NEW INNOVATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY IN METAL CUTTING AND SHEET METAL CUTTING TOOLS INDUSTRY
This industry details establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing metal cutting type machine tools, not supported in the hands of an operator when in use, that shape metal by cutting or use of electrical techniques; the rebuilding of such machine tools; and the manufacture of replacement parts for them. Also included in this industry are metalworking machine tools designed primarily for home workshops.
The metal cutting industry is concerned with the removal of metal from a larger piece of metal to create a desired shape. Metal cutting, also referred to as machining, is performed on most manufactured items. The uses range from low-precision machining, such as grinding undesired protrusions from a rough casting, to high-precision machining, which involves working tolerances of less than half the thickness of a human hair (0.0001 inch). Classic metal cutting produces scrap pieces, called chips, that are relatively useless and generally cannot be reused through remelting or pressing. Both the environmental and economic consequences of such waste have created new processes referred to as chipless machining. General machining processes include turning, shaping, milling, drilling, sawing, abrasive machining, and broaching.
The machine tool industry as a whole is closely tied to national and world economic conditions. The total shipments of metal cutting machine tools dropped sharply between 1982 to 1983 from $4.5 billion to below $3 billion. From that point, shipments recovered somewhat, but remained greatly reduced. The worldwide recession of the late 1980s and early 1990s created a trough in machine tool-related sales. Shipments between 1990 and 1994 varied only slightly, hovering around $3.5 billion. By the late 1990s shipments had recovered, climbing to $5.33 billion in 1997; however, levels began to decline again in 1998, a trend which continued into 2000, when shipments totaled $4.48 billion. In the late 1990s, 369 establishments participated in this industry.
The prices for metal cutting machine tools ranged from under $100,000 to several million dollars, depending on the sophistication and purpose of the tool. Multiple machining centers, capable of performing several metal cutting processes, were becoming more popular with larger companies interested in decreasing the amount of time handling materials between machining stations.
As worldwide competition increases in areas of quality and precision, U.S. machine shops will be forced to update or totally replace machine tools with those that possess higher levels of technical innovation. However, a significant downward trend in employment levels continued through the late 1990s and 2000 as machine tool manufacturers cut direct labor costs. This trend, a disheartening one for those seeking employment in this industry, has come about due to higher levels of automation throughout all related industries and the continued drive to manufacture still more automated machine tools.
Half of the machine tool market is concentrated within the automotive industry, one-quarter within nonmechanical industries, and the remainder within aerospace, defense, and other industries.
Four major categories comprise this industry: classic machine tools; automated machine tools; expendable tools; and machine tool repair. Classic metal cutting machine tools are characterized by manually operated, power driven (usually electric) stationary machines. These machines are operated by skilled machinists with relatively good trigonometry skills. The demand for these machines has dropped, giving way to the use of automated machine tools.
Automated machine tools are more commonly known as numerically controlled (NC) machine tools. NC machines use a generated program of coordinate values (numerics) to move machine parts quickly, with consistency and precision. Downtime between tool changes is minimized, compared to classic machining methods. The information is loaded into the machine by punched tape, punched cards, or magnetic tape that has been generated by a computer program written by an NC programmer. The NC machines have given way to computer numerically controlled (CNC) machines due to the affordability of microcomputers. The next wave of NC machines is expected to include downloadable numerically controlled (DNC) machines, which are network-based CNC machines. This technology reduces the steps between design engineering and manufacturing. All NC machines created a large market for manufacturers of machine controls, and increased microcomputer markets. Chipless machining processes implement some form of NC capabilities to the various machine configurations.
Due to the limitations and adverse side effects of traditional machining, chipless machining processes have been developed. These processes are primarily concerned with chemical, electrochemical, electrodischarge, water jet, and laser machining techniques. Intricate parts require non-traditional machining methods and the advent of the computer age have hastened the research and development of chipless machining processes. As NC controls become more sophisticated, environmental laws grow more stringent, and technology advances, the need for chipless machining processes is expected to increase. Promising technological developments in the later 1990s included robotized water jet cutting systems (developed by Ingersoll-Rand Company of Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, and a Swedish partner) and sophisticated laser cutting systems.
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