Modern Machine Shop

VC-Ez 20 VMC. Source: Mazak Mazak showcases advanced machine tool, automation and digital solutions designed to help manufacturers increase throughput and do more with fewer resources. Live, real-world part cutting demonstrations showcase Mazak machines for multitasking, full five-axis machining, vertical and horizontal machining, CNC turning and Swiss-type production turning.

MachineMetrics’ Tool Intelligence capability within the company’s AI-powered Manufacturing Operations Platform is designed to reduce unplanned spindle downtime in high-volume machining environments. In high-volume turning, Swiss and multispindle work, two numbers tend to decide the job: tool cost per part and spindle uptime. A tool that wears out mid-run on an unattended shift can stop a spindle, and unplanned downtime is among the most costly disruptions a shop can face.

Kays Engineering showcases the DeHoff 20144 gundrilling machine used to make components for the world’s largest nuclear fusion reactor, the ITER Tokamak. Fusion reactors use extreme heat to fuse atoms together and create massive amounts of energy without generating radioactive waste or carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions.

Source: Platinum Tooling Technologies Inc. Platinum Tooling Technologies Inc. displays a range of tooling solutions for Swiss-style CNC lathes. The company offers Heimatec live tools and angle heads along with speed multipliers in gear ratios of 1-to-2, 1-to-3 and 1-to-4 that reach maximum speeds of 48,000 rpm. Live and static tools and speeders for Swiss machines are also in stock at Platinum Tooling.

Source: Zeiss Industrial Quality Solutions Zeiss Industrial Quality Solutions showcases metrology technologies and software designed to support manufacturing processes with precise data, including the Zeiss Contura CMM. The Zeiss Contura combines reliable accuracy with optimal flexibility.

Index Corp.’s Traub MS12-4 boosts the output of the company’s existing Traub TNL Series sliding/fixed headstock lathes. Featuring four main spindles, four tool turrets, two or four counter spindles and up to four Flex-WT flexible tool carriers, the Traub MS12-4 offers high productivity for manufacturers of a variety of small parts.

TruLaser 1030 Source: Trumpf Inc. TruLaser Cell 3000 Source: Trumpf Inc. Trumpf highlights its laser-processing capabilities with machines for 2D and 3D laser cutting, laser and arc welding as well as laser marking. The company also showcases a flat-sheet laser-cutting machine, powered by fiber lasers. Trumpf demonstrates the TruLaser 1030 fiber, a laser-cutting machine designed to be easy to use and automate.

Source: AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology Every automation success story starts the same way: a shop buys a robot, a cobot or a piece of software that promises to close the labor gap. Then reality sets in. Someone still has to program the cell, troubleshoot the fault code or catch the part that comes out wrong. Automation hasn’t solved the labor shortage; it’s changed what shops need people to know how to do.

Datanomix showcases digital production bundles built on the G-code Cloud + DNC platform. Each bundle delivers a complete part recipe to the operator via the machine HUD — the same workspace already used for production monitoring. Every asset in the bundle is automatically paired by part number and machine, so an operator cannot pull last month’s revision or a setup sheet intended for a different cell.

Willis Custom Yachts manufactures most of the components for its luxury yachts at its facility in Stuart, Florida. As the in-house CNC department’s workload increased with these jobs, the company looked for ways to improve CNC programming efficiency. Images courtesy of Siemens. Custom marine manufacturing can include tens of thousands of components, many of which are not repeatable between projects.