Automation Alley is creating a roadmap for where the automotive industry’s largest players are headed and how the entire supply chain can adopt tomorrow’s manufacturing technologies. The Troy-based business association plans to release a study on Industry 4.0, the idea that we are in a fourth industrial revolution in which the internet and automation transforms manufacturing.

Sergio Marchionne appears ready to walk away from Fiat Chrysler without making a major splash in the auto industry. The chief executive of the Italian-American automaker, who is set to retire next year, said at a press conference that he does not anticipate spinning off FCA brands or pursuing mergers.

AGMA President Matt Croson was elected to the NAM Council of Manufacturing Association’s Board of Directors for a second three-year term. Croson served on the NAM CMA Board from 2015-2017, and will continue through 2020.

AGMA Blog
AGMA President Matt Croson reflects on his recent attendance at the National Council of Manufacturing Association (NAM) Council of Manufacturing Association’s (CMA) Winter Conference.

(Video) Just two months after its official unveiling, the Tesla Semi is here. A UPS worker in California captured the first known footage of a Semi in action, rolling through Sunnyvale, California. The clip is brief, but revealing. Tesla is said to start full production of their trucks in 2019.

This course addresses the various types of materials used for gears and the advantages and disadvantages of specific material choices. Heat treatment processes and their relation to gear performance, cost, reliability and load characteristics are examined as well as best practice for engineer drawings related to the materials selection process. Learn the roles of the gear design engineer and the gear metallurgist from two instructors (who have worked together for 40 years) and how collaborative efforts can provide better outcomes. Discover how both the gear design engineer and the gear metallurgist can better grasp their related, critical roles in the exciting world of gear processing, heat treatment and inspection.

A new report, "Towards a Reskilling Revolution: A Future of Jobs for All," finds that with 1.4 million U.S. jobs alone expected to be disrupted by technology and other factors between now and 2026, of which 57 percent belong to women, a huge effort is needed to safeguard workers from the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Here, Rob Caron, founder and president of Caron Engineering, begins a rundown of the challenges a machinist confronts in hogging out an aerospace part. For instance, when it comes to engine components, the material might by any number of hard, difficult-to-machine alloys: titanium, Monel, Hastelloy or Inconel.

The 2018 Annual Meeting combines the expert knowledge of the gear and bearing industries with the latest emerging technologies that influence manufacturers and suppliers. More than 300 executives will gather in Naples, Florida this April, to experience the information-packed week full of top-tier speakers. Members will be connected to innovation and opportunities in the industry with potential to strengthen business connections and relationships. Register today!

This year's Detroit Auto Show had something for everyone, from concept cars emphasizing autonomy and electrification to updates that meet current consumer demand for trucks and crossover SUVs.

Advanced manufacturing requires skilled workers, and they are in short supply across the U.S. Even China, with its cheap labor, is modernizing its plants and seeking greater numbers of skilled workers. While we often hear about the coming plant that has so much automation it needs few workers, in reality, plants are seeing a shift to skilled workers rather than a significant drawdown on the workforce.

Foreign motor vehicle manufacturers are now making more cars and trucks in the United States than General Motors, Ford and all other U.S. companies — a first in U.S. history, based on projections for the first quarter of 2018 from WardsAuto.com.

Complex hydraulic components made via metal 3D printing can incorporate details that would be difficult or impossible to duplicate through conventional machining, and weight and size are reducing without compromising performance.

A team of researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) has demonstrated a novel 3D printing method that yields unprecedented control of the arrangement of short fibers embedded in polymer matrices. They used this additive manufacturing technique to program fiber orientation within epoxy composites in specified locations, enabling the creation of structural materials that are optimized for strength, stiffness and damage tolerance.

Hadrian the bricklaying robot is about to make construction of houses safer, faster and cheaper. Fastbrick Robotics is responding to the increased demand for housing and a shortage in skilled construction labor with a bricklaying robot.

Gain a better understanding of various types of gears and bearings. Learn about the limitations and capabilities of rolling element bearings and the gears that they support. Grasp and understand how to properly apply the best gear-bearing combination to any gearbox from simple to complex.

The additive manufacturing industry made great strides in 2017, with new technologies coming to market, new applications being discovered and new 3D printing materials being developed. Here's a look at the three biggest questions facing additive manufacturing that we hope to find answers to in 2018.

In today’s highly competitive manufacturing environment where customers have lots of choices, only the operationally exceptional manufacturer will thrive. Most manufacturers today recognize the need for digital transformation and the need to connect machines, processes and systems on the shop floor — a.k.a "the connected factory," but there’s another side to digital transformation that manufacturers must embrace.