2021 Will Be Dramatic, Too — How Is Your Tooling?
The time is now to take stock of your tools. Recently posted articles explore the potential impact of tooling technology.
Peter Zelinski
Editor-in-Chief, Modern Machine Shop
Machining Suppliers of the Future Will Be Both Bigger and Smaller
When we look for Top Shops in the years to come, what will we find? Through acquisition they’ll scale up and with technology they’ll scale down.
Hope Is an Asset: Here Are Machine Shops Following Clear Visions for the Future
A simple strategy offering a clear aim to hope for is particularly valuable during a disruptive time. Recently posted articles offer examples of shops following clear ideas for the way ahead.
Die Makers Adapt to Challenges All Machine Shops Face
Die shops offer examples of adapting to the skills shortage and excelling at difficult machining. Plus, why reshoring should begin with die tooling.
Has COVID-19 Made a Case for Automation? Taught Us About People Instead
Recently posted articles offer various pictures of machining automation. Also, goodbyes to two long-time writers for MMS: Wayne Chaneski and Derek Korn.
After Machine Monitoring, Is Machine Learning the Next Step? Getting Ready for AI in Manufacturing
Is artificial intelligence coming to machine shops? Automatically gathering data is already widespread. Automatically analyzing data is likely the next step. One book offers a useful perspective on what this will and will not mean.
What Comes Next: The Beginning of a Reshoring Policy for U.S. Manufacturing
The current crisis is a reckoning. Right now, the challenge is saving livings. But once we are free to look ahead, let’s learn the lessons and prepare ourselves better for the next crisis that comes.
Does Your Machine Shop Have a Story to Tell? Here Is What We’re Looking for in 2021
The world has changed, but machining facilities are still making parts and we will keep telling their stories. Join us: Let us know how your shop is succeeding.
Peter Zelinski
Editor-in-Chief, Modern Machine Shop
OEMs and Job Shops See Metal Additive Manufacturing Differently
When should a machine shop consider production metal 3D printing? Part of the answer might be when that machine shop also does design. Cobra Aero is a small shop thriving with AM, because it’s also an OEM.
Acquire to Hire: This New York Manufacturer Sees Buying Shops as the Best Way to Add Staff
Designatronics’ CEO says, “We can access a few million dollars more business” with each skilled machining employee who can perform complex setups and other sophisticated work from day one.
Because of the Tariff on Mold Tooling, This Indiana Mold Shop’s Business is Now Booming
U.S. molders are now buying their tooling from U.S. mold builders. Precise Tooling Solutions illustrates this, and its owner makes the case for why the tariff matters.
Does Your Machine Shop Need a Human Resources Professional?
Straton Industries employs a full-time HR person as part of its staff of 78. The owner now realizes the shop could have benefited from this help even when the staff was much smaller. Companies overlook the value and importance of this role.
What Machining Facility Should MMS Write About Next? Maybe Yours
The articles we develop often start with a manufacturing leader letting us know about the special way their shop is advancing or succeeding.
Not Every RFQ Needs Your Attention
This shop discovered the most profitable thing it could do with certain RFQs is to prevent them from ever reaching the quoting team.
3 Reasons Machine Shops are Paying Attention to ERP
Awareness of people and the value of their efforts accounts for part of the reason why we are seeing enterprise resource planning being taken more seriously.
Peter Zelinski
Editor-in-Chief, Modern Machine Shop
3 Mindset Changes for Lights-Out CNC Machining
Expanding capacity into the unattended hours calls for counterintuitive new ways of thinking about the work.
5 Impressions of EMO 2019, from Automated to Autonomous Manufacturing
The robot show? Not quite that. But automation and the expectation of processes that can run unattended if needed are clearly core to manufacturing now.
Merging Advances: Lights-Out Machining Combines Automation and Focused Process Improvement
One of the most significant developments in machining right now is easy to miss because it is the union of two different advances coming together.
10 Takeaways on How Artificial Intelligence (AI) Will Influence CNC Machining
The Consortium for Self-Aware Machining and Metrology held a promising first meeting at the University of North Carolina Charlotte. Here are my impressions.
The Additive Manufacturing Conference in Austin Emphasizes Production. Join Me.
Additive manufacturing both competes with and complements conventional processes. AM’s increasing viability for scale production is reflected in our plans for the AM Conference.
Center of Excellence Is New Twist on Old Manufacturing Department Structure
The new Spirit AeroSystems facility for five-axis machining allows a small team to oversee a significant amount of machining capability. Is this the way of the future as machining systems become more automated?
20 Years of “The Z Axis”
Peter Zelinski notes the 20-year anniversary of his monthly column for Modern Machine Shop, offering reflections on writing this column for machining leaders and professionals over the span of two decades.
Peter Zelinski
Editor-in-Chief, Modern Machine Shop
Manufacturing to Meet Tech Community at MT360
I will hold onstage conversations with additive manufacturing and collaborative automation leaders as part of the new technology event to premier May 12-14, 2020, in Santa Clara, California.
The Case for Consistency
Why do manufacturers ask their employees to work within defined systems? Here's why consistency matters.
The Starting Point for Machine Tool Monitoring: Data Analysis Is an Emotional Choice
For machine shops, the transformation that data-driven manufacturing promises to bring begins with machine monitoring, and there is a human component to this.
The Sign on the Wall When I First Met Mark Albert: “When In Doubt, Tell the Truth”
Not just writing, but writing with integrity, is the work and the craft to which Mark Albert gave his career.
How We Misread Productivity Gains in the Debate About Manufacturing Jobs
Manufacturing appears to lead other sectors in productivity growth, but productivity measures pick up factors besides automation. Recognizing this fact changes the terms of part of the public debate.
10 Ways to Think Differently about Robotic Automation
Take another look: A lot is happening in and around robotic automation. What robots might mean for machining and manufacturing is getting ready to change.
