Join us in Rosemont, IL November 2-3, for our FTM back live and in person. As with all meetings with international speakers we will have a combination at this event. Hear about the latest innovations in the gear industry with some live, in-person presentations and some pre-recorded presentations from all over the world.

AGMA has partnered with Interact Analysis (IA) to provide AGMA members with a report, the MIO Tracker – Manufacturing Industry Output – Global Industry and Machinery Production Data and Forecasts. This 60-page report is available for free to all AGMA members. Download instructions are below. IA is a leader providing information on Industrial Automation, Robotics & Warehousing, and Commercial Vehicles – three areas that are critical to the gear industry. 

This course provides the heat treat operator and operations team, the means to perform the heat treatment of steel gears in a manner that meets the AGMA and customer requirements in a safe and efficient manner.  The course identifies the key requirements for proper processing.  Sufficient metallurgical background is provided to allow the student to identify how this information relates to the required processing and properties of the gear.

Ferrium^® C64^® steel is a novel ultra-high-performance gear steel that was designed and commercialized by QuesTek Innovations. C64 steel allows for increases in power density and light weighting of gears, and it has begun displacing AISI 9310 and Alloy X53 steel in demanding applications such as high-performance racing and next generation helicopter gear boxes. QuesTek recently completed a multi-year project to demonstrate C64 steel in additive manufacturing processing. Free for members.

Reverse engineering a gear system is a not too unusual task and in many, but not all, cases the process goes fairly well, thus it is easy to become complacent. It is important, however, to fully understand the process and the best practice procedure for reverse engineering a gear system. Failure to fully follow best practice can result, at best, in an unhappy gear user, but in the worst case it can lead to very expensive, time consuming and reputation damaging litigation. 
We will discuss the basic types of reverse engineering projects (e.g. upgrading an existing system to increase power or extend operating life or improve noise level; replacing gear that has simply reached the end of its otherwise successful useful life; emergency, short term, interim gear replacement resulting from an unexpected failure; responding to a system that is not providing acceptable performance, etc.). The need for understanding the operation of the system in which the gears will be used, the conditions that led to the need for the project and especially, the specific nature of the failure that occurred, if that is the reason for the project, are key, often ignored, elements of the process. 

New Atlas
More than three years after revealing plans to build a monster offshore wind turbine called the Haliade-X, GE Renewable Energy has announced that the prototype of the latest and most powerful member of the family has started operating at 14 MW in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. 

New Equipment Digest
The U.S. economy is currently in a high-pressure labor market, and warehouses and distribution centers (DCs) are feeling the squeeze. From workers aging out of the workforce, complications from the pandemic, naturally high turnover rates and intense competition, DCs are in a seemingly endless battle for laborers despite increasing wages and sweetening benefits packages.

Press release
Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., introduced two all-new aircraft, further expanding its ultramodern, high-technology family of aircraft: the Gulstream G800, the longest-range aircraft in Gulfstream history, and the Gulfstream G400, the first new entrant to the large-cabin class in more than a decade.

3D Printing Media Network
GE Additive has been working to offer an industrial Binder Jet production solution to deliver quality parts at cost, at scale. The company is reporting that product development is on track and that it will launch its solution in the second half of 2021. Desktop Metal and ExOne have joined forces, that ball is now in GE Additive (and HP 3D Printing’s) court to show what they can do.

3D Printing Media Network
When AM, especially metal AM, broke onto the global manufacturing scene and became understood as a technology that could be used to make final parts — not just prototypes — with fewer or no geometric restrictions, engineers around the world began to understand that they had to rethink the way they designed these parts. This concept became known as DfAM, an acronym for Design for Additive Manufacturing. Velo 3D becomes the first new entry in the metal powder bed fusion segment to truly scale, with revenues of nearly $100 million expected in the next fiscal year.

3D Printing Industry
The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded 18 university-led projects at total of $25.5 million to accelerate hypersonic flight research via technologies such as 3D printing, machine learning, and non-destructive testing.

Manufacturing.net
Automaker Stellantis plans to spend nearly $230 million on retooling three Indiana factories so they can produce transmission systems that work with both traditional gasoline-powered vehicles and gas-electric hybrid versions.

McKinsey & Company
Nearly two years of tumult have accelerated disruption, with lasting effects on society and business. To thrive in the consumer-packaged-goods industry, digital and analytics are now essential.

Global Construction Review
Construction will be an engine of global economic growth in the decade to 2030, with output expected to be 35% higher than in the 10 years to 2020, according to a new global forecast.

Mining.com
Aluminum jumped to the highest price since 2008, as a deepening power crisis squeezes supplies of energy-intensive metal that’s used in everything from beer cans to iPhones.

Mining.com
A team of students co-led by University of Arizona’s planetary science associate professor Vishnu Reddy is studying metal-rich near-Earth asteroids, or NEAs, to explore the possibility that iron, nickel and cobalt could someday be mined for use on Earth or in Space.

Press release
Draganfly, Inc., an award-winning drone solutions and systems developer has signed a minimum $9 million manufacturing agreement with Digital Dream Labs, Inc. to design and develop an AI consumer companion robot drone.

The Fabricator
Sticker shock sometimes prevents the small metal fabrication shop from automating. A new approach to technology adoption could give fabricators another option with automation-as-a-service.

Manufacturing Global
You know how it is: You wait decades for an industrial revolution, and then two turn up (almost) at once. Just as business has begun to understand and exploit Industrial 4.0 applications such as AI and automation, along comes a new paradigm to wrap their heads around: the fifth industrial revolution, or Industry 5.0. 

MDM
Orders for manufacturing technology in August totaled $560 million, according to the latest U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders report published by AMT – The Association for Manufacturing Technology. August showed an increase of nearly 20% over the previous month and 89% over August 2020.

Phys.org
A new chemical process for additive manufacturing suggests exciting possibilities for 4D printed components, such as properties that change over time. Researchers at Longborough University have developed a hybrid method called Material Treatment Extrusion Additive Manufacturing (MaTrEx-AM), which uses acetone to toughen targeted layers of 3D printed parts and structures.