Press Release
The American Manufacturers Association (AGMA) announced Greg Schulte, president of Bonfiglioli USA as the new AGMA chair of the board, at the AGMA Annual Meeting held online March 18-19. Additionally, AGMA welcomes four new members to its board of directors. These directors will serve a three-year term (2021-2023). The new board members were elected by AGMA.

Part of the AGMA Emerging Technology Webinar Series
FREE FOR AGMA MEMBERS
Jon Powvens, Director of Cybersecurity for MxD will be provide an information webinar on CMMC. OUSD (A&S) finalized new cybersecurity rules for all those handling controlled unclassified information (CUI). These rules, Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) went into effect in November 2020 for all new contracts. Many AGMA members are working to get certified. AGMA is bringing the Director of the National Center for Cybersecurity at MxD to help. Jon Powvens understands CMMC as his company is currently working on their compliance. He is a neutral voice who can assist you in figuring out your best way forward. Join us for this informational session.

Forensic analysis of gear and bearing failures – useful tools for optimizing gear design
A good understanding of individual failure modes and the failure scenarios that led to the actual system failure is an essential skill to designing gear/bearing systems that will operate properly for their full design life. In this course, we will define and explain the nature of many gear and bearing failures and we will also discuss and describe various actual failure scenarios. In addition, a detailed primer on bearing technology prefaces the failure scenario discussions. You will gain a better understanding of various types of gears and bearings. Learn about the limitation and capabilities of rolling element bearings and the gears that they support. Grasp an understanding of how to properly apply the best gear-bearing combination to any gearbox from simple to complex.

Industry Week
Okay, maybe robots are not taking over the world – yet. But, the continued use case development and innovation efforts are gaining steam in Pittsburgh. Once known for its steel production, Pittsburgh is now the second largest robotic ecosystem in the world and has a concentration of over 100 companies focusing on the advancement of robotics and artificial intelligence. There has been a 300% growth in employment in the region’s robotics sector since 2011.

3D Printing Industry
German automobile manufacturer Audi has begun to use fully-additive manufactured hot forming tooling at its Metal 3D Printing Center in Ingolstadt. By expanding its use of EOS 3D printing, Audi is now able to produce twelve different segments of four hot forming tools at the facility, which are later used to assemble car models such as the A4 saloon. The company’s move reflects its increased confidence in the reliability and quality of additive manufactured parts, and in the future, it plans to utilize the technology to build its electric vehicles as well.

Manufacturing Global
Industry 4.0 has become more than a buzzword in the world of manufacturing; it’s the new reality. A reality that has been accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic. During the first three months of the pandemic taking hold, digital advanced the equivalent of ten years, as both businesses and consumers adjusted to an online world.

Today’s Motor Vehicles
Isuzu Motors Ltd., Hino Motors Ltd., and Toyota Motor Corp. have agreed on a new partnership in commercial vehicles. The three companies intend to combine Toyota's connected, autonomous, shared, electric (CASE) technologies with the commercial vehicle foundations cultivated by Isuzu and Hino.
Hiroki Nakajima, president of Toyota’s in-house commercial vehicle group, will lead the new venture that expects to begin operating in April.

Flight Global
Bell believes new digital engineering and manufacturing technologies will allow it to cut the cost and lead times on rotorcraft by double-digit percentages. It also thinks those bold claims are likely to attract doubts. To show skeptics that “step change” improvements are possible, the company has built a Manufacturing Technology Center to demonstrate its capabilities. The manufacturer cut the ribbon on its new 140,000 sq ft facility in Fort Worth, Texas.

SciTech Daily
Despite the enormous amount of research over the decades into lasers and their applications, there have been few ways to accurately, efficiently and directly observe fine details of their interactions with materials. For the first time, researchers have found a way to acquire such data from a production laser using low-cost equipment that could vastly improve the accuracy of items cut or etched with lasers. Given the ubiquity of lasers, this could have wide-ranging implications in laboratory, commercial and industrial applications.

Tech Crunch
In late 2019, even before COVID struck, U.S. manufacturing fell to 11% of GDP, the lowest level in 72 years. We ceded much of that ground to low-cost competitors in China, which became the world’s top manufacturer back in 2011. We now have only a small window of time to restore manufacturing as a foundation of American prosperity, and a remarkable but underappreciated federal program has a big role to play.

Press release
Velo 3D, Inc., a leader in additive manufacturing (AM) for high value metal parts, and JAWS Spitfire Acquisition Corporation, a special purpose acquisition company, announced today they have entered into a definitive business combination agreement. The transaction is anticipated to strengthen VELO 3D’s position as a trusted partner for companies seeking novel manufacturing solutions for complex design challenges. Upon completion of the transaction, which is expected to occur in the second half of 2021, the combined company will operate as Velo 3D and will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the new ticker symbol “VLD.”

Mining.com
Australia’s Vital Metals is getting ready to kick off mining operations at its Nechalacho rare earths project in Canada’s Northwest Territories, which will make it the country’s first producer of the elements used in magnets for electric vehicles, aerospace, defense and electronics.

Aerospace Manufacturing and Design
Hurco North America is launching a new apprenticeship program. The Field Service Apprenticeship (FSA) is a 2-year program that starts with a 12-week industry training that merges hands-on training and repair of CNC machines with classroom materials.

EIA.gov
The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Annual Energy Outlook 2020 (AEO2020) projects that U.S. biofuel production will slowly grow through 2050, primarily driven by economic and policy factors. In the Reference case, which reflects current laws and regulations, biofuels production in 2050 is 18% higher than 2019 levels. However, in a side case with higher global crude oil prices, biofuels such as fuel ethanol and biodiesel are increasingly consumed as substitutes for petroleum products, resulting in 55% growth in biofuels production in 2050 in that case. 

Electrive
The Melbourne based company SEA Electric has launched volume commercial production of electric trucks. Two SEA Electric-badged vehicles, the SEA 300 and SEA 500, based on the Hino 500 Series and Hino 300 Series models, are now available for purchase in Australia.

Aerospace Manufacturing and Design
The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech), a private, technology-focused research university in Chicago, a grant to develop critical technologies to help usher in a new era in electric aviation. The $779,374 grant was awarded to Illinois Tech’s Grainger Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering John Shen to create the first-ever momentary circuit interrupter that can be used in turboelectric aircraft to help keep planes flying safely with megawatts of power coming out of their engines.

Electrive
Ford is investing in the electrification of its Spanish site in Valencia. The engine plant there will build hybrid powertrains for the Kuga PHEV and the full hybrid variants of the Kuga, S-Max and Galaxy series from the end of 2022.  An additional €5.2 million will be invested in expanding the battery assembly capacity in Valencia. Specifically, the hybrid is the 2.5-litre Duratec petrol engine, which is combined with a 27 kW electric motor to form the hybrid drive. The system output is 147 kW. Production of the drive is scheduled to start in Valencia at the end of 2022, according to Ford.

Cointelgraph
Major credit provider Visa is piloting a program that will allow its partners to use the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain to settle a transaction made in fiat. Visa said it will be partnering with cryptocurrency exchange platform and card user Crypto.com to offer a crypto settlement system for fiat transactions later this year. 

Silicon Republic
As part of the manufacturing process, products often have to be closely inspected for abnormalities, defects or production errors. However, new AI technology developed by Japanese company Fujitsu could significantly reduce the number of working hours needed for this process.

Vertical Magazine
Bell Textron Inc., a Textron Inc. company, celebrated the start of operations at the state-of-the-art Manufacturing Technology Center (MTC) with a small gathering and ribbon cutting ceremony. Bell leaders, including Fort Worth May, were in attendance. The event marks the next milestone in the center’s development before its grand opening, targeted for this summer.