December 20, 2017 - Volume 11 Issue 24 |
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Happy Holidays from T&P!
The staff at Tooling & Production would like to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
After a year of seemingly endless investigations, scandals, and fake news, we hope you're able to take a real break from the surrounding craziness and spend some quality time with your family and loved ones over the holidays.
Without a doubt, the economy provided some of the best news in 2017. It was a solid year for the manufacturing industry and it is ending on an encouraging note as the USMTO just reported that orders are up nearly 8% for the year. With tax reform on the verge of reality for the first time in 3 decades, we believe the machine tool/metalworking industry will continue to play a vital role in the rapidly improving economy. As Additive Manufacturing/3D Printing, Robotic Automation, and Digital Manufacturing continue to take hold, the outlook for 2018 is bright.
The same is true for us here at Nelson Publishing. Our eNewsletters -- Tooling & Production (T&P), Modern Applications News (MAN), and the Manufacturing Center Product Spotlight continue to grow. We were proud to celebrate MAN's 50th anniversary this year -- just 2 years after T&P's 80th anniversary celebration!
In what has become our annual tradition, we have put together our "Best of 2017" issue. We have compiled two lists -- the Top 10 Most Read Features and Top 10 Most Read Product Spotlights, as judged by our readers. We hope you enjoy these stories and catch some helpful information you may have missed the first time around. Again, we want to thank you for your loyalty to our publications and we'd like to wish you a successful and prosperous 2018! |
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"Top 10" Most Read Features |
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Lord Corp. Has Zero Tolerance for Oversized Bores in Inconel Engineers at Lord Corp., a manufacturer of expensive and complex aerospace parts, were struggling to achieve tight tolerances for precision bores on a new engine mount prototype. The stakes on this project were high -- a single scrapped part due to an oversized bore was a loss equal to the company's entire monthly budget. Lord reached out to Big Kaiser to find a way to improve the boring process reliability. Full Article |
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German Toolmaker Switches to New Cutting Edge Hardening Technology and "Saves a Lot of Money" Since quality in the toolmaking process has an enormous impact on quality in manufacturing, it is clear that the final surface hardness of the tools is essential, and additional hardening of the cutting edges is usually necessary. The production planners at Werkzeugbau Laichingen, in Ulm, Germany, have been relying on induction hardening technology from eldec. This flexible technology significantly decreases and simplifies the production process. Full Article |
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How to Choose the Right Metalworking Fluid for a Padded Reaming Job Padded reamers are often used in the manufacturing of engine valve guides and crankbores as one of the last steps before engine assembly. Not using the proper fluid for the job can cause problems. Quaker's Metalworking Lead Product Manager Scott Pardel explains why choosing the right fluid is crucial to producing a smooth surface finish. Full Article |
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Why Smart Manufacturing is a Dumb Idea As we begin a new year, "Smart Manufacturing" is definitely one of the trends in manufacturing that is widely praised and accepted as the future of the industry. However, Steven L. Blue doesn't see it that way. The President & CEO of Miller Ingenuity, a global supplier of mission-critical solutions in the transportation industry and author of the new book, "American Manufacturing 2.0: What Went Wrong and How to Make It Right," argues that this trend isn't all that smart. Full Article |
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"Top 10" Most Read Product Spotlights |
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