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Sodick unit develops motion controller

Feb. 1, 2005
Sodick America, San Jose, Calif., the R&D subsidiary of EDM producer Sodick Ltd., has developed a motion control board for its EDMs and high-speed mills.

Sodick America, San Jose, Calif., the R&D subsidiary of EDM producer Sodick Ltd., has developed a motion control board for its EDMs and high-speed mills.

The K-SMC board maximizes positioning and cutting accuracy of machine tool linear-motor drives, and is an updated version of one first developed in Japan. Sodick machines previously used drives with ballscrew technology for axis movement. The control board provides 8-axis simultaneous control with PID and modern control theory, disturbance observer, and feed-forward control.

New CEO for Gleason

A long-time board member has stepped into the CEO shoes of gear-machine manufacturer Gleason Corp., Rochester, following the resignation of President and CEO David J. Burns. John W. Guffey Jr., formerly chairman, president, and CEO of Coltec Industries, is now CEO. Gleason Executive Vice President and CFO John J. Perrotti has been named president and COO. And Controller John W. Pysnack is now vice president of finance.

Machine tool consumption continues ahead of 2003

Demand, tax incentives, and need for increased capacity lifted November U.S. machine tool consumption according to The American Machine Tool Distributors' Association (AMTDA) and AMT — The Association For Manufacturing Technology. November machine tool consumption totaled $275.20 million, 18.3% more than October. It is also 40.4% higher than reported for November 2003. For the year-to-date, 2004 is 43% higher than 2003 with a total of $2,669.77 million. It has been more than 40% for a few months.

"2004 will end up to be the strongest year for machine tool sales since 2000 with all indications for further growth in 2005," reports AMTDA President Ralph J. Nappi. "With year-to-date numbers running 43% ahead and all five regions showing positive growth, there appears to be a clear signal of continued strength in the industry."

The regional breakdown for November 2004 and its comparison to October 2004 are:

  • West - $37.23 million/+29.2%
  • Central - $57.17 million/+51.3%
  • South - $52.24 million/+92.1%
  • Midwest - $91.13 million/-8.2%
  • Northeast - $37.44 million/-5.7%

Personnel changes at UGT parent

Poklekowski (left)
Kammermeier (right)

Korber Schleifring GmbH has promoted Heinz Poklekowski to Co-CEO of recently purchased Walter Maschinenbau GmbH, Tubingen, Germany. Korber Schleifring's U.S. outlet is United Grinding Technologies (UGT) in Miamisburg, Ohio. Poklekowski was recently general manager of Schleifring's K. Jung GmbH unit.

Dr. Ralf Kammermeier has been named general manager of Korber Schleifring GmbH. Kammermeier, Gregor Ruth, and Gustel Baumert now jointly lead the Schleifring Group.