An Open Letter to Kids About Machines and the World of Making Things
By: Brent Donaldson
This is an open letter to middle- and high-school students about choices they’ll soon face. It is also an introduction to Career and Technical Education (CTE), the world of CNC machining, and a reminder that there are options outside of the traditional four-year college path.
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Controlling Extreme Cutting Conditions in Large-Part Machining
By: Brent Donaldson
Newly patented technologies for controlling chatter and vibration during milling, turning and boring operations promise to drastically reduce production time and increase machining performance.
The Resurgence of 'Shop Class' in American High Schools
By: Brent Donaldson
From the 1990s through the 2010s, most traditional “shop classes” disappeared from middle schools and high schools across the U.S. — one of the many issues that helped create today’s skilled labor shortage in metalworking and CNC machine shops. Here’s one solution that deserves more attention.
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Increasing OEM Visibility to Shopfloor Operations for the Win
By: Brent Donaldson
A former employee of General Motors and Tesla talks about the issues that led to shutdowns on factory lines, and what small- to medium-sized manufacturers can do today to win business from large OEMs.
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Behind Schedule Preparing for CMMC? You Are Not Alone.
By: Brent Donaldson
The Department of Defense appears to be on track to begin a phased rollout of its Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification assessment program by early 2025. What does that mean for defense contract manufacturers and suppliers?
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Process Control — Leveraging Machine Shop Connectivity in Real Time
By: Brent Donaldson
Renishaw Central, the company’s new end-to-end process control software, offers a new methodology for producing families of parts through actionable data.
The Link Between CNC Process Control and Powertrain Warranties
By: Brent Donaldson
Ever since inventing the touch-trigger probe in 1972, Sir David McMurtry and his company Renishaw have been focused on achieving process control over its own manufacturing operations. That journey has had sweeping consequences for manufacturing at large.
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Zillow for Machine Tools?
By: Brent Donaldson
The ability to see spec-by-spec comparisons between machine tools made Techspex.com immediately popular. Now, the machine tool search engine boasts a fresh new look and 5 must-see upgrades.
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If the Federal Government Is to Solve the Manufacturing Labor Shortage, it Needs to Start Here
By: Brent Donaldson
Student-run businesses focused on technical training for the trades are taking root across the U.S. Can we — should we — leverage their regional successes into a nationwide platform?
#thesetup #workforcedevelopment
Step Inside a Robot Shangri-La
By: Brent Donaldson
While the Automate show in Detroit was not strictly geared toward CNC machining applications, the technology on display offered a glimpse into the future — and present — of robotic automation for the manufacturing industry at large.
Lessons on the Journey Toward Shop Automation
By: Brent Donaldson
By necessity, small and mid-sized American job shops are automating production, whether through swift, dramatic upgrades in capital equipment, or slow, methodical changes to processes and procedures on the shop floor.
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Made in the USA - Season 2 Episode 6: Why, and How, Hardinge is Reshoring Machine Tool Production
By: Brent Donaldson
In this episode of Made in the USA, several executives and senior staff at Hardinge give their first-person account of how they formulated the plan to shift the manufacturing of its milling and turning product lines from its Taiwan plant to its plant in Elmira, New York, the major challenges they encountered and the rewards that made it worth the effort.
