PM Blog

Tornos' new Customer Center Chicago officially opened at the end of April in Des Plaines with guests from across the world of machine tools on hand for the opening ceremony. The company considers the new location an essential link to its U.S. strategy, where the group is celebrating 60 years of service to U.S. customers.

On Tuesday, April 30, a selection of invited guests took part in the official opening. Paul Casella, who has been with Tornos for 50 years, was honored by Tornos U.S. President Daniel Märklin and Tornos CEO Michael Hauser.

On the surface, the findings of Gardner Intelligence’s latest World Machine Tool Survey portray a seemingly ordinary year for the machine tool industry. Scratch the surface, however, and we find something remarkable happening: major geographic regions for machine tools are moving in very different directions.

According to the latest survey, the results of which have recently been published, global machine tool consumption increased $4.1 billion, or 4.8%, to $91.9 billion in 2018. This made 2018 an apparently ordinary year, as the median annual increase in global machine tool consumption since 1961 is 4.2%.

April saw the Gardner Business Index: Precision Machining expand to 55.1. Compared with the same month one year ago, the Index is 1.8% lower, indicating slowing growth. Index readings above 50 indicate expanding business activity while a value of 50 indicates no change, and a reading below 50 indicates contracting business activity. Gardner Intelligence’s review of the underlying components of the Index revealed that it was led higher by accelerating activity in supplier deliveries, production and employment. The Index—a calculated average of its six components—was pulled lower by exports and backlogs and only slightly by new orders. No components reported contracting during April.

For the first time since January, the export activity reading registered above 50, indicating export activity expansion. When combined with slowing growth in new orders and an April increase in production and supplier deliveries activity, backlog activity remained subdued. In the six-month period ending in April, the backlog components have registered an average reading of 50.3. Industry employment remains optimistic, as activity in this area has trended upward since the fourth quarter of 2018.

Micromachining is a significant presence in the Swiss industry. In order to qualify as Swiss-made, the majority of the parts of a product such as a watch must be assembled in Switzerland, and at least half the tiny parts of the movement have to be made in the country. To provide these parts, the Swiss need an industry that can make things small. Precision manufacturing is a selling point, and it serves other industries in Switzerland, including the manufacture of medical devices.

To meet the demands of these industries, DC Swiss (available in the U.S. directly through DC Swiss in Switzerland or through the Mikron Tool Group, official representative for DC Swiss in the U.S.) specializes in the development and manufacturing of high-precision threading tools, forming and tapping solutions as well as various SCS-certified control devices for a variety of materials and applications in the 0.3-mm to 160-mm (0.0118" to 6.294") thread diameter range.

Production Machining’s May Digital Edition is now available. This issue features emphasis topics of Cutting Tools and Parts Cleaning, with special coverage of Swiss-Type Machining. For the cover story we visit a New Hampshire high-volume precision solutions manufacturer who upgraded its data collection and organization methods, maximizing output and competitiveness on its Swiss turning machines.

We also take a look at Rollfeed turning technology, which adds a third axis to turning operations, rolling the cutting tool with a special insert geometry across the surface of the part for reduced machining times, minimized tooling costs and high surface qualities. Our parts cleaning coverage is about a shop that implemented a trichloroethylene replacement material in its vacuum degreasing unit to clean a customer’s micromachined parts more efficiently.