timely industry news.
Gardner Business Media (publisher of MMS) also has some other great blogs you should check out:
Please excuse the grainy photo I tried to quickly snap in the airport with my iPhone. If you look closely, you can just make out the Big Ass Fans logo.
On a recent trip to Costa Rica, I was surprised to see a Big Ass Fan above the baggage claim area at the Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport in Liberia. What caught my attention about this particular fan is the fact that I’ve noticed the company’s ads placed across the pages of Modern Machine Shop throughout the years. While I’ve seen these fans at tradeshows, I’ve never been able to see one used in an actual application until now. It was also cool to see something that, in my mind, belongs in a manufacturing environment used in an entirely different setting. Although I wasn’t surrounded by CNC machines and factory equipment, the fan did a good job of keeping me cool in the non-air-conditioned airport in a hot, humid country. This sighting might seem incidental, yet for me it was another example of how manufacturing and the products that support the industry improve our everyday lives.
