Manufacturing-Technology Orders Post Best Performance Since 2018

August 11, 2021

August 11, 2021

According to the latest U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders report published by AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology, orders for new equipment for the first half of 2021 climbed 49 percent over the first half of 2020 and represent the best half-year period since 2018.

“The manufacturing technology industry has rebounded from the pandemic-induced recession in a phenomenal way,” says Douglas K. Woods, president of AMT. “The first half of 2021 is only 3 percent below 2018, when orders were at a two-decade high. Not only has the industry recovered from the 2020 slump, but orders now are exceeding the pre-pandemic trend."

FABTECH is Back in September

Welcome back! For the first time in two years, we have the opportunity to walk the floors at FABTECH, meeting suppliers, colleagues and industry experts, and partaking of a robust educational program. Yes, FABTECH 2021 is live, September 13-16 at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL, and will be Chicago’s largest indoor, in-person tradeshow/ convention since reopening post-COVID, with 1000-plus exhibitors and 30,000 attendees expected. Read on for show details.

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Ford Shifts Focus to Built-to-Order to Mitigate Semiconductor Shortage’s Effects

Ford is revamping its supply chain operations and increasing its focus on build-to-order vehicles as semiconductor shortages strain the automotive industry, CEO Jim Farley said on the company’s Q2 earnings call. The automaker, according to SupplyChainDive, is further mitigating risk by engaging directly with semiconductor fabricators and other key electronic-components makers in its supply chain and providing longer-term forecasts to its critical vendors, Farley said, allowing the company "to better align supply and demand."

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Standardized & Custom Die Sets Available Today!

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Perspectives on Business Management with Jason Howey, Okay Industries, Inc.

The most recent MetalForming magazine’s MetalForming Business Edge enewsletter invited Jason Howey, president and CEO of Okay Industries Inc., New Britain, CT, to share his business-management insights. Okay Industries engineers and manufactures components and subassemblies for OEMs in the medical, surgical and other precision specialty markets. During the interview, Howey was quick to bring up “The Okay Way,” described as “our dedication, values and expectations—the way we do business, the way we treat others and the way we ensure we exceed your expectations for excellence at every opportunity.”

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EXAIR Air Amplifiers are a simple, low cost way to move air, smoke, fumes, and light materials. Using a small amount of compressed air as their power source, Air Amplifiers pull in large volumes of surrounding air to produce high volume, high velocity outlet flows.

Latest CDC Mask/Testing Guidance Requires Employers to Evaluate Workplace Rules

The COVID-19 Delta variant has prompted a u-turn by the CDC on some of its previous recommendations. In response, employers should take note that their workplace policies may require some re-routing. Bracewell labor attorneys have prepared a report in light of the CDC masking and testing guidance issued on July 27.

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Pepperl+Fuchs’ Sensors for Modern Metalforming

Applying Pepperl+Fuchs products to your in-die sensing program helps prevent die crashes by detecting faults before the die closes. Overall productivity is increased, as the sensors eliminate time lost due to maintenance/repairs and bad-part sorting. Designed to withstand the pressroom environment, they monitor work pieces, holding tools, stripper plates, pilot holes, and more.

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From the August Issue of MetalForming

CAD/CAM Software Meets Tool Builder's Precision Machining Challenges

Benefits for X-Cel Tooling also include quicker machining feeds and speeds on the shop floor, and software standardization across multiple machines that eases programming and operation, and assists in cross-training.

The Ethics of Data Falsification
Data play a vital role in the metal forming community: Do we have enough sheet metal to form the number of parts we owe by the end of the week? Are our workforce staffing levels sufficient to run these jobs? What press and process settings must we use for each job? The answers to these and other questions assume that we have accurate data. Otherwise, making decisions based on inaccurate data may have a multitude of implications, as highlighted in the following real stories.