MMS Blog
AGIE And Charmilles To Remain Strong But Separate
The alliance between AGIE and GFAGIECHilles Technologies has been especially closely watched.
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Connecting With Customers
When Danny Hogge installed his first computer-based shop control system several years ago, he hardly imagined he'd soon be giving customers direct access to it via the Internet. As it turned out, it wasn't such a big leap after all, just a few logical steps down the road to where PC-based information technology is taking all businesses, and the metalworking business in particular.
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More And Better Information
That's what employees of this shop now have. It's also what the shop itself has - improved information about its own needs and capabilities.
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The ABCs Of Activities Based Costing
A lot of job shops still use a flat shop rate when costing, estimating or quoting. This job shop developed its own software following another approach that is almost as simple but more accurate.
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It's A Machine Tool Robot
This machine has a dual identity. It looks like an industrial robot. In some applications, such as assembly, it is. However, put a spindle and cutting tool on the end of this five-axis machine and it becomes a machining and drilling center. The inherent stiffness of the machine's tripod design makes it accurate enough to machine aerospace and automotive applications.
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Four Toolholder Quality Factors
Toolholders are a critical link between the machine tool and the workpiece. This article looks at four fundamental toolholder manufacturing parameters that precision metalcutting shops need to consider when tooling for a job.
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Using The Hidden Value In Your Capital Equipment
Metalworking businesses know that if you're not making parts, you're not making money. While that metric is true, your capital equipment may be even more valuable as an asset if managed properly. Here's a look at asset management for metalworking shops.
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Process And Profit
This company quickly transformed itself from a small machine shop to a high value-added supplier largely through the purposeful broadening of its manufacturing process knowledge. The trick was matching company resources with customer needs.
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Growing Into CNC
Like many manufacturing enterprises, this New York shop started with the most basic machine tools and processes. In just six years, they've gone from virturally zero to almost $40 million in sales. Here's a look at how the company's manufacturing has had to evolve to keep up with triple-digit growth in the sales of its products.
Read MoreNew EDM Wire Changes The High Performance Trade-Off
A new type of surface-modified brass wire recently developed in the United States promises to help users of the wire EDM process.
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Rapid Milling For Prototypes
Rapid milling is different from CNC milling in that it relies on high-speed capability and techniques to the extreme. For prototyping, rapid milling becomes a powerful tool that provides faster feed rates, better finishes with less handwork, higher accuracies, and a very wide choice of materials.
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No Experience Necessary
This shop assembled standard machine tools and components into a process for flexible production of a series of complex hydraulic cylinder components - all machined from solid, all accurate in some dimensions to +/-0.025 mm - in quantities that can exceed 3,000 per day, using only two operators per shift to shepherd this production from bar stock to shipping container.
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