June 2008 Edition

INDUSTRY NEWS

February Manufacturing Technology Consumption Up 4.4 Percent from 2007

February U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $308.5 million, according to the Association For Manufacturing Technology and the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association. This total, as reported by companies participating in the United States Manufacturing Technology Consumption – USMTC – program, was down four percent from January, but up 4.4 percent from the total of $295.39 million reported for February 2007. With a year-to-date total of $624.28 million, 2008 is up 1.2 percent compared with 2007.

These numbers and all data in this report are based on the totals of actual data reported by companies participating in the USMTC program.

"Industry forecasters called for a first-half downturn in manufacturing technology orders," John B. Byrd III, AMT president, said. "The economic stimulus package has kept orders from falling in the first quarter, but the full impact of the package won’t be realized until the fourth quarter when the deadline for stimulus benefits and the International Manufacturing Technology Show 2008 will likely pull equipment investment dollars from the first half of both 2008 and 2009."

The USMTC report, jointly compiled by the AMT and AMTDA, represents the production and distribution of manufacturing technology, and provides regional and national U.S. consumption data of domestic and imported machine tools and related equipment. U.S. manufacturing technology consumption is reported for five geographic areas of the U.S.

Northeast Region

February manufacturing technology consumption in the Northeast Region stood at $49.54 million, down 11 percent when compared with January’s $55.64 million, but 9.2 percent higher than the total for February a year ago. Compared with 2007 at the same time, the year-to-date total of $102.63 million is up 1.6 percent.

Southern Region

With a February total of $48.79 million, manufacturing technology consumption was up 47.8 percent from January’s $33.01 million, and up 21.4 percent when compared with February 2007. The $97.3 million year-to-date total is 32.9 percent higher than the 2007 total at the same time.

Midwestern Region

Manufacturing technology consumption rose to $96.58 million in February, 11.1 percent higher than January’s $86.97 million, and 30.6 percent higher than the tally in February 2007. The year-to-date total of $200.76 million is 24.7 percent more than the comparable figure in 2007.

Central Region

At $71.22 million, manufacturing technology consumption was off 15.2 percent when compared with January’s $84.00 million, and 25.7 percent lower than the February 2007 total. Compared with 2007 at the same time, the year-to-date total of $148.34 million is down 17.5 percent.

Western Region

Manufacturing technology consumption in February totaled $42.36 million, 31.5 percent less than January’s $61.87 million, but 5.9 percent higher than the comparable figure in 2007. At $75.24 million, the year-to-date total is off 26.1 percent when compared with 2007 at the same time.

Woman Machinist is the First Female to Compete in NTMA Apprentice Competition

Belief in herself took Rachael Lockett, 23, a precision machinist at Christopher Tool & Mfg. Co, Solon, OH, a long way – to the National Tooling & Machining Association’s 36th Annual National Apprentice Competition, held April 23 through 26 at Cuyahoga Community College, Cleveland.

The national competition consisted of two days of machining projects plus a test of knowledge and theory.

"I wanted to win because no one believed I could," she said.

Lockett said she expected tough competition, not because of her gender, but because the other participants were manual machinists, whereas she specializes in CNC, EDM, surface grinding, and other processes at Christopher Tool. The company makes high-precision parts, primarily for the aerospace industry.

Of the six other competitors – Andrew Sears, Michael Villegas, James Moody, Lucas Starch, Brendan A. Wimer, and Craig W. Hargrave – Lockett was the only woman contestant.

Although she missed being one of the top three winners, she said she was honored to be in the competition.

She and the other participants had already won local events staged between October 2007 and January 2008 to qualify as regional champions. Each regional champion must have completed the Level I: Measurement, Materials, and Safety credentialing exam from the National Institute for Metalworking Skills.

The competition represented a homecoming of sorts since the association was incorporated in Cleveland in 1943, and the city hosted the national championship site in 1996.

Besides owning bragging rights as the "Best of the Best", the apprentices received plaques, trophies, and prizes. The top 3 finishers received an expense-paid trip to Switzerland hosted by the Swiss embassy.

Being a woman in a male dominated field, Lockett is used to people underestimating her, she said.

"Other machinists don’t want to listen to me," she said. But, that makes her want to stick with it even more to prove herself.

Lockett said that other women who are thinking of joining the machining world should not be discouraged.

"Don’t listen to what other people say about not being able to do it. You can if you just believe in yourself."

Heidenhain Controllers Guide a Big "Eye"

The largest optical telescope in the northern hemisphere, the Gran Telescopio Canarias – Grantecan – located on La Palma, one of the Spanish Canary Islands, began trial operations with Heidenhain model ERA 780C angle encoders used to position the telescope. The telescope rotates about two axes: elevation and azimuth, vertical and horizontal, respectively. The controllers also compensate for the motion of the Earth during long exposures.

The angle of the azimuth axis is measured over a diameter of about 15 meters, which requires a scale tape with a length of 48.48m. The controllers can provide 10nm measuring steps for positioning along the azimuth axis. This results in an angular resolution of 0.0003 arc seconds. Calibration and compensation of systematic errors bring a system accuracy of 0.06 arc seconds over 13.2°.

The $164 million celestial observation system’s test phase will last a year. The hyperbolic telescope mirror, consisting of 36 hexagonal mirror segments, have a total diameter of 10.4m. When operational, the telescope will focus 4 million times more accurately than the human eye.

Trumpf is First German Machine Tool Company to Open a Production Plant in Japan

Trumpf GmbH + Co., Ditzingen, Germany is the first German machine tool manufacturer to launch production in Japan. The subsidiary produces automation and warehousing concepts. The new production site is located in Fukushima, 250 kilometers north of Tokyo. The opening took place April 22, six months after work started at the former site of an automotive industry supplier.

During the first investment phase, 35 employees will work in the 4,500m² production plant. With the plant situation on a 31,000m² site, there is room for further expansion, according to a company representative. Trumpf has invested more than $14 million in the facility and site.

The products manufactured in Fukushima are aimed at application in Japan. The production site will work with local suppliers.

For Trumpf, Japan is among the top five markets worldwide. In 1977, Trumpf started off with sales and services of machine tools for the local market. The company had sales of more than $156 million in Japan in the previous fiscal year.

Around 180 Trumpf employees work in Japan, including those of the new production site in Fukushima.

In another facility opening for the company, Trumpf officials and the governor of Connecticut, Jodi Rell, cut the ribbon for the Laser Innovation & Technical Excellence Building, in Farmington, CT. This research and manufacturing facility will be used to develop new lasers and expand the company’s production of laser resonators.

Haas Opens Factory Outlets in India

Haas Automation, Inc., opened two factory outlets in India to accommodate that country’s manufacturing economy. One facility is in Bihwadi, near Delhi, the other in Ahmedabad. This increased the number of outlets in India to four, with a fifth scheduled to open in Chennai.

Haas Business Manager for Asia, Justin Quan, notes that the Indian economy is remarkably strong. "India has the largest forging facility in the world," Quan said.

According to Quan, the shift from labor-intensive types of production to high-tech CNC machine tools is one of the great drivers of Indian industry.

"India has about up to nine percent growth in GDP each year," he said. "This year should be no different. The Haas factory outlet network grows with India’s industrial revolution."

The company sold 549 machine tools in India last year, and expects to sell more than 700 in 2008. By 2010, sales of Haas machines in India are expected to exceed 2,000 annually.

All Haas products are built in the company’s manufacturing facility in Southern California.

I Want My SME

The Society of Manufacturing Engineers has posted more than 60 "viral" videos on YouTube. More than 60 short videos have been uploaded and have gathered more than 200,000 hits. SME videos available for viewing include Lean Manufacturing in a Small Shop; Nanomanufacturing (Productive Nano Systems); Liquid Molding; Affordable Automation for Small and Medium Facilities; Composite Materials; and Mapping Your Value Stream. There are 62 SME videos on the site with new ones added monthly.

AMT Gets New President

Robert K. Simpson will become the President of AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology, on October 7, 2008. Simpson will join the association on June 2 and work
in transition with President John B. Byrd III, who will retire after five years at AMT.

Simpson, 48, has worked for 25 years in manufacturing operations and most recently served as corporate vice president and president, Global Plastics Machinery, for Milacron Inc., Cincinnati. He previously served as president of Siegel-Robert Automotive Inc., St. Louis, and held executive positions within Textron and TRW.

Simpson, a Cincinnati-area native, holds a bachelor’s degree in manufacturing engineering from Miami University in Oxford, OH, and an MBA from Western International University in Phoenix. He will relocate to the Washington, D.C., area.

Wisconsin Firm Completes $4 million Expansion, Adds 100 Jobs

Robinson Metal, De Pere, WI, completed a $4 million, 50,000 ft² expansion at its business, adding 100 new jobs.

Since 2005, it has increased its staff by more than 50 percent to stay abreast with demand that was created by its service offerings and expanding sales territory.

The company works with nationwide clients in food processing, paper machinery, aerospace, transportation, mining, pharmaceutical production, and other industries.

Siemens Expands Retrofit Effort

Siemens Energy & Automation, Inc., implemented an initiative in machine retrofits. Siemens is ramping up its Preferred Solution Partner program, through which Siemens CNC, motor, and drive packages will be brought to the machine shop market.

The company has a long involvement with machine tool retrofitting. With this initiative, it forges relationships with partners across the country. These companies have been selected for their market expertise, geographic territory coverage, machine tool line specialty, and other factors.

Tom Curfiss, a 35-year veteran of machine tool engineering, sales, and retrofit work, will head up this group. He is based in the company’s facility in Lebanon, OH.

According to Curfiss, two reasons shops retrofit are that the older controls and drives can no longer be serviced, or the controls are obsolete. A second factor is a growing trend, even among smaller shops, to upgrade capabilities.

"As smaller shops are seeking to upgrade their capabilities, to get more competitive or be more value-adding to current customers, they want to push their machines, often to levels that are impractical, given the original design," he said. "For example, the machine base, bearings, and ways on an HMC may be as solid as the day they left the factory, but the controls simply won’t provide the kind of precision machining a shop needs."

Curfiss said a retrofit is best when it does not exceed 60 percent of the price on a new machine. But, for a smaller shop seeking penetration into a higher precision market, a retrofit might exceed 60 percent, but the gross savings make it a worthwhile expense, especially with larger machining centers.

DMG Steps into Entry-level Market

Hoping to gain market-share in the entry-level machine market, DMG America, Itasca, IL, introduced the CTX ECO series of lathes and the V ECO vertical machining centers.

The entry point for the CTX ECO series starts at about $78,400.

DMG is a part of the Gildemeister Group, as is Famot.

"DMG has set its sights on offering high-tech machines in its portfolio for every customer and every region of the world," Thorsten Schmidt, senior executive for sales and services for the company, said.

"Our ECO line is set to compete against the multitude of cheap offers at the bottom end of the performance scale, with a machine program that is comparable in price but far superior
in technology."

Schmidt said the new line offers DMG the chance to tap the company’s economies of scale from large lot sizes and production capabilities of the Gildemeister Group’s parent company plants in Shanghai and at the Famot manufacturing facilities in Poland.

The universal CTX 310 ECO and CTX 510 ECO lathes offer turning operations for bar machining in a diameter range of up to 200mm and chucking components of 51mm, with dynamic spindle drives that have adjustable rotational speeds of up to 5,000 rpm to provide a power of 11 kW and a torque of 112 Nm.

According to industry experts, the job shop market segment is one of the fastest-growing manufacturing areas in the U.S.