Dr. Stefan Hansch, CEO of EMCO Group, Hallein, Austria, announces that EMCO Corp. has signed master distributor agreements with Motch & Eichele, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio; and Crotts & Saunders, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Motch & Eichele and Crotts & Saunders are affiliated with the HEH Group based in Cuyahoga Falls.
“Both distributorship groups have been distributors of EMCO machine tools, 10 years and 5 years respectively, and we are pleased at the opportunity to further strengthen our relationship with EMCO and to bring more regional support and value added services to our customers,” says William R. Eichele, president, HEH Group.
“The new agreement will provide precisely focused service, sales, and application support to customers in Ohio, Kentucky, Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina,” says Gary Hulihan, president, EMCO Corp.
Each distributor location provides machine demonstrations and application assistance. Together, the distributorships employ seven factory-trained service engineers and three application engineers to assist customers in optimizing their EMCO solutions, providing turnkey service and support for EMCO machines and UltraTech automation, also an affiliate of the HEH Group. www.emcomaier-usa.com, IMTS 2016 Booth #S-8780; www.mande.com; www.crottsandsaunders.com
Intelligent tools designed, tuned, optimized for Okuma
At IMTS 2016, Velocity Products, a division of Morris Group Inc., will introduce Velocity SMART Tool products. The line of intelligent tools is designed, tuned, and optimized for Okuma machining centers, the result of a collaboration among several companies with expertise in toolholding, cutting tools, machining dynamics, and distribution. Velocity SMART Tool products offer enhanced digital manufacturing for users of Okuma machining centers with the Okuma OSP-P control.
“We are extending our business, based on the success of the Velocity SU-matic line of live and static toolholders for Okuma lathes,” states Robert L. Bauer, vice president, Morris Group and head of Velocity Products. “We see a natural progression to advanced tooling for Okuma machining centers and believe that Velocity SMART Tool products will allow Okuma users to reap significant benefits in terms of improvements in efficiency, productivity, and overall operations through the application of digital manufacturing technology.”
Bauer credits partners Briney Tooling Systems of Bad Axe, Michigan; BlueSwarf of State College, Pennsylvania; and Fullerton Tool Co. of Saginaw, Michigan; for their roles in developing and manufacturing the line. Products will be sold as complete and balanced toolholder assemblies consisting of a pull stud, toolholder, solid carbide cutting tool, and BlueSwarf Dashboard interface for the Okuma control. Replacement cutting tools for the Velocity SMART Tools will be sold separately through Velocity Products.
Velocity SMART Tool products will be integrated into several machining demonstrations at Okuma’s IMTS Booth and will be available to users of Okuma machining centers through the Okuma distributor network supported by Velocity Products, . www.okuma.com/americas, IMTS 2016 Booth #S-8500; www.morrisgroupinc.com, IMTS 2016 Booth #S-9410; www.velocityproducts.com
WARDJet giving away 2 waterjets at IMTS Build It! Challenge
As part of the SmartForce Student Summit during IMTS 2016, WARDJet Inc. will be hosting the first Build It! Challenge with Hypertherm. The event, held at McCormick Place, Chicago, Illinois, Sept. 12-17, 2016, will see industry professionals go head-to-head with engineering students to build one of two WARDJet waterjets. At the end of each day, both waterjets will be quality tested and the winner will be crowned at the end of the week.
Attendees will have the chance to assemble a WARDJet Z-Carriage and get hands-on experience changing seals on a Hypertherm pump. Also, attendees will be able to see WARDJet’s 5-axis cutting head, the Infini Winder, and be able to remotely cut a part at WARDJet’s production facility – directly from the show floor via live video.
Register your team now to lock-in your build slot and for a chance to win a waterjet for your business or school. Or, stop by WARDJet’s booth during IMTS 2016 and try to snag one of the remaining build slots. There are limited build slots available.
All teams and attendees who participate in the Build It! Challenge will be entered for a chance to win one of the two WARDJet waterjets for their business or school. Certain restrictions apply. Registration and full details on the IMTS Build It Challenge can be found at www.wardjet.com/build-it-challenge. IMTS 2016 Booth #NC-733 & #NC-738, www.wardjet.com
Wallover Enterprises acquired by Houghton
Houghton Int’l Inc. acquired Wallover Enterprises, a North American metalworking fluid and industrial lubricant manufacturer headquartered in Strongsville, Ohio. This acquisition marks Houghton’s latest investment in the specialty metalworking and industrial fluids segment that enables the company to better serve North American manufacturers.
Wallover produces and sells a diverse portfolio of fluid products into industrial end markets throughout the U.S. and Canada and provides advanced technical and applications expertise in electrical discharge machining (EDM) fluids and stainless steel cold rolling oils. The company’s products, sales teams, and technology complement and expand Houghton’s advanced fluid solutions. www.houghtonintl.com; IMTS 2016 Booth #W-2234
APAC boosting Japan’s machine tools market
The machine tools market in Japan for 2015-2019 is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of more than 6% and reach $15 billion by 2019, according to Technavio’s latest report. This rise in production can be attributed to economic reforms and stimulus package the present government has initiated to pull the economy out of recession. The stimulus package provided by the government has initiated some major reforms in the country’s manufacturing sector. www.technavio.com
Spindle technology sales, service center
GMN USA opened a new 28,000ft2 facility in Bristol, Connecticut. The facility allows for expansion in the grinding and assembly departments along with a larger, state-of-the-art test department, continuing GMN’s commitment to its North American market. GMN USA is the North American sales and service center for GMN in Nuremberg, Germany. www.gmnusa.com; IMTS 2016 Booth #N-7151
Manufacturing’s time to highlight high technology and innovations
Departments - Editor’s Letter
As companies print their signs and polish their machines for the International Manufacturing Technology Show – IMTS 2016 – manufacturing in the U.S. is picking up steam.
As companies print their signs and polish their machines for the International Manufacturing Technology Show – IMTS 2016 – manufacturing in the U.S. is picking up steam. Factory activity expanded in June at the fastest rate in more than a year while the Institute for Supply Management’s index increased to 53.2 – the highest since February 2015. Additional positive signs in manufacturing is the factory employment index climbing to 50.4 – a first since November 2015 – while factory inventories rose to 48.5 from 45.
With some of the most positive economic signs this year for U.S. manufacturing, it’s probably time to take a close look at your company’s manufacturing equipment and processes and determine what is required to advance your capabilities and stay competitive.
A recent survey offers insight into what’s on the mind of manufacturers that plan to compete or charge ahead of the pack. KPMG's 2016 Global Manufacturing Outlook found that:
81% plan to collaborate to achieve traction in innovation
80% plan to enter new sectors to grow
63% plan to invest in technologies related to the Internet of Things
In addition, the survey revealed that manufacturers are placing significant investment into improving adoption and utilization of technology within their operations. In fact, 42% of KPMG’s medical device respondents said they would invest significantly into robotics.
This automation interest is also noted in the latest research from global technology research and advisory firm Technavio. Predictions are for the U.S., the largest manufacturing device market worldwide, to reach $412 billion by 2020. Bharath Kanniappan, a lead analyst at the firm notes how Tegra Medical doubled manufacturing throughput by implementing manufacturing robots at its facilities. (In case you missed it, TMD’s June cover story featured Tegra Medical and its use of Universal Robots – http://goo.gl/X5Ta8k).
Your choice of cutting tools, workholding equipment, machines, software, and robots keeps companies that invest ahead of those that don’t. So, make a plan of what you’ll need to advance your production and pack your bags for IMTS 2016 in Chicago, which will host more than 2,000 exhibitors. However, you won’t be the only one attending with plans to advance your manufacturing competitiveness, since 93% of visitors at IMTS 2014 reported that they found new products and ideas to use. With the right agenda, you can be part of the advanced manufacturing group that embraces technology.
I hope to see you at IMTS 2016 and make sure you put our booth – Today’s Technology Center, Booth #W-20 – on your agenda. ~ Elizabeth
The integration of tool machines and robots for handling and machining tasks, controlled by a CNC, is rising significantly. CNC operators program and operate a robot in the same way as a tool machine. The biggest challenge for robot vendors, system integrators and end users still is the question, “How accurate can a special workpiece be machined by a robot?”
To be able to reliably hand over more and more machining tasks to robot’s estimation of the accuracy is crucial for all participants along the process chain. This session focuses on advancements in robot accuracy and will give an outlook how it can be estimated and easily applied to satisfy robot vendor, system integrator, and end user’s needs. The session especially deals with advancements that will impact both robot vendor, system integrator, and the end user of the CNC/robots.
The presentation includes:
An overview of the current situation for estimating the robot accuracy. This includes the current standard as well as the effect on robot vendors, system integrators and end users.
An inline calibration concept that gives predictable accuracy results to system integrators and end users by using low-cost sensors mounted in the robot cell.
Another option in connection with this calibration concept is a 3D- model-based compensation for external/process forces in real-time. The approach and first practical results as well as an outlook will be presented.
Sven Tauchmann
Robots Technology Manager
Siemens AG
Sven Tauchmann is the CNC expert for robotics at Siemens Digital Factory Motion Control R&D.
Siemens industrial manufacturing software, process automation, and automation drives technology, increases flexibility, cuts market launch lead time, and significantly reduces energy or wastewater costs for manufacturing companies. The result is increased sustainability for our customers, while driving their competitive strengths
The synchronous PM linear motor became popular in the early ’90s as NdFeB magnets entered the market as substitute to SmCo magnets. This presentation will show real world applications of linear motors in various industries and compare synchronous PM motors with other types of drives such as ballscrews, belts, rack and pinion.
Also included will be some basic principles of calculations and sizing of linear motors and estimates for service life. Price level relative to other types of drives will also be covered.
Understanding price, performance, and service life comparison for synchronous PM linear motors may push users of more conventional drives to use instead linear motors because they offer significant advantages for a reasonable cost.
Jean-Marie Rennetaud
Hiwin Corp.
Jean-Marie Rennetaud holds a Baccalaureat E (Mathematiques & Techniques) Lycee Charles de Coulomb, Angouleme; FRANCE; a Diplome Universitaire de Technologie, Genie Mecanique, Angouleme, France; a Diplome Ingenieur, Major: Automatic Programming of CNC Machines & Flexible Manufacturing systems; a Master of Engineering, University of Hartford, Connecticut; a Ph.D. ABD Applied Mathematics, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Columbia University, New York; and Graduate Program classes, Computer Aided design of Electric machines and drives, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Rennetaud has 35 years’ experience in design and manufacturing of electric motors (DC motors, linear and rotary AC induction motors, linear and rotary permanent magnet synchronous motors). He holds 34 international patents.
Hiwin Technologies Corp. is professionally engaged in the innovation and the manufacturing of ballscrew and motion control components. Always regarding professional excellence, working enthusiasm, and enterprise responsibility as their management philosophy since Hiwin has established, the company strives for meeting with the demand of all fields.
