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Advanced tips for CNC designs and drawings: On-demand webinar

Greg Paulsen and Steve Zimmerman from Xometry present a comprehensive understanding of CNC design principles, what features are considered common, and what can drive costs. The experts also go through guidance to make great technical drawings to communicate design intent to manufacturers. Lots of good info here. Flip through now and take it all in later when you have the time.
View the video. No registration required.

Get a 24-piece bearings sample box from igus

igus has a new and improved 24-piece iglide^® sample box that engineers can request and receive gratis. All iglide components are self-lubricating, resistant to dirt and dust, and offer low rates of wear. The sample box contains bearings, gears, piston rings, and more, and includes many of the most widely used iglide materials. Nothing like having the materials in hand to really check them out.
Learn more.

Couplings provide stable control in challenging stepper/servo motor applications

Zero-Max's ServoClass-HSN Couplings address noise and vibration issues that can be experienced in high-gain, high-speed stepper/servo motor applications such as linear actuators, high-response gantry systems, pick-and-place systems, and semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Featuring a Highly Saturated Nitrile Rubber (HSN/HNBR) flex element, these couplings are specifically designed for maximum damping and performance. They incorporate the field-proven ServoClass clamping hub system and have a zero-backlash design.
Learn more.

New infinitely reconfigurable and reusable mold tech

UK-based company Fyous is launching the world's first infinitely reusable molding technology that can shapeshift in under 20 minutes, producing zero tooling waste and making usable parts 14 times faster than 3D printing. Sort of like a kid's pin art toy, Fyous' PolyMorphic molding can be set, used, and then reset to help create parts from carbon fiber, polyurethane, PET sheet (thermoformed), foods like chocolate, and more.
Read the full article.

New disk-type flexible couplings

Stock Drive Products/ Sterling Instrument (SDP/SI) has expanded their selection of flexible couplings to include the single disk-type couplings (short-type) series S50XHSM and the double disk-type couplings (standard length-type) series S50XHWM. The disk-type flexible couplings are an economical option that provides greater torque capability and improved performance in a reduced size, with torque ratings of 0.6 up to 12 Nm -- an improvement over similar products.
Learn more.

What is a Heatric Printed Circuit Heat Exchanger?

According to Parker Hannifin, "A Printed Circuit Heat Exchanger is a robust, corrosion-resistant, high-integrity plate-type heat exchanger manufactured using diffusion bonding." Learn about the technology and why Heatric, a Parker brand, "can manufacture a unit up to 85% smaller and lighter than traditional technologies such as shell and tube heat exchangers."
Read this informative Parker blog.

Top Product: 3M Friction Shims -- Why have more than 300 million been sold?

3M Friction Shims are small, thin steel shims with a big impact. They can increase maximum load and peak torque in bolted connections without additional fasteners or redesigns. What else makes them so popular -- and so useful?
Read the full article.

Big news from Smalley! New online store

Smalley's customers for the highest-quality retaining rings and wave springs now have a new procurement option: the Smalley online store. This new service channel is a first for the renowned rings and springs provider. After creating an account, approved users gain access to: convenient 24/7 online ordering that includes more than 11,000 standard parts, real-time product pricing, easy reordering with saved history and wish lists, and a quick checkout. No more waiting for an RFQ response to purchase!
Learn more.

New robotic parts feeding system claims to be a game changer

TM Robotics has launched a revolutionary new robotic feeding system called Infinifeed™ to the North American market. Powered by Shibaura Machine's advanced THE series of industrial robots, the Infinifeed is an automated feeding system that addresses the common challenges of parts feeding and sorting. Designed by DOMA Automation and integrated by Tera Automation, Infinifeed uses a unique parallel belt conveyor system with opposing motion. This innovative design, equipped with diverters and a 2D vision system, ensures seamless part feeding and sorting.
Learn more.

V-Conform O-ring Belts -- the Ultra-Drive Belts

V-Conform™ Reinforced O-ring Belts from Dura-Belt are bi-modulus (rubber reinforced with elastic stretchy nylon), so they provide greater tension than solid polyurethane belts. These belts have soft, tiny ribs that conform to standard 3/16-in. roller grooves, so they can replace round elastic belts while maintaining grip and tension. Lots of benefits, including: energy savings, motorized drive roller (MDR) protection, bearing and shaft hole wear prevention, and more.
Learn more.

EXAIR's new AR Mobile App enhances user experience

The new EXAIR AR Mobile App provides users with a handy compressed air reference tool for over 570 different EXAIR products. The app expedites the solution-finding process by allowing users to select their specific sizes and performance requirements, place a 3D version of the product in their actual workspace using Augmented Reality, and navigate to a page to purchase -- all from their mobile device. The app includes a library of conversion calculators. Available in both the Apple and Google Play Stores.
Learn more.

ClampDisk micro fastener is new alternative for automotive and consumer electronics

Designed as a unique alternative in assemblies for the automotive and consumer electronics markets, the ClampDisk Press-on Fastener is a new offering from PennEngineering that delivers a fast, simple way to achieve sheet-to-sheet clamped fastening while replacing the use of standard screws, nuts, and adhesives. The most common challenges that can be eliminated or reduced by using ClampDisk include over installation, cross threading, stripped screw heads, broken screws, and damaged product. This fastener can be removed easily with a sharp-edged tool.
Learn more and see how ClampDisk works.

New laser welder automates assembly of small plastic parts

Emerson's new Branson GLX-1 Laser Welder offers users flexibility to meet the growing demand for joining small, complex, or delicate plastic components and assemblies. Its compact footprint and modular design make it compatible for use in ISO-8 cleanroom environments, while an integral automation controller simplifies installation and interfaces with production robotics. The precise, servo-based actuation controls allow for greater freedom to design and join components with three-dimensional contours in small-part applications for the medical, electronics, automotive, and appliance industries.
Learn more.

Slip clutch real-world applications

When design engineers think about slip clutches, they first think of using them for overload protection. While this is certainly a valuable application, there are a surprising number of other applications that solve many engineering problems. See real-world applications of Polyclutch slip clutches, from conveyors and military robots to vending machines, printers, and more. There's a good Selection Guide here too.
Learn more.

Precision profile rolled steel products

Need steel products with a special edge? NIPPON KINZOKU CO. of Japan offers its Fine Profile cold-rolled technology that produces metal pieces with irregularly shaped cross-sections of different thicknesses. By rolling the uneven pattern on the roll surface, it is possible to process various designs and functions such as unique designs, oil grooves, gloss prevention, identification grooves, etc. Final products can be delivered in a variety of forms such as record rolls, oscillate rolls, fixed-length products, and secondary processing. An interesting alternative to machining processes such as cutting and grinding.
Learn more.

U. Michigan says auto plants grew their workforces after transitioning to EV production

Data suggests the switch to EVs may not mean the loss of assembly jobs that some predicted.

By Jim Lynch, University of Michigan

U.S. auto plants producing battery electric vehicles have required a larger workforce than traditional internal combustion engine plants -- a finding that runs counter to early predictions about how EVs would impact the industry.

Researchers at the University of Michigan (U-M) have shown that plants in the ramp-up stages of transitioning to full-scale EV production saw that 10 times more workers are needed to assemble every vehicle. And at one plant studied, now with over a decade of EV production, the total number of workers needed to make each vehicle has remained three times higher.

"There is a shortage of information out there about how the transition is shaping up," said Anna Stefanopoulou, the William Clay Ford Professor of Technology and senior author of the study published in Nature Communications. "What we're seeing, with the data that's available, is that the loss of employment predicted for EVs is not happening."

Workers at a Ford plant in Dearborn, MI, work beneath the body of a fully electric Ford F-150 Lightning in 2022. [Credit: Photo by Brenda Ahearn, Michigan Engineering/Courtesy of University of Michigan]

 

 

 

 

Previous estimates of what EV manufacturing would mean for autoworkers depicted a 30 to 40% reduction -- a loss of 200,000 jobs or more. Much of that stems from the basic difference between electric and gas-powered cars.

EVs require roughly 100 fewer parts than their ICE counterparts, and their powertrain designs are far simpler. Transmissions, exhaust, and cooling systems are not part of the EV equation, so the expectation has been assembly jobs would be lost. But the findings show the opposite.

U-M's research team offered several factors likely contributing to higher numbers of assembly workers at EV plants, including:

• Investment in the development of new manufacturing technologies, which often requires more labor to improve.
• Higher vehicle complexity. Companies beginning to manufacture EVs usually start out making premium vehicles with the most advanced features and technologies.
• Some manufacturers have consolidated workers in a single, central location to lower costs from outsourcing, a practice known as vertical integration.

The 30% job loss number is often attributed to James Hackett, Ford's former president and CEO from a forecast in 2017.

"It's a number that has been repeated by a lot of big names in the auto industry," said Omar Ahmed, a U-M graduate student research assistant and a co-first author of the study. "But if you look closely, no one's really done the work to look at real plants that have transitioned from building ICE vehicles to building EVs."

U-M researchers identified three plants that have transitioned from building all ICEs at one time, to manufacturing all EVs. Those are Tesla's factory in Fremont, CA (previously owned by General Motors and Toyota), Rivian's factory in Normal, IL (previously operated by Mitsubishi), and the General Motors plant in Orion Township, MI (currently not operating). The team compiled two decades of data on the number of assembly workers at the three plants using public census data in the U.S., as well as production data from the Automotive News Research & Data Center

"Our work shows clearly that the number of assembly workers in the plants has increased in many cases," said Andrew Weng, a U-M research fellow in mechanical engineering and co-first author of the study. "However, the jury is still out in terms of parts manufacturing jobs, which will largely depend on where battery cell manufacturing takes place."

Tesla's Fremont plant offers the longest stretch of EV production to study. Gabriel Ehrlich, an associate research scientist and director of U-M's Research Seminar in Quantitative Economics, said there are lessons to be gleaned from that auto plant's data.

"The plant has been operating for ten years now, and they've obviously been able to improve labor efficiency," he said. "But the pace of improvement indicates that it can take up to 15 years for a plant to reach parity with its ICE predecessor.

"It's going to be a slow process, one that gives communities, companies, and workers time to adjust."

The study was partially funded by the National Science Foundation.

Published September 2024

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