Designfax weekly eMagazine

Subscribe Today!

Archives

View Archives

Partners

Manufacturing Center
Product Spotlight

Modern Applications News
Metalworking Ideas For
Today's Job Shops

Tooling and Production
Strategies for large
metalworking plants

SOLIDWORKS 2026 assembly updates: GoEngineer

In this GoEngineer video, you can learn how SOLIDWORKS 2026 is making assembly workflows smarter, faster, and more efficient. Explore the latest enhancements to assemblies, including: streamlined display and configuration tables, AI-assisted fastener mating, improved performance for lightweight components, and more.
View the GoEngineer video.

How to select a linear bearing pillow block

When it comes to choosing a pillow block style to help provide a secure foundation for a rotating shaft, the engineers at Lee Linear suggest using something called "P.O.S.T.L.U.D.E.S" as your guide: Precision, Orientation, Speed, Travel, Load, Unknowns, Duty Cycle, Environment, and Safety. Learn all about pillow block types, construction, and applications.
Read the Lee Linear blog.

3D-printed aftermarket carburetor

Faced with increasing international competition, Tecron, a provider of manufacturing and engineering services to automotive companies across Europe, began researching ways to defend its market position -- and found that metal additive manufacturing was key to their success. Learn how the company used Markforged 3D-printing equipment to make discontinued automotive parts.
Read the Markforged blog.

Stratasys launches iAM Marketplace

Stratasys' iAM Marketplace is an independent new platform set to accelerate adoption of additive manufacturing as a core manufacturing capability. The hardware-agnostic marketplace offers the polymer additive manufacturing industry's widest selection of high-quality polymer materials, engineering services, and products to scale AM-enabled production across a wide variety of applications. It unites under one umbrella the materials expertise of iSQUARED, Forward AM, and assets from Nexa3D. The platform aims to streamline purchasing and support more agile and robust supply chains.
See what iAM Marketplace offers.

New laser-weldable PPS plastic

Polyplastics has launched a laser weldable DURAFIDE^® PPS grade with high transmittance. DURAFIDE PPS 1120LW1 (tentative name) utilizes a unique transmittance improvement technology. Although PPS has traditionally been considered difficult to use for laser welding, this new material expands the possibilities for applying laser welding to parts that previously had limitations in terms of heat and chemical resistance. This material is so new you may want to talk to someone at the company.
Learn more.

Expert design tips and tricks for 3D printing

Join Xometry's 3D-printing experts, Greg Paulsen and Matt Schmidt, as they reveal practical strategies to help you optimize your designs, improve print quality, and reduce costs across your 3D-printing projects. Learn about file-prep best practices, how to reduce costs on 3D prints, key design considerations when working on tolerance or resolution, and much more. Lots to learn here.
View the video.

New sheet metal capabilities for faster, cost-efficient builds

meviy, the on-demand custom parts manufacturing service developed by MISUMI Group, has expanded its sheet metal processing capabilities -- a game-changer for engineers and designers working under tight timelines and budgets. The upgrade includes support for thicker materials (up to 0.5"), bending up to 0.25", and new tapped and countersunk hole options -- all while maintaining meviy's trademark speed and simplicity. From fixture plates to machine frames, this opens the door for faster, low-precision structural builds.
Learn about meviy's many new service offerings.

Keep a firm footing with JW Winco

Every machine, every test system, and every filling station -- none of them floats suspended in the air. They all rest on specific, functionally optimized elements like leveling feet or, if mobility is required, casters. Leveling feet support loads both statically and dynamically, while wheels and casters support units on the move. JW Winco has a huge selection, from light-duty to high-load, available from different material types and loaded with different features. See all your options, including new hybrid units such as EN 22882, which combines a polyamide caster and leveling foot into a single component.
Learn about JW Winco leveling feet, casters, and hybrid solutions.

What's a SLIC Pin^®? Pin and cotter all in one!

The SLIC Pin (Self-Locking Implanted Cotter Pin) from Pivot Point is a pin and cotter all in one. This one-piece locking clevis pin is cost saving, fast, and secure. It functions as a quick locking pin wherever you need a fast-lock function. It features a spring-loaded plunger that functions as an easy insertion ramp. This revolutionary fastening pin is very popular and used successfully in a wide range of applications.
Learn more.

Oxygen analyzer optimizes combustion systems

The new Rosemount CX2100 In Situ Oxygen Analyzer from Emerson is designed to provide the critical info needed to optimize combustion processes and help manufacturers meet emissions standards, reduce energy costs, and increase safety. The CX2100 is simple to install with a transmitter that can be mounted up to 300 ft away from the probe. Its guided setup and commissioning are a snap, and maintenance is easy due to the probe's quick connect/disconnect feature. Autocalibration features regularly measure analyzer accuracy. Industries include power and utilities, chemicals, petroleum and refining, metals and mining, and more.
Learn more.

NEW! Smalley debuts Nestawave™ Compression Spring: Redefines performance in compact applications

Smalley's new Nestawave™ product is a breakthrough in spring design. It combines the space-saving deflection of a Crest-to-Crest^® wave spring with the high-force output of a Spirawave^® nested spring. In one application, Smalley engineers helped a customer streamline their design by replacing a stack of 24 Belleville washers with a single Nestawave spring!
Read the full article.

New Ultra Duty Line Vac for maximum wear resistance and throughput

EXAIR's new Ultra Duty Line Vacs™ offer the most powerful and durable pneumatic conveyors yet. Engineered specifically to withstand highly abrasive conveying tasks, the Ultra Duty Line Vac's design combines a hardened alloy and ceramic material that provide exceptional resistance to wear over extended periods of time. This makes it the ideal choice for moving abrasive materials such as peat, sand, glass, powders, and other fine media commonly found in blasting, grinding, and finishing operations. Three sizes available to fit standard hose or tube diameters.
Learn more.

MATLAB Copilot: Generative AI-powered assistant

MathWorks has launched MATLAB Copilot, a generative AI assistant for MATLAB that enhances productivity and accelerates development for engineers, scientists, and researchers. Available in the latest MATLAB and Simulink Release 2025b (R2025b), the new product is designed to streamline coding, debugging, and learning within the MATLAB environment. MATLAB Copilot offers intelligent features that support users throughout their development workflows, including: Chat and Learn, Code Smarter, and Understand and Improve.
Learn more.

Stainless steel press-in inserts for casting and soft metals

Manufacturers working with soft metals and die-cast alloys now have an innovative time- and labor-saving solution to create strong, durable metal threads. PEM^® 300 series stainless steel CASTSERT^® inserts are designed for quick, reliable, and cost-effective installations by pressing into an "as-cast" or drilled hole. This rapid installation method, using a flat punch and anvil, outpaces traditional methods by approximately 80%.
Learn more.

New steel alloy for 3D printing features ultra-high strength, exceptional weldability

Sandvik has introduced Osprey MAR 55, a highly versatile tool steel powder for 3D printing that bridges the gap between maraging steels and tool steels. With this new alloy, manufacturers no longer have to choose between good weldability of carbon-free maraging steels and the performance of carbon-bearing steels. It provides good mechanical properties and wear resistance. This alloy could be considered for general tooling applications. The exceptional fracture toughness at ultra-high-strength levels also paves the way for use in defense and aerospace.
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

Rate this article