Page 8 - MetalForming October 2019

News Fronts
Market Outlook
Automotive Overtakes Food Industry as Mexico’s Biggest GDP Contributor
market to surpass $62 billion over the next seven years. The report notes that worldwide, 97.3 million cars were pro- duced in 2017, up from the 89.8 million produced in 2014.
Awards
Clips & Clamps Industries Wins
FCA Women Business of the Year Award
Clips & Clamps Industries, a Plymouth, MI-based metal forming company, has received Fiat Chrysler Automobile’s (FCA) 2019 Women Business of the Year award. Presented during a ceremony at FCA’s North American headquarters in Auburn, MI, the award rec- ognizes the woman-owned and -managed company’s suc- cess in providing innovative solutions through its products and services with FCA. In addi- tion to its tooling design and build capabilities, Clips & Clamps provides metal stamp- ings and offers capabilities in slideforming, CNC wireform- ing, welding and assembly.
Facilities
Trumpf Opens Technology Center in California
Trumpf Inc., Farmington, CT, has opened its 20,000- sq.-ft. technology center in Costa Mesa, CA, where the company’s precision laser, punch, and bending capabili- ties are showcased in the cen- ter’s 13,000-sq.-ft. showroom.
There, guests have the opportunity to experience seven machines from Trumpf’s product portfolio along with hands-on training. When visit- ing, guests also can experi-
ence Trumpf’s TruServices, TruConnect, and TruTops soft- ware solutions to gain insight and knowledge on how their manufacturing processes can be fully optimized.
Remote connectivity to the Trump Smart Factory in Hoff- man Estates, IL, makes it pos- sible to view additional com- pany equipment in real-time, and highlights the company’s Industry 4.0 products and services for manufacturing.
Guelph Opens in Texas
Guelph Manufacturing Group, a Canadian supplier of seat structures and compo- nents, announced its newest location in North America: Irv- ing, TX, producing formed and notched headrest products.
Training
Solar Atmospheres Donates Furnace to Lehigh University
Solar Atmospheres, Soud- erton, PA, in conjunction with the William and Myrtle Jones (primary owners of Solar) Foundation, has donated and installed a laboratory furnace for Lehigh University’s Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science. The furnace, with SolarVac Polaris control system, a hot zone capable of holding 250 lb. and a maximum temperature of 2800 F, was installed in Lehigh University’s Whitaker Lab, along with the necessary Solar-built transformer and water cooling system.
“This is a powerful, advanced piece of equipment that will allow us to conduct important experiments in our metallurgy teaching and research, espe- cially around additive manu- facturing,” explains Wojciech Misiolek, professor and chair
Last year, the automotive sector overtook the food-pro- cessing industry for the first time to become Mexico’s biggest contributor to manu- facturing GDP.
Automotive contributed nearly 20.7 percent of manu- facturing GDP, a 7.7-percent increase compared to 2010, while the food sector’s 20.3- percent contribution repre- sented a 2.3-percent drop for the same period.
Eduardo Solís, president of the Mexican Automotive Industry Association, highlight- ed that growth over the past quarter of a century—the peri- od during which the North
American Free Trade Agree- ment has been in effect—has been even more impressive.
“Twenty-five years ago, the food industry was 20 percent of the whole manufacturing industry and we were at 6 per- cent,” says Solís. “Today, the food sector is just above 20 percent and the auto sector is at 20.7 percent, making us the most important industry in Mexico.”
The third biggest contribu- tors to manufacturing GDP are the chemical and basic metal production industries, each of which generates 6.4 percent of Mexico’s total GDP.
Source: Mexico News Daily
FABTECH Explores the Impact of Tariffs on Metal Manufacturing
Industry experts have esti- mated that steel and alu- minum tariffs could cost U.S.- based manufacturing companies more than $10 million over the next five years, and according to research by the Institute of International Finance, result in an annual loss of $40 billion in U.S. exports. Supply-chain disruptions continue as plant managers forecast, purchase and stockpile inventories to minimize the impact of the increased cost of raw materials.
With that in mind, FABTECH 2019, November 11- 14 in Chicago, includes two Leadership Exchange sessions intended to provide attendees with applicable information and insights for facing tariffs head-on. The first, The Impact of Disruptive Technology and the Future of Manufacturing, will discuss disruptive tech-
nologies including 5G, IoT, AI, robotics and automation. This panel discussion takes place November 13 from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. A second panel dis- cussion, 21st Century Work- force: Building Tomorrow’s Workforce, on November 14 from 11 a.m. to noon, looks at the intricacies involved with managing workforce gaps.
Additionally, the new Robotics & Industrial Automa- tion Pavilion will introduce new technologies and prod- ucts for making businesses more productive and profitable during these uncertain times.
Automotive Al Market May Surpass $62 Billion by 2026
The Automotive Aluminum Market report by Acumen Research and Consulting fore- casts the value of the fast- growing automotive aluminum
6 MetalForming/October 2019
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