Workholding fixtures that can be controlled by Bluetooth will be among the new technologies on display at special section of this year’s International Manufacturing Technology Show in Chicago
“For every machine innovation, you’ll find a corresponding tooling and workholding technology advance at IMTS 2016,” says Jack Burley, vice-president of sales and engineering for BIG Kaiser Precision Tooling. “For example, this year you’ll see the introduction of smart tooling that uses Bluetooth technology. Everyone has a smart phone on their hip, so why not develop apps that enable supervisors to wirelessly check tooling status and operators to download installation instructions and parameter settings?”
A separate pavilion for tooling and workholding will be part of this year’s event scheduled for September 12-17 at McCormick Place in Chicago.
“By focusing intensely on one thing and doing it exceedingly well, tool and work holding companies develop products and technologies that take machine performance and accuracy to new levels,” says Peter R. Eelman, vice-president at The Association For Manufacturing Technology, the parent organization of IMTS. “To put this in perspective, the newest digital technology enables moving a boring tool in increments of 50 millionths of an inch (0.000050-in.); a human hair has an average diameter of 0.004-in.
Burley likens the relationship between machining and tooling to the one between automobile manufacturers and tire companies: each has different core competencies, and the consumer wins by obtaining the best technology from each.
“Companies can be good at everything, but they cannot be great at everything,” he states. “While shop owners might want a single source solution, they get better results by tapping into the core competencies of many different providers. That’s why a visit to the West Building is mandatory if you want to stay on top of tooling technology.” www.IMTS.com