Category: Advanced Manufacturing

  • Big Data, Manufacturing, and What You Need to Know

    For a very long time, manufacturing has been a world of high quantities and proprietary techniques. It didn’t matter how the work got done, it just needed to get done (en mass and on time). Now, in a world of ever-increasing production quotas, we are constantly looking for ways to improve production efficiency and finding…

    Advanced Manufacturing

  • 5 Ways additive manufacturing can make your business more competitive

    Additive manufacturing is a process that creates solid objects from a computer-generated design. The digital model is divided into different layers and an actual product is built layer-by-layer until the final, desired output is obtained. An example of a process which uses these manufacturing principles is 3D printing, which is gaining popularity around the world.…

    Advanced Manufacturing

  • How can Fusion 360 software improve collaboration across your organization?

    Collaboration is one of the most important factors that can determine the success of a business in today’s hyper-competitive global market. Ideas and professional expertise from around the world can be used together to solve highly complex problems in the engineering field. Collaborative software such as Fusion 360 has been designed to make this process…

    Advanced Manufacturing

  • Is It Really That Hard to Machine Titanium?

    In short, yes. Machining titanium is often billed as the pinnacle of a machine tool’s capabilities, but really it’s less about the machine itself and more about the machinist. That doesn’t mean that tooling and your machine aren’t important, but like so many things in the world of machining, there are a million ways to…

    Advanced Manufacturing

  • What are ‘cobots’ and how will they revolutionize manufacturing?

    Modern manufacturing has been characterized by the rise of the machines. Gradually, robots have replaced human workers on assembly lines, carrying out repetitive tasks that are easy to replicate. For example, on vehicle production lines a robotic arm can hold a car door in place, while another bolts it to the frame. The automation of…

    Advanced Manufacturing

  • Augmented Reality – The Next Step in Shop Technology?

    VR and AR are all the rage these days! It started out in the gaming industry, which is understandable, but it has transitioned into the worlds of marketing and B2B business. One of the earliest steps into the business world, that I witnessed, was modeling and designing architecture. This is pretty intuitive step, if you…

    Advanced Manufacturing

  • Generative design: will we still need engineers?

    Evolution is a powerful thing. It’s the driving force behind life as we know it. With the technology available to us today, it was only a matter of time before the power of evolution was harnessed to shape the material world too. Generative design is an automated, iterative approach to design that uses the power…

    Advanced Manufacturing

  • What role can VR, AR & MR play in the life of an engineer?

    Virtual Reality (VR), and its close relatives – Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR), have seen significant advances over the past few years. Oculus Rift and PlayStation have brought VR to the gaming community, but the possibilities extend much further than just creating immersive video game experiences. To clear up any confusion, VR is…

    Advanced Manufacturing

  • How can AR, VR, and MR help your design team create better products?

    The process of designing and manufacturing products is no longer confined to the real world. Technological advances in computing and visualization devices mean that it is now possible to use virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) to help design teams create products that would have been inconceivable not so long ago.…

    Advanced Manufacturing

  • What does the future of Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) look like?

    Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) is used to design and manufacture products. It can enhance repetitive processes such as drilling holes or cutting layers. The manufacturing process automatically converts design drawings into machine-friendly codes. This allows the machine to read the design and then manufacture the product according to the design specifications. How does it work and…

    Advanced Manufacturing

  • Industrial Manufacturing vs Artisan Manufacturing

    Though it may not always feel like it, the world of manufacturing is always changing and adapting. Whether it’s logistics and sourcing or methodologies and time to market, there’s always a need to evaluate where your manufacturing and production are going. Industrial Manufacturing More traditional manufacturing is often reliant on the low-cost/high-quantity model. Whether your…

    Advanced Manufacturing

  • The Real Skills Gap – Designing for Manufacturability

    In the past, the world of design was relegated to engineers sitting at drafting desks as they contemplated the calculus of parts and the physics of their components in the wild. Typically, designers would mock up their drawings and then pass the design to a machinist or toolmaker to develop parts for prototyping or production.…

    Advanced Manufacturing

  • What to consider when selecting CAM software

    Although there are dozens of CAM systems available, choosing one is not as difficult as many believe. It comes down to choosing the best one for your application. This paper is meant to help give you the tools to help pick the best one for you. Consider the packaging CAM software is available in three…

    Advanced Manufacturing

  • Surface Finishes When Machining – Vital Details to Making Better Molds

    One of the most important things to consider when you’re looking to create a mold is surface finish. No matter what material or method is being used to create your mold, whether you’re machining or using an EDM system or another form of mold making, the surface finish of your mold will always affect the…

    Advanced Manufacturing

  • Replacing EDM Manufacturing with CNC Milling for Efficiency

    Many different manufacturing processes are used to actually manufacture tooling for mold making. Most mold making involves CNC machining, or subtractive processing of the material. Other operations besides milling are used, including 3D printing and EDM operations. Moldmakers today are under pressure to create their mold tooling faster than ever before. Although EDM manufacturing is…

    Advanced Manufacturing