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Derek Korn,
Senior Editor
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Cell Anatomy
 Some shop processes simply are cooler than others. The neatest applications I’ve written about have often involved automation. I suppose it’s the intricate, accurate choreography of various complex processes that fascinates me the most. So I was glad to visit SEW Eurodrive’s operation in South Carolina late last year to develop a story about its new $13 million gearbox housing cell. That 12-machine cell has an intriguing layout and interesting mix of machining, inspection and robotic technologies. The story I created highlights the numerous neat elements that comprise the cell.
In addition to snapping photos for the story, I recorded video to demonstrate how laser and vision sensing are being applied in the cell. Click here to read the story and check out the video.
If your shop has recently added automation, send me an e-mail explaining how you’ve benefited, especially if it was in a way you weren’t expecting.
Energy Conservation
A Mold Shop Details Its Efforts
Many shops and manufacturers are making strides to conserve energy and reduce harmful emissions. Marland Mold is one such company.
Marland began looking at its energy use in earnest back in 2003. This page
on its Web site details its efforts to reduce energy consumption and costs. It’s certainly worth a read.
Video Tutorial
Setting Boring Bar Offset On A Swiss-Type
Getting new shopfloor employees up to speed quickly can be particularly challenging for Swiss machining shops. Even machinists who have a good deal of experience operating conventional CNC lathes face a learning curve when they’re put in front of complex, sliding-headstock machines.
Swissline Precision is a Swiss shop in the early stages of implementing a more formal employee training program using MasterTask Training online courses. The courses use video and animation to demonstrate how to perform various functions on specific Swiss machine brands. This video clip pulled from one of its courses describes how to set the X-axis geometry offset for a boring bar on a Tsugami Swiss-type machine.
View Video
Webinar
How CAM Software Impacts Your Profitability
There are times when CNC machine shops must decide whether to replace or upgrade their CAM system. These shops can use traditional selection methods of letting programmers pick their favorite CAM brand or going with their favorite CAM salesman’s recommendation. However, CAM software has grown beyond being a personal productivity tool—it impacts shop profitability on a number of levels. It has the potential to reduce costs far beyond simply reducing part programming time.
Gibbs and Associates will cover these and other topics as it and Modern Machine Shop host a CAM software and profitability Webinar on Wednesday, February 10 from 2-3 p.m. EST. Register now for this free, online event.
Presented by:
Register for this event
One Venue, Two Events
PDx-amerimold & Micro Manufacturing Live
This spring, the Duke Energy Convention Center in Cincinnati, Ohio will be home to new concurrently running events: PDx/amerimold and Micro Manufacturing Live USA.
- PDx/amerimold builds upon the popularity of Moldmaking Expo and Time Compression Expo by featuring the latest technologies in mold manufacturing, tooling, design and product development.
- Micro Manufacturing Live USA: The Micro & Precision Manufacturing Event is dedicated to mass manufacturing small and micro-sized components. MM Live is based on a successful tradeshow concept first established in the UK in 2008 by Rapid News Communications Group.
The two new shows run May 11 to 13 in the Queen City. Click here for hotel and travel information.
Our Next Issue
High Speed Machining
Modern Machine Shop’s March coverage of high speed machining will include profiles of HSM being applied in both aerospace and die/mold settings:
- Warner Robins Air Force Base recently committed to “tap testing” its high speed machines to find precisely the right spindle speeds to enable more efficient performance.
- D1 Mold & Tool describes the extent to which it continues to use HSM to transition work away from EDM.
In addition, a third feature article describes new technologies that enable shops to achieve high metal removal rates in challenging metals using lighter-duty machining centers. The fourth explains how a Swiss-turning shop benefits from online training courses geared specifically toward the brand of Swiss-types it uses.
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