Success in manufacturing is often the result of continuous improvements to both business and production processes. Our customers demand increasingly higher quality products delivered quickly and cost-effectively. This means we must constantly seek new methods and technologies to reduce production costs, while maintaining the integrity of our products and meeting tighter delivery schedules.
As U.S. manufacturers continue to find ways to make parts better, faster and at less cost, there is always a concern that factory jobs will become extinct. More sophisticated CNC machine tools, robotic automation and alternative technologies such as 3D printing fuel this concern. However, all evidence points to the contrary.
Much is being said about a fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) and what it bodes for the future of manufacturing. To put it in context, each of the preceding three centuries have seen dramatic shifts in the way technology impacts our world:
Practical Machinist online community and industrial equipment supplier Grainger conducted a survey in early 2016 to find out how metalworking manufacturing is changing.
This is the sixth year that Gardner Business Media, has surveyed CNC shops to find the strongest performers and determine what they are doing to rise to the top of the list. As in the past, there are many statistics that reveal a significant difference between how the top 20% of shops operate versus the rest.
Science fiction films dating back to Fritz Lang’s 1927 classic, Metropolis, have long warned that robotic machines may eventually surpass and dominate their human inventors. While there is no doubt that robots and robotic devices are getting smarter, that artificial intelligence continues to evolve, and that driverless cars are becoming a reality, so far we humans are more likely at risk of a Zombie Apocalypse than a robot rebellion.
Additive manufacturing is touted as the next paradigm shift in manufacturing. The concept of building up material to make parts, versus thousands of years of subtracting or forming metal to manufacture these parts is, indeed, an event of seismic proportions.
Just like a car or truck, CNC machines require routine maintenance to keep them in top form. A well maintained machine tool will perform at peak efficiency and reduce costly breakdowns that interrupt production. Performing routine maintenance, as required, will also prolong the life of the machine.
With 135 years of machine tool experience behind it, Schütte CAM or CNC multi spindle machines have the rigidity, speed and accuracy to handle complex parts and challenging materials.
Changes in our everyday life and in manufacturing are happening faster than ever before. In the world of CNC machining it’s not as much about the number of new technologies emerging as it is about the rate of advancement in existing technologies and the cultural changes of a new generation of owners and managers.
