Page 10 - MetalForming December 2013

News Fronts
rail gantry machine boasts an 8- by 13-ft. work envelope, SigmaNest Companion nest- ing software and a 60,000- psi 50-hp intensifier pump.
Stihl Cuts Loose Order for Saw-Blade Production Line
Schuler has supplied a complete chainsaw-blade production line to the Stihl Inc. plant in Virginia Beach, VA. The line—including coil feed (twin-head decoiler, lev- eling machine and roll feed)), blanking, stamping (hydraulic 500- and 250-ton ton press- es) and automatic unstack- ing operations—will process highly heattreated steel in various sizes and lengths.
Bilsing Automation Moves to New, Larger Digs
The new home of Bilsing Automation North America, in Roseville, MI, includes 9200 sq. ft. of shop-floor space and 4500 sq. ft. of office space. The firm supplies automated tooling to support stamping, injection molding, hydroforming, metal fabricat- ing and other processes.
ATW Companies Expands Capabilities Arms-industry supplier
ATW Companies, Warwick, RI, has added an array of manu- facturing equipment to its metalforming shop, including equipment for resistance welding and robotic plasma- arc welding. The firm special- izes in deep drawing, stamp- ing and pistol-magazine fabrication.
Steel Tube Mill Rolls into Louisiana
Benteler Steel/Tube has broken ground on its first
U.S. manufacturing facility— a hot-rolling seamless steel tube mill in Caddo Parish, LA. The facility expects to employ 675 workers at full production capacity. Construction should end late in 2014, with pro- duction scheduled to start in mid-2015. To train workers for the plant, a training facili- ty is being built on the nearby campus of Bossier Parish Community College.
Desch Canada Expands
The Cambridge, Ontario, Canada facility of Desch Canada has been expanded by 16,000 sq. ft., to make room for new manufacturing equipment and two new test stands. The firm manufac- tures planetary and special gearboxes, clutches, couplings and other power-transmission products. One of the new test stands will allow the firm to send out clutches with a torque curve specific to that clutch.
The New Name of Miyachi Unitek
...is Miyachi America Corp. The manufacturer of resistance- and laser-welding equipment, which in March 2013 became a consolidat- ed subsidiary of Amada Co., is based in Monrovia, CA. It plans to retrain the Miyachi Unitek brand name.
Trumpf Adds SPC Software
Trumpf North America has invested in GainSeeker sta- tistical-process-control (SPC) software from Hertzler Sys- tems Inc., Goshen IN. The SPC software will help Trumpf improve the quality management of its manufac- turing processes. Explaining its choice, Trumpf data man- agement engineer Min Huang
says: “The easy data acces- sibility of the dashboard was a big attraction for us. The server edition of the dash- board and charting without an additional license also was attractive. The charting tool is easy to use and the dashboard gives us great visualization of the collected production data, enabling quick and easy reference.”
Bazz Houston Grows in Mexico
Metalformer Bazz Hous- ton, Garden Grove, CA, has moved into a new manufac- turing facility in Tijuana, Mexi- co, twice the size of its previ- ous facility located nearby. The firm, recently named 2013 Innovative Supplier of the Year by Chamberlain, manufactures springs, stamp- ings, wire forms and fourslide parts. It also offers a full range of maquila services including vendor-managed inventory, EDI and warehousing.
Roll-Kraft Welcomes New Wire-EDM Duo
Roll-tooling manufacturer Roll-Kraft has acquired a pair of new wire-EDM machines— one for its headquarters facility in Mentor, OH, and the second to be installed at its plant in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada. The machines can handle workpieces weighing as much as 9000 lb. Roll- Kraft serves the rollforming and tube and pipe industries.
Minneapolis Welcomes 3D Printing Service
for Manufacturers
Drill jigs, masking tem- plates and inspection aids— those are just a few of the tools that the newly launched 3D Printing Ally, Minneapolis, MN, can engineer and fabri-
cate for manufacturing com- panies. With an inhouse staff of designers and the use of fused deposition modeling technology, the company can manufacture tools from ABS- M30, polycarbonate or Ultem 9085. It also can design hybrid tooling to allow for alu- minum or steel details. Build envelope: 16 by 14 by 16 in. Additional services include 3D modeling and scanning, and bead blasting.
Training
Ferris State Welding Engineering Department Receives Significant Donation
Miller Electric Mfg. Co., Appleton, WI, has donated more than $1 million worth of robotic-welding equipment and simulation software to the Welding Engineering Technology program at Ferris State University, Big Rapids, MI. Included are three robot- ic-welding cells that Miller pledges to update every three years with new equip- ment, to ensure students stay on the leading edge of technology.
Orlando to Host Additive-Manufacturing with Powder Metallurgy Conference
The Metal Powder Indus- tries Federation, Princeton, NJ, will hold its inaugural con- ference, Additive Manufactur- ing with Powder Metallurgy, in Orlando, FL, May 18-20, 2014. The conference will be collocated with the PM2014 World Congress on Powder Metallurgy, and the Tungsten, Refractory & Hardmaterials Conference. Learn more at www.mpif.org.
8 MetalForming/December 2013
www.metalformingmagazine.com