In the machining industry today, manufacturers have found themselves in a rather tricky position.
Increased global competition, reduced staff, returning demand and a major skilled-labor shortage have come together in a perfect storm of contrary drivers, forcing manufacturers to use fewer people and fewer resources to create more products of higher quality than ever before.
This classic recipe for dramatic technological innovation is driving machine tool manufacturers to design new, high-speed, multifunction, multi-axis, fully automated machines that promise to drastically increase productivity and fundamentally change the flow of modern plants.
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| Within six months, the Mazak Integrex i-200S multitasking machine began processing 20% of Reatas sales and has boosted efficiency and profitability by 200%. |
Technology continues to advance very significantly, says Mark Logan, vice president of business development and marketing at MAG -- a global producer of machining tools.
The simple reason is that our customers demand it of us. Our customers are competing in a very dynamic and challenging marketplace. So they always need to be improving to remain competitive.
These advances, says Randy Pearson, dealer support specialist at Siemens Industry Inc., are adding new dimensions to machining capabilities for maximum efficiency and quality.
They use a minimum of five axes, simultaneous for most of their parts, he says. Weve been working with some people who are currently on mill turn-type machines, but now we are getting into seven-axis machining on some turning equipment. The advance to the highly technological machines is moving quite rapidly at this point due to market demands.
