Advanced Manufacturing Now

Sean Touhey, a junior in the manufacturing engineering program at Western Washington University, describes the innovation that led to his 5-person team winning the "design for digital manufacturing" competition for university students at RAPID + TCT. His team focused on eliminating leftover residue (sticky stuff on the dashboard), visual obstruction and airflow obstruction for cell phone mounts. L...

At the RAPID + TCT conference in Texas, Brian McLean, director of rapid prototype at Laika Entertainment, explains what led to his being awarded a Scientific and Engineering Oscar Plaque in 2016 for pioneering the use of 3D printers in stop-motion animated characters. He goes into the ways AM can be a competitive advantage, including precision, color accuracy, volume and repeatability. And he comp...

Dr. Mike Grieves, executive director of the Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Innovative Design at Florida Institute of Technology, explains ITEAM (Independent Technical Evaluation of Additive Manufacturing), which was recently introduced at RAPID + TCT. ITEAM is, he said, "a user-driven consortium to help advance AM faster than what is happening right now." The focus is on creating an informa...

At RAPID + TCT, Bruno Boutantin of Extrude Hone and Laurent Cataldo of Binc Industries speak about their firms' new joint offering: Finish 3D, for AM. It is, Cataldo said, "a full solution for the global market, for medium- and high-volume production series." It combines Binc's MMP (micro machining process) technology—a physical, mechanical and catalyst process "usually used to very low roughness...

At the RAPID + TCT show in Texas, Chris Schuppe, GM of AddWorks at GE Additive, explains a new offering called AddWorks. He gets into how it came about, what it is, why it is needed, and what types of services GE is offering with it. Listeners who are already in AM can still benefit from AddWorks, said Schuppe, who details what automotive and medical customers have accomplished with AddWorks. "We'...

Roger Hart, research and development engineering manager of Siemens, talks to Senior Editor Bill Koenig about additive manufacturing at the RAPID + TCT Show in Fort Worth, TX. They discuss how Siemens is changing its strategy to use 3D printing. The company is moving to transition from rapid prototyping to "true manufacturing," according to the executive. Hart also talks about Industry 4.0 and oth...

Bhuvi Nirudhoddi, an Ohio State University PhD candidate studying materials science and engineering, won the student poster challenge at SME's AeroDef manufacturing conference in California in March. She gives Advanced Manufacturing Now the 411 on her work—"Joining of aerospace alloys using high-speed impact welding"—and explains how she came up with the concept, as well as where she thinks it can...

Chris Cagle of the South Bay Workforce Investment Board in Hawthorne, Calif., explains what his organization does, how the apprenticeship program works, and why such programs are so important. He enumerates employee and student benefits. And he speaks about his organization's work with SME to develop and register the first aerospace engineering apprenticeship occupation in the U.S.

Smart Manufacturing magazine Editor in Chief Brett Brune interviews Daniel Martinez, a member of the aerospace vertical market team at Siemens Industry USA, at the AeroDef show in California.  Martinez talks about how Siemens adapted its CNC strategy to recent changes in the machining of aerospace/defense parts, as well as to additive manufacturing in aerospace. He also addresses the recent partne...

Smart Manufacturing magazine Editor in Chief Brett Brune speaks with Suhner's Lee Coleman about high-volume machining and how the growth of composites in the market has impacted the Suhner tool strategy. (The company has worked in single-layer materials, such as SMC, CRFP, fiberglass and plastic, for years, but it has had to redesign & develop components/spindles to work in the STACK/complex mater...

Smart Manufacturing magazine Editor in Chief Brett Brune asks EMAG USA CEO Peter Loetzner about new drivers in his company's A&D business model. The two discuss the trend toward more cell manufacturing. Loetzner talks about lessons he learned in his automotive career that have application in A&D—and explains why blisk manufacturing and power generation are EMAG'S sweet spots in A&D. He also detail...

Smart Manufacturing magazine Editor in Chief Brett Brune speaks with Jon Jay of Ingersoll Rand Power Tools on how aerospace manufacturers can use digital data to understand and address quality risks in assembly processes. The pair discusses how the Ingersoll Rand QXN tools help aerospace manufacturers improve the quality of their output, make assembly operations more efficient and reliable—and sav...

Amanda Pedersen, News Editor of MD+DI (Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry) and Qmed, discusses the trends and technology in the medical industry, such as artificial intelligence, surgical robots and virtual reality, and the opportunities and challenges associated with them. She also talks about UBM's presence at three co-located events in Boston on April 18-19: the Embedded Systems Conference,...

Suzanne Deffree, a brand director at UBM and its Advanced Manufacturing Group, discusses the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence and their impact on engineering and manufacturing jobs. She also talks about UBM's presence at three co-located events in Boston on April 18-19: the Embedded Systems Conference, BIOMEDevice Boston and Design & Manufacturing New England.

Diego Tamburini, principal industry lead for Azure Manufacturing, talks with Patrick Waurzyniak, senior editor of Manufacturing Engineering magazine, about the cloud and why manufacturing companies need to embrace it. In the cloud manufacturers can host their IT environments, run applications from CAD/CAE/PLM/ERP/MES, etc., develop their own applications, and much more. Tamburini and Waurzyniak al...

Hod Lipson, co-author with Melba Kurman of the book "Driverless: Intelligent Cars and the Road Ahead," asserts that AV technology is going to change things for everyone, in all business and sectors. "It's a tsunami heading our way." And, says the Columbia University professor of engineering and data science, "deep learning" software is so good at understanding and perception that it far surpasses...

Adam and Pam Genei talk to SME's Chris Mahar at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. They own Mobsteel, a design/build company that manufactures automotive aftermarket products and builds custom cars, and Detroit Steel Wheel Co., the manufacturer of the original Smoothie Wheel. They realized their biggest challenge was making a product domestically.

In the highly competitive arena of the global auto industry there is little time to sit on one's laurels. To that end Jeep has substantially revamped its Cherokee for the 2019 model year. Mike Downey, Cherokee vehicle line executive, joined Manufacturing Engineering Editor Emeritus Jim Sawyer at the North American International Auto Show to explain how lightweighting served as an important tool in...

The Brose Group is growing in the US. In fact, the operations of Brose North America, the US arm of the global auto supplier, are growing at a rapid pace. Brose North America President Michael Brosseau sat down with Manufacturing Engineering Editor Emeritus at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit to talk about the company's growth and the urgent need it has for workers to help kee...

Licensed aftermarket auto parts can be a source of profits for their non-OEM manufacturers and a source of brand building for automakers as well as a path to additional profits. John Clor of Ford Performance explains to Manufacturing Engineering Editor Emeritus Jim Sawyer how the process works, where the opportunity lies for small manufacturers who want to get into the game, and why precision manu...

Vehicle electrification and autonomy are challenges facing automakers today and well into the future. But it's not only the OEMs that need to clear the hurdles that are changing the industry. The vendors who populate the supply chain must do so, too. Larry Bemis, vice president of Customer Success and Quality Assurance of Siemens PLM Software's manufacturing business unit, explains to Manufacturin...

At the North American International Auto Show, P3 North America CEO Samit Ghosh and Smart Manufacturing Editor in Chief Brett Brune discuss the common pitfalls manufacturers encounter when they introduce smart and connected tech.

At the auto show in Detroit, Magneti Marelli USA's Bill Grabowski tells Smart Manufacturing mag about his firm's "Smart Corner" product, specifically about how it helps OEMs in terms of cost, weight and complexity.

At the auto show in Detroit, Rose Ryntz of Intl Automotive Components (IAC) Group, covers emerging trends, including electrification, autonomy and ride sharing, changing vehicle interiors. She also predicts how future vehicle interiors will look, feel and sound.

Auto dealer Ryan LaFontaine, chairman of the North American International Auto Show, reveals what AutoMobili-D is all about. He spoke with Brett Brune, editor in chief of Smart Manufacturing magazine.