Weekly Update 07/31/2008

July 31, 2008 NEWSLETTER SPONSOR

WOW Project #102 Exact JobBOSS Empowers General Metal WorksIssue: Sales are declining and competitors are cutting into our business.Vision: Implement lean and invest in cuttingedge machines and technology to reposition the company. Results: Sales volume doubled, finished goods inventory was reduced 800%, lead times and set up times were cut in half, achieved ISO certification.www.exactamerica.com

Articles

A Training Facility To Envy

The newly opened Center for Energy Conservation & Advanced Manufacturing (ECAM) at the Milwaukee Area Technical College's (MATC) Oak Creek, Wis., campus could very well be considered a model training facility for all technical colleges nationwide to emulate. Read the full story here

Automotive Automation

Automotive supplier Katayama American Co. needed to integrate a robot and a 3D sensor to perform 100 percent in-line inspection of as many as 12 features on each of the four doors of an upcoming new program for an automotive OEM. Traditional measurement systems were not flexible or fast enough to handle the part volume and cycle time required by the new program. Read the full story here

Shop Branches Out With Pallet Changing

Matrix Metalcraft Inc. said its new automated laser center is the only one of its kind in North America. Read the full story here

Shop finds CAM package boosts productivity and profit

Even manual machining operations gain from CAM program. These skills are scarce to nonexistent in many rural areas, as drillrig rebuilder PEMCO of New Mexico Inc. found out. Confronting a business boom, it could not get the people to keep up with demand. Read the full story here

Trends In EDM -- A Quote

"Shops will see more cost-effective EDM cells with integrated automation, such as robots and automatic twin-wire operation. More standardmodel machines will include integrated automation. For die-sinking machines, this will include integrated automation – no external units – for electrode and work pallet handling, and machine CNCs will oversee all the automation. In addition, EDMs will be modular in design, so shops can add different automation configurations." Read the full story here

Hot Products

American Machinist conducted its third annual Benchmark Survey of American Machine Shops between February and April of this year. Bruce Vernyi, editor-in-chief of American Machinist, will review the results of this third annual survey, and talk about what the data means and how shops can use the data to make plans for this year's IMTS. Vernyi also will talk about the program for the Job Shop Day at the IMTS and the speakers that will be featured there. August 20,2008 at 2:00 pm EST Sign up to hear more! Click Here

AM Workshop

American Machinist Presents: Machine Shop Workshop - November 12-14,2008

The only event that focuses on the business side of running a machine shop. Join owners and top managers to explore strategies and improve your business. Register now and save at: Click HereRead the full story here

Announcements

American Machinist Launches New Internet Forum

American Machinist is pleased to announce the beta launch of Machine Tool Theater at www.machinetooltheater.com. Visit Machine Tool Theater; watch videos about machining and machining equipment. You'll see faster, more precise machines; cutting tools to process virtually any material; finishing technologies; automation systems; quality instruments and manufacturing software. You'll see how to reduce cycle times and increase productivity.Click Here

Digital Edition

Now you can get the latest edition of American Machinist delivered directly to your PC. Digital editions allow you to page through articles, click through hotlinks for direct advertiser websites, send emails to authors and other contacts, zoom, print or send to a friend. Click Here

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