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Crucibles with a long service life allow managers to plan longer production campaigns, schedule crucible replacement with minimal downtime and reduce replacement frequency. Further, mindful crucible care avoids dangerous incidents [...]

Landers Foundry, Medellin, Colombia, began overhauling its casting facility in August 2006 by replacing 16 manual squeezers with an automatic matchplate molding machine. The metalcaster expected to increase its capacity [...]

Standing next to the noisy, jarring vibratory shakeout in an average metalcasting facility won't make you think of your favorite rock and roll records. The Beatles, it is not--except for [...]

Increasing the efficiency of the metalworking process is key to survival as margins for shops become more modest. Although it is necessary to wring out every penny of cost possible, [...]

Welding power supplies take alternating or direct current from a power line or portable generator and convert it to current usable at the welding arc. The National Electrical Manufacturers Association [...]

When Patrick Hill and Mario Marotti started their jobshop, they banked their business on one machine: an abrasive-waterjet system. They did so because they believed the technology offered more opportunities [...]

Productivity gains are the mantra for every foundry manager. Often, gains come in small, incremental steps, so improving productivity means looking at every aspect of foundry operations. One step to [...]

ANAHEIM, Calif.--What started out as a small, single 20,000-square-foot location for sheet metal in 1982 here has successfully grown into three facilities totaling more than 100,000 square feet and 150 [...]

When manufacturers that had been powder coating metal began to powder coat wood, it wasn't as easy as they thought it was going to be. Wooden kitchen cabinets did not [...]

S.J.M. Pinson (*)(+) J. Collins (+) G.E. Thompson (*) M.R. Alexander (*) Summary Superpure aluminium has been treated by a novel atmospheric pressure non-equilibrium plasma system to study the effect [...]

Grass Valley, CA-based Innovative Metal Fabrication Inc is reaping the benefits of utilizing the Laser Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS) from Mazak Nissho Iwai Corp. The automated laser-based sheet metal-cutting system is equipped with a line controller, a material-storage tower and a system-traversing unit in addition to its laser cutting machine. The Laser FMS enables the company to produce a part in only 10 minutes and can also process approximately 60,000 lbs per week., Automated system turns products around fast for its Silicon Valley customers. Two years ago, Gary Apple, president of Innovative Metal Fabrication Inc, Grass Valley, CA, 'took a gamble' on one [...]

Hartzell Propeller Inc. has been experiencing long changeover downtimes because of the growing complexity of the designs it handles. To reduce downtime, Hartzell configured manufacturing cells to produce a complete component in one small area of its plant. One cell features an SMW Setup-Switcher system connected to a new Cincinnati Milacron Sabre CNC vertical machining centers. Another cell has an SMW Ultimate CNC Chuck which operates in conjunction with a Cincinnati Milacron Avenger CNC lathe. Aside from reducing changeover downtimes, Hartzell has been able to enhance manufacturing flexibility and productivity., This propeller manufacturer finds the key to maximizing the output of CNC machining centers and lathes. Thorough investigation of each step in its manufacturing processes is a way of life [...]

Drilling holes is among the most common yet demanding processes in metalworking. On the surface it seems simple to do - just put a drill in the spindle and feed [...]

Some metalworking companies are replacing their chlorinated solvent-based systems for parts cleaning with aqueous-based ones. However, the transition to aqueous-based systems has not been an easy one for manufacturers, as the systems bring with them new operating requirements. Moreover, many companies prefer paying an onerous excise tax just to continue using their old chlorinated-based cleaning systems., Aqueous-based cleaning approaches are succeeding in replacing 'the silver bullet.' It's not hard to imagine that replacing chlorinated solvents ('the silver bullet') for parts cleaning would be difficult. The reasons [...]

Metalworking shops which want to carry out their blackening operations in-house can copy the process used by Birchwood Casey. The Minneapolis, MN-based company employs a cold blackening oxide process and an ion exchange filtration process to improve worker safety and comply with sewer discharge regulations. The approach is suitable for ferrous metals especially low carbon steels., A new method combines a proven cold blackening process with an ion exchange filtration unit to overcome most objections to blackening your own parts. Here's a run-down of the trend [...]

The metalworking industry is seeking to lower its operation and maintenance costs by adopting several cost-saving measures. One such measure is the use of reusable or permanent media filters for filtering the coolant fluids used to improve the performance of metalworking equipment. This approach enables the industry to reduce overhead costs while improving productivity and product quality., Coolant filters using materials that can be cleaned and reused are effective and long-lasting and, in the long run, are usually less expensive to use than disposable filter media. In [...]

The main challenge facing wire electric discharge machining (EDM) is the production of rust because of the interaction of stray electrical currents with contaminants in the dielectric fluid. To address this problem, Mitsubishi EDM Div. developed its patented anti-electrolysis power supply approach. The approach combined voltage modulation, advanced transistor pulse circuitry, high-technology sensors, new software which interfaced with the cutting program and actual condition protocol. The approach significantly reduces stray energy from the cutting process., Originally, wire EDM had two things going against it. It was slow, and often it left an undesirable surface finish. In the last few years, wire EDM builders have fixed [...]

Danville Metal Stamping Co. Inc. decided to adopt setup reduction strategies to improve productivity and profitability. It acquired a tool presetter, quick-change fixture mounting systems and quick-change vise and chuck jaws and formed a quick-change system that could handle rapidly diminishing lot sizes. The implementation of the system entailed an exhaustive education and training program but has resulted in significant reductions in order and release quantities as well as lower inventory costs., This aerospace supplier has moved to quick-change cutting tools on all their turning centers. But as important as the tools themselves is the system the shop has built to make [...]

Leslie and Co. employs a cellular manufacturing system that aims towards world-class standards of performance in terms of costs, quality, lead times, stock levels and responsiveness to changing customer requirements. The hot brass stamper's use of the Nagare cell has resulted in low capital expenditure, high labor productivity, minimal work in progress and short lead time.

Quasar Industries and its subsidiary, 3-Dimensional Services, provide help to manufacturing companies in their product development efforts. Both employ 22 metalcutting laser systems to churn out rapid prototyped and limited-volume metal parts. The technology eliminates handwork and assures both job shops of operational flexibility, multiprocessing capability. Other equipment used by by 3-Dimensional Services for rapid prototyping include stereolithography and laminated object manufacturing machines., Metalcutting lasers are a core technology for this prototype and short production run manufacturer. Flexibility is the reason. Lasers give it. This shop needs it. Every day presents a new [...]

The Aerospace market peaked in 1990 and is experiencing a downturn due to the end of the Cold War. The combined effects of military cut-backs, economic recession and slowdown in airline tourism crushed the aerospace industry. Competition from East block countries, the former USSR and other countries as they market R&D leftovers from the cold war, is mounting. Survival of the aerospace industry lies in forming collaborations and partnerships with other countries such as joint space missions. Aerospace suppliers have to explore potential international business dealings to take advantage of the new world order., Its impact on metalworking It isn't hard to understand why the aerospace industry is important to the United States. What other segment of industry has contributed more technological advancements and [...]

Attention to detail. Empathy. These two factors, perhaps more than anything else, can be seen as the keys to Japan's success as a world industrial power. That's what the Tooling [...]

If you could build a metalworking plant from scratch, having to pay no homage to accepted practice or conventional wisdom, what would you do? That was the prospect for Raychem [...]

Introduction To Deep Drawing Deep drawing seems simple, but it has some interesting complexities. They are presented here for better understanding. Deep drawing is a process whereby a flat sheet [...]

Any manufacturer or fabricator wondering if best practices such as 'kaizen' and '5S' produce tangible results need look no further than OEM Fabricators, Woodville, WI. Kaizen events are projects used [...]

Time is money,' Ken McAvoy reminds us. 'If you're a processor, you need to be running 40 out of 40 hours.' [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The president of Maryland Metals in Baltimore [...]

Exergy Technology Corp. has developed and commercialised a new online diffusion dialysis process for treating spent acid from metal plating operations. This state-of-the-art technology uses ion exchange membranes to recycle [...]

At Rexam Beverage Can America's Chicago canmaking plant, nearly 1.8 billion-plus decorated beverage cans--roughly half of which feed nearby Coca-Cola bottling plants--pour through an immense palletizing and warehousing system each [...]

Whatever problems the steel industry has, the galvanizing segment continues to be a center of innovation, investment, and evolution. One of Europe's most enterprising steelmakers pushed innovation a bit further [...]

Automation is becoming a necessity in modern manufacturing. If somebody down the road is competing for the same order as you and can automate processes that you can't, you may [...]

When Pressed Metals Corporation, a family-owned job shop based Waukesha, WI, needed to expand, president James Atherton and his brother Michael, vice president, faced the same problem as Wayne Pingel, [...]

Elimination is the name of the game on television's popular reality and game shows. While elimination on these shows is synonymous with losing, the word also can convey constructive and [...]

Superplasticity is achieved in thick section aluminum alloys using a unique thermo-mechanical metal working process based on the friction stir welding process. The process offers the potential to form complex [...]

Two manufacturers, Citation Custom Products and Poulan WeedEater, have reduced downtime, waste treatment costs and occupational hazards by adapting new coolant technology from Houghton International Inc, Valley Forge, PA. Machinability [...]

With the help of a turnkey specialist, Geneva Manufacturing now boasts an energy-efficient finishing operation. In a phoenixlike recovery, Geneva Manufacturing Co. (South Elgin, IL) needed only 13 months to [...]

BEHRINGER SAWS INC., a manufacturer of high-quality bandsaw, circular and plate sawing solutions, announced today it has expanded its HBE Dynamic Series automatic horizontal bandsaw line with the introduction of [...]

Boosting productivity and reducing lead times connote an effective workhandling of parts for near-net-shape turning. Manufacturers are demanding fast workhandling systems that can be changed part by part without requiring the reengineering of the robotics. Innovations in workhandling systems include numerically-controlled and accurate robotics complete with CNC positioning which can manage quick shifting from one part to another., Workhandling of parts for near-net-shape (NNS) turning has emerged as a major point of attack for boosting productivity and slashing cycle times. In fact, it represents the single biggest variable [...]

Eagle Bronze Foundry combines technological expertise and creativity to produce casting masterpieces. Eagle Bronze Inc., Lander, WY, combines technological expertise, more than a decade of experience, and artistic talent to [...]

Turret presses-based manufacturing cells have assisted some jobshops in attaining just-in-time (JIT) production of precision sheet metal parts. The development of real JIT capabilities has improved productivity and increased profitability. However, the increasing customer preference for JIT deliveries is expected to foster frequent changeovers and short-lot production. This trend presents a dilemma to sheet metal shops because they do not have the cash nor the warehouse space necessary to store their finished product., Manufacturing cells built around turret presses are helping to make just-in-tim production of precision sheet metal parts a reality at some jobshops. Companies that have already developed true JIT capabilities [...]

Harsco Corporation has announced the expansion of its work on a major Brownfield energy plant in the US regarded as one of the cleanest coal burning plants ever built in [...]

The term 'hard-part turning', or simply 'hard turning' as it is commonly called, refers to the process of cutting hardened steel to final form and finish, thus avoiding the customary [...]