Join us for the Annual Meeting online March 18-19, 2021. Attendees at the Annual Meeting Online will experience an exciting program featuring cutting-edge educational content along with engaging and memorable networking opportunities — all from the comfort of your home or office.

AGMA
This course is an introduction to the methodology of analytical gear inspection and the evaluation and interpretation of the resulting data. The application of this information to identify and correct manufacturing errors will begin to be explored. Additionally, it reviews chart interpretation and applies inspection data to understand the causes and cures of manufacturing errors. Many chart examples are used to understand cause and effect.

Join the AGMA Technical Team and get all your questions answered about technical committees and the standards process.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reuters
U.S. manufacturing output increased more than expected in December, but disruptions to the supply chain as the relentless pandemic keeps some workers at home could slow production in the months ahead. Manufacturing production rose 0.9% last month after advancing 0.8% in November, according to the Federal Reserve. That was the eighth straight monthly gain in factory production. Manufacturing is being supported by a shift in demand toward goods from services.

Aerospace Manufacturing and Design
Houston Spaceport, the nation's 10th commercially licensed spaceport, will be home to the world's first commercial space station builder, Axiom Space. The aerospace company announced plans to create a 14-acre headquarters campus to train private astronauts and begin production of its Axiom Station, the world's first free-flying, internationally available private space station that will serve as a central hub for research, manufacturing, and commerce in low Earth orbit, 250 miles up.

Business Wire
A seminal milestone in the drone industry, American Robotics now meets the safety requirements needed to make drones scalable for widespread commercial use. 

New Equipment Digest
In the metals industry, long rolling plants that manufacture end products like wire and reinforcement bar are particularly labor-intensive. They comprise multiple rolling and metallurgical processes, many of which need frequent human interaction.

Venture Beat
Oqton, a startup developing a factory operating system that integrates engineering software with manufacturing hardware, today raised $40 million. The company says the funds will be used to further develop Oqton’s platform while expanding its commercial partnerships in markets including additive manufacturing, robotic welding and CNC machining.

Reuters
Apple Inc. is moving forward with self-driving car technology and is targeting 2024 to produce a passenger vehicle that could include its own breakthrough battery technology, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Robotics and Automation News
The BMW Group is breaking new ground in the field of logistics as it founds warehouse robotics company IDEALworks — a fully-owned subsidiary headquartered in Munich. This marks the first time a major automotive brand is building and supplying what are often called autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) or automated guided vehicles (AGVs).

Power Magazine
One of the National Energy Technology Laboratory’s (NETL’s) key initiatives aims to bridge the gap in research infrastructure and accelerate advanced alloy development and manufacturing.

WFMJ (Cleveland)
Manufacturing leaders are gearing up for the launch of the “Manufacturers’ Network,” a podcast dedicated to building a place for manufacturers to learn and collaborate. This quick, 20-minute podcast is perfect for drive-time and is hosted by internationally known employee expert, Lisa Ryan, CSP.

Robotics and Automation News
General Motors has opened a 15,000-square-foot “Additive Industrialization Center,” a facility exclusively dedicated to productionizing 3D printing technology in the automotive industry.

Metal AM
Markforged, of Watertown, Massachusetts, has distributed its first wave of Additive Manufacturing machines to manufacturers in Michigan, as part of Project Distributed, Independent, Agile, Manufacturing On-Demand (DIAMOnD), an initiative created by Automation Alley, Michigan’s Industry 4.0 knowledge centre. In addition to Mark Two AM machines, several local manufacturers also received Markforged’s Metal X system as part of the project. Project DIAMOnD aims to improve manufacturers’ agility and resiliency by helping them to scale up their Industry 4.0 activity.  

Engine Technology International
UK-based engineering company D2H Technologies has developed a battery simulation technique that helps a major OEM with an EV fast-charge challenge presented by one of its production vehicles.

Machine Design
An expert answers common questions about predictive maintenance — and weighs in on whether it would be a good investment.

Forbes
In the early days of the pandemic, manufacturers were hit hard with forced shutdowns, production slowdowns and serious questions about whether companies could navigate the disruptions. Manufacturing indicators had shown early 2020 momentum, but U.S. industrial production in March registered a month-over-month decline of 4.5%, followed by a deeper decline of 11.2% in April.

TMR Research Blog
A research initiative by researchers at Northwestern University and University of Toronto employs machine learning to create best building blocks for the assembly of framework materials for use in a targeted application. The findings of the initiative are published in Nature Machine Intelligence,  demonstrating that using artificial intelligence approaches can help to propose novel materials for diverse applications. 

CNet
While topics like 5G and autonomous cleaning solutions are big deals at CES 2021, flying machines of all kinds are being teased too. First up is the Cadillac eVTOL by General Motors. Designed to carry a single passenger at speeds of up to 56 miles per hour, this aircraft is powered only by batteries.

Manufacturing Global
In partnership with MakinaRocks, Hyundai Robotics — following the signing of a memorandum of understanding — will work together to advance AI-based industrial robot anomaly detection for robot arms.