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The staff at Tooling & Production would like to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy New Year!
[color-green]With the craziness of an election year now behind us, we hope you have the chance to relax and spend some quality time with your family and loved ones over the holidays.
We also hope the new administration's stated goal of revitalizing U.S. manufacturing is realized. We believe the manufacturing industry can be the catalyst for an overall economic resurgence in our country. We pray that we truly are entering a new golden age for America.
The implementation of AI, robotic integration and additive manufacturing remained -- or ascended to become -- the latest trends in our industry.
Here at Nelson Publishing, we are proud that our eNewsletters -- Modern Applications News (MAN), Tooling & Production (T&P), and the Manufacturing Center Product Spotlight -- continue to keep up with those trends as we try our best to deliver the latest, most interesting news from our industry. MAN begins its 58th year in January while T&P embarks on its 90th year of serving the machine tool industry!
[color-green]In what has become our annual tradition, we have put together our "Best of 2024" issue. We have compiled two lists -- the Top 10 Most Read Features and Top 10 Most Read Product Spotlights, as judged by the response of our readers. We hope you enjoy these stories and catch some helpful information you may have missed the first time around.
We want to thank all of our subscribers and advertisers for your loyalty to our publications and we'd like to wish you a successful and prosperous 2025!
"Top 10" Most Read Features
How 5G is Reshaping the Future of Manufacturing With the introduction of 5G technology in a number of applications, a seamless environment interconnected by a powerful network is harder to create in the world of manufacturing. Now may be the right time to make investments for expansion opportunities, writes Dijam Panigrahi, Co-founder and COO of GridRaster Inc. Full Article
Auto Parts Manufacturer Solves Inspection Dilemma with Custom 3D-Printed Stylus (Watch Video) Linex Manufacturing, a division of Linamar Corporation, is one of the world's leading automotive parts manufacturers. At its many global plants, Linex uses Renishaw's Equator gauges for inspection. When the company began producing a component that fell outside the Equator's working envelop, the experts at Renishaw turned to their metal 3D printer to solve the problem. Full Article
Siemens Energy Finds 3D Solution to Reduce Repair Downtime (Watch Video) Engineers at the Siemens Innovation Center were tasked to improve turbine maintenance by reducing off-site repairs and costly downtime. So, within 4 weeks, using their fleet of Markforged printers, the team designed and 3D printed a cutback tool that would improve the repair process. But then they realized something else. Full Article
U.S. Army Testing Basketball-Size Inverse-Wankel Rotary Engine; Could Reduce Risk to Troops (Watch Videos) Small combustion engine developer LiquidPiston aims to commercialize its XTS-210, a 25-hp, two-stroke, 210-cc rotary engine. The company says that when compared to current diesel piston engines of comparable output, the XTS-210 design "reduces size and weight by nearly 80%." The U.S. Army is hoping that improved design could lead to less casualties on the battlefield. Full Article
Additive Manufacturing’s Dirty Secret (Watch Video) If you’ve manufactured metal 3D parts, then you probably know the dirty secret -- the cleaning and finishing can often be the hardest part of the process. But that’s where the folks at Rivelin Robotics come in. CEO Robert Bush describes the problems that can occur during the post processing -- and some solutions his company has found. Full Article
Northrop Grumman and Raytheon Combine Knowledge and Resources to Develop Next-Gen Missile Defense (Watch Video) The Next Generation Interceptor is evolving U.S. defenses against increasingly sophisticated ballistic missile threats. The two manufacturers are leveraging advanced manufacturing techniques and a digital collaboration to design, produce and test with speed and agility. Utilizing existing operational facilities, they have already made major strides in building and testing hardware for the Missile Defense Agency's NGI program. Full Article
World's Largest Metal 3D Printer (Watch Video) Built for the U.S. Army through a government/private business partnership, the world's largest metal 3D printer is transforming manufacturing capabilities. The Army's Kendall Swank writes that it soon may produce an entire tank hull in one piece. Full Article
Claymill/Controller Combination is Sculpting a New Future in Car Design (Watch Video) Fueled by visionary thinking and ingenuity since 1969, TARUS remains a leader in car design studio solutions. To maintain market dominance and meet accelerating customer demands, TARUS owners -- and brothers -- Dave and Doug Greig realized they needed to elevate and enhance the capabilities of their clay milling machines. They found their answer in the equally innovative SINUMERIK ONE machine control from Siemens. Full Article
Audi Sport Designs and 3D Prints its Own Tools and Fixtures; Keeps the Line Moving (Watch Video) When the new Audi E-Tron GT was introduced, the Audi Sport location in Heilbronn, Germany rapidly needed almost 200 new tools, jigs and fixtures for its production. Designing these tools would cost a lot of time, and outsourcing the production would take many weeks to months. So instead, the manufacturer did its own design and 3D printing, and it delivered a solution with an unparalleled workflow. Full Article
