Brent Donaldson Editor-in-Chief
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Lessons from a COVID-19 Shutdown and Reopening
Weldon Solutions, a manufacturer of CNC cylindrical grinders and robotic automation systems, had to close its doors for two months due to COVID-19. Now allowed to reopen, the company is taking stock of the lessons learned and a path forward during the pandemic.
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An Unusual Machine for an Unusual Time: Mazak Helps AquiSense Fight COVID-19 with PearlSurface
When a company that specializes in rendering viruses and pathogens harmless via UV light looked to produce a portable disinfection device, it turned to its neighbor Mazak to move from design into production.
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CNC Machining as a Business Strategy for 3D Printing
As the additive manufacturing company 3rd Dimension Industrial 3D Printing prepares for production, it has one critical advantage over the competition: a standalone CNC machine shop.
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Lean Manufacturing Means Taking Nothing for Granted
As foreign competition undercut Valtech Corp.'s business throughout the aughts, the company had a choice to make: Switch production to CNC machining for one of its products, or abandon the product line. Starting from scratch with older machine tools has helped the company scrutinize each step of its processes.
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Autonomous Bin Picking for CNC Machining Applications
With the launch of a new application kit for collaborative robots, Universal Robots is creating a new option for lights-out machining. But the company may have tapped into a solution for a deeper problem: attracting millennials to the manufacturing workforce.
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At Purdue University, Emergency Production of PPE and Ventilator Fittings
After campus had largely shut down, several labs and departments at the venerated engineering school organized with local hospitals to manufacture critical parts needed to fight the coronavirus.
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Does Asia's Low-Cost Manufacturing Option Still Make Sense?
As U.S.-based companies try to stay ahead of COVID-19, global supply chains are under renewed scrutiny. Are uncertainties and delays caused by global crises worth the short-term cost savings?
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Cool Tricks: How to Photograph Sinker EDM
Sometimes it takes a little extra effort and ingenuity to solve a problem. In the case of the February 2020 cover of 91爆料网, it took a lot of each — and a cheap plastic spaghetti container.
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Inside the Sinker EDM Process, One Spark at a Time
Successful sinker EDM operations rely on understanding the relationship between each individual spark, the electrode and the workpiece.
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Weep Not, Waterjet Machine. Predictive Maintenance is Here.
The versatility of waterjet cutting is well known, but its reputation as a maintenance intensive technology holds it back. Predictive maintenance may change that.
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Workflow as a Competitive Advantage
As the cost of machine tools drops and the Baby Boomer generation enters retirement, the nature of competition between machine shops is trending toward data democratization and shop management software.
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Your Competitors Can Do What You Do
With the barrier to entry for machine shops so low, competitive advantage is not necessarily tied to the ability to machine parts. Increasingly, it is a shop’s ability to document and streamline digital processes that sets it apart from competition.
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