By Ethan Rejto, director of marketing, Mantle One of the greatest challenges facing the toolmaking industry is labor. With COVID-19 exposing how fragile the international supply chain is, more and more OEMs are hoping to reshore their manufacturing, with plastics processors reporting the highest percentage of their OEM customers attempting to reshore manufacturing in 18 years. … [Read more...] about Addressing Tooling Labor Shortages with Automation
Automation
Q&A: Automated Job Management and Workload Prioritization
Interview by Liz Stevens, writer, The American Mold Builder Controlling the production flow of a tool build throughout a mold shop requires careful scheduling of job tasks, available equipment and labor resources. On a busy shop floor, that schedule easily can be thrown off as higher-priority orders come through, equipment or material delays occur and employee absenteeism … [Read more...] about Q&A: Automated Job Management and Workload Prioritization
Reducing Dimensional Errors in Moldmaking
By Gisbert Ledvon, Director of Business Development, Machine Tool, Heidenhain Corporation In tool and moldmaking, dimensional and contour errors need to be so low as to be barely measurable and must certainly never be visible. These requirements are increasingly at odds with demands for higher productivity and lower costs. New control options offer possible solutions to the … [Read more...] about Reducing Dimensional Errors in Moldmaking