March 16, 2022 | 1:00 pm
The highest level of tensions in the U.S. relationship with China and Russia in the past 40 years has been described as a new “Cold War 2.0” and is rapidly reshaping the global security landscape. For companies in the bearing and gear industries (and related areas), this means new challenges when exporting to key markets, sharing technology across borders and expanding overseas sales. In this webinar, a panel of practitioners will unpack these developments, explain what they mean in practical terms for your business, and help you prepare for further rises in global tensions throughout 2022 and into 2023.

The AGMA Foundation awards scholarships to outstanding engineering students at the associate/technical, undergraduate and graduate levels. The scholarship program was created to help fill the need for skilled employees in the gear industry.

The webinar “Improvement of Gear Life and Performance” by Nitrex takes place Thursday, March 3, 2022. This presentation is a walk-through of a number of practical ways to optimize gears for greater results. Focusing on surface treatments, primarily nitriding and carburizing, the Nitrex speakers bring different perspectives and industry-specific know-how and practices to the topic — from the view of an equipment supplier and a commercial heat-treating services provider.

March 29, 2022 | Online
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.

Reuters
U.S. truck engine maker Cummins Inc. will buy auto parts maker Meritor Inc. for $2.58 billion in cash, to beef up its electric and hybrid vehicle parts offerings amid a boom in demand for climate-friendly transport. The demand for electric vehicles has pushed automakers to unveil billion dollar plans to electrify gasoline models or introduce electric cars and trucks. 

Manufacturing Business Technology
Stellantis revealed $15.2 billion in earnings and announced that its UAW employees would be eligible for the biggest profit sharing checks in 35 years. While last year’s checks were a little over $8,000, before taxes, this year’s will be $14,670.

Manufacturing.net
The world’s largest 3D-printed boat will serve as a logistics vessel for the U.S. Department of Defense. The boat was created by a 3D printer at University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center. It is one of two 3D-printed prototypes made for the defense department and simulates ship-to-shore movement of 20-foot containers that represent equipment and supplies, the university said.

Manufacturing Global
A sustainable manufacturing future is possible for warehouses with IoT, automation, robotics and energy efficiency, saving businesses time, money and emissions.

Additive Manufacturing
Cutting tool maker Kennametal used additive manufacturing to answer a machining challenge in electric vehicle (EV) production. The motor housing of an EV includes a large, precise bore for the motor’s stator. Machining this bore rapidly calls for a large-diameter tool — potentially too heavy for the machine tool intended to use it. Enter additive manufacturing! Kennametal engineers designed a large, lightweight boring tool made through laser powder bed fusion along with carbon fiber composite. 

Gear Solutions
New linear motors and well-proven hydrostatic guides in the Junker Group’s 6S and 6L grinding machine series open up new potential for flexibility and adaptability. Higher speeds, various detailed improvements and optimized ease of maintenance result in shorter cycle times, maximized quality and cost savings. The expanded modular concept for the table assemblies makes the platform 6 grinding machines more flexible and adaptable.

Detroit Business Journal
A new survey conducted by JMJ Phillip Executive Search in Detroit portends a future manufacturing labor crisis. More than 63 percent of professionals aged 18 to 44 indicate they will not take a job in the manufacturing sector in 2022.

Robotics and Automation News
Deere & Company, the world’s largest manufacturer of agriculture and forestry vehicles, is expanding its U.S. footprint and technology operations with a new office in Austin, Texas.

eMobility
BMW iVentures announced a lead investment in HeyCharge, the German start-up democratizing access to electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in apartment complexes, office buildings and other infrastructure locations. HeyCharge was in Y Combinator’s Summer 2021 batch of start-ups.

New Equipment Digest
Advanced, phased array scanning acoustic microscopy (SAM) detects minute flaws in specialty metals and alloys for 100% inspection of all materials.

Forbes
Smart manufacturing is all the buzz. In recent years, the costs of implementing smart manufacturing technologies have fallen significantly. This has benefited many manufacturing companies, but has come with an unintended consequence. Now the threshold for approving a new project is much lower in the organization. This can create a decentralized, scattered implementation approach, resulting in a suite of tools that aren’t aligned or connected.

eVTOL
Chinese-based EHang has received the special conditions that it needs to follow in order to obtain type certification for its two-seat EH-216-S eVTOL aircraft — the autonomous vehicle that EHang plans to use for passenger-carrying services.

Thomas Net
Recently released results from the Career Advancement for Manufacturing Annual Report, which is an annual research study conducted in partnership with the Women in Manufacturing Association, unveils key insights into representation across industry and highlights strategies to further diversify the sector. The 2022 report reveals that while men are more likely to actively seek out a career in manufacturing compared to their female counterparts, 75% of women in industry are likely or very likely to recommend a career in manufacturing. 

New Atlas
Lithium-sulfur batteries are a hugely promising energy storage solution with the type of density that could see smartphones run for five days, and scientists continue to make exciting advances that bring them closer to commercial reality. The latest comes from researchers at Australia's Monash University, who have developed a novel layer component that shapes as a critical piece of the puzzle, offering these devices both a high capacity and long lifetime.

Robotics and Automation
The use of industrial robots in factories around the world is accelerated at a high rate: 126 robots per 10,000 employees is the new average of global robot density in the manufacturing industry.

Phys.org
A research team in Korea has synthesized metal nanoparticles that can drastically improve the performance of hydrogen fuel cell catalysts by using semiconductor manufacturing technology. The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) announced that the research team led by Dr. Sung Jong Yoo of the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Research Center has succeeded in synthesizing nanoparticles by a physical method rather than the existing chemical reactions by using the sputtering technology, which is a thin metal film deposition technology used in semiconductor manufacturing.