FEATURES

5 Ideas for Continuous Improvement

These suggestions for manufacturing process improvements are based on Kaizen ideas that call for never-ending improvement from the entire organization.

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Automation & Robots

Accurate Barstock Alignment Provides Faster Speeds

Recent developments in sliding-headstock turning machines allow for faster feed rates and higher spindle speeds—both aimed at increasing throughput to improve productivity. Sometimes, though, these machines cannot reach their full potential because of other equipment that runs in conjunction with it.

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Industries

Bore Finishing Machine Increases Uptime

Tight tolerances are extremely important in gear manufacturing, and even more so when those gears are used in performance motorcycle transmissions. The ability to manufacture as competitively as possible is also a critical factor to consider.

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Software

Choosing ERP Vendors And Consultants: It's All About The Right Fit

Looking to upgrade your company's ERP and IT systems? It's all about the right fit between your company and the vendor you select. You will be working with the people you choose for months or even years.

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Automation

Gantry Takes Hands Out Of Part Handling

Automating material delivery and removal from the machining process is one key method of taking some of the production cost from manufacturing. Iemca, known for automating machine tools with its line of bar feeders, has introduced a new gantry system for chucked parts.

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How Should Tools Fail?

Two incidents early in my career started me on the path to learning all that I could about how tools fail. The first, at a Tier One subsidiary plant of a major domestic automaker near Rochester, was a call for immediate assistance because the cold-drawn bars that my company had supplied were causing their form tools to burn up.

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Machines

Ingenuity Drives Single-Spindle Shop

Ideas for improvement are always welcomed here. Some of the most notable results have come from the merging of new technology with older, reliable equipment.

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Turning Machines

Mill/Turn Centers Spur Shop's Growth With Increased Uptime

After adding a 12,000-square-foot addition onto an existing 32,000-square-foot facility, the management of Nolte Precise Manufacturing (Cincinnati, Ohio) is in the mindset to expand its business and improve its processes, allowing it to grow not only in square footage, but in machining capability as well.

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