Metalworking is the process of shaping and reshaping metals to create useful objects, parts, assemblies, and large scale structures. As a term it covers a wide and diverse range of processes, skills, and tools for producing objects on every scale: from huge ships, buildings, and bridges down to precise engine parts and delicate jewelry.
The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) is the largest trade association of electrical equipment manufacturers in the United States. Founded in 1926, it advocates for the industry, and publishes standards for electrical products. Notably, the form of US household electrical outlets and plugs is specified by NEMA.
Machining is a manufacturing process whereby a desired shape or part is achieved by the controlled removal of material from a larger piece of raw material by cutting; it is most often performed with metal material. These processes are collectively called subtractive manufacturing, which utilizes machine tools, in contrast to additive manufacturing, which uses controlled addition of material.
Ultrasonic welding is an industrial process whereby high-frequency ultrasonic acoustic vibrations are locally applied to work pieces being held together under pressure to create a solid-state weld. It is commonly used for plastics and metals, and especially for joining dissimilar materials. In ultrasonic welding, there are no connective bolts, nails, soldering materials, or adhesives necessary to bind the materials together. When used to join metals, the temperature stays well below the melting point of the involved materials, preventing any unwanted properties which may arise from high temperature exposure of the metal.
Vacuum forming is a simplified version of thermoforming, where a sheet of plastic is heated to a forming temperature, stretched onto a single-surface mould, and forced against the mould by a vacuum. This process can be used to form plastic into permanent objects such as turnpike signs and protective covers. Normally draft angles are present in the design of the mould to ease removal of the formed plastic part from the mould.
A calender is a series of hard pressure rollers used to finish or smooth a sheet of material such as paper, textiles, rubber, or plastics. Calender rolls are also used to form some types of plastic films and to apply coatings. Some calender rolls are heated or cooled as needed. Calenders are sometimes misspelled calendars.
The Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) is a global professional membership organization dedicated to the advancement of knowledge and education for professionals employed in the plastics industry.
Blow molding is a manufacturing process for forming hollow plastic parts. It is also used for forming glass bottles or other hollow shapes.
Metal injection molding (MIM) is a metalworking process in which finely-powdered metal is mixed with binder material to create a "feedstock" that is then shaped and solidified using injection molding. Metal injection molding combines the most useful characteristics of powder metallurgy and plastic injection molding to facilitate the production of small, complex-shaped metal components with outstanding mechanical properties. The molding process allows high volume, complex parts to be shaped in a single step. After molding, the part undergoes conditioning operations to remove the binder (debinding) and densify the powders. Finished products are small components used in many industries and applications.
Die cutting is the general process of using a die to shear webs of low-strength materials, such as rubber, fibre, foil, cloth, paper, corrugated fibreboard, chipboard, paperboard, plastics, pressure-sensitive adhesive tapes, foam, and sheet metal. In the metalworking and leather industries, the process is known as clicking and the machine may be referred to as a clicking machine. When a dinking die or dinking machine is used, the process is known as dinking. Commonly produced items using this process include gaskets, labels, tokens, corrugated boxes, and envelopes.
A machine shop or engineering workshop is a room, building, or company where machining, a form of subtractive manufacturing, is done. In a machine shop, machinists use machine tools and cutting tools to make parts, usually of metal or plastic. A machine shop can be a small business or a portion of a factory, whether a toolroom or a production area for manufacturing. The building construction and the layout of the place and equipment vary, and are specific to the shop; for instance, the flooring in one shop may be concrete, or even compacted dirt, and another shop may have asphalt floors. A shop may be air-conditioned or not; but in other shops it may be necessary to maintain a controlled climate. Each shop has its own tools and machinery which differ from other shops in quantity, capability and focus of expertise.
The Messe Düsseldorf is a trade fair ground and organizer, based in Düsseldorf, Germany. With a workforce of 1,459 employees worldwide (2006) and a total exhibition space of 306,000 m2 in Düsseldorf, the company is one of the largest in the industry. More than 40 annual fairs are staged at the premises in Düsseldorf, including 23 leading events in their respective sectors.
Haas Automation, Inc is an American machine tool builder headquartered in Oxnard, California. The company designs and manufactures lower cost machine tools and specialized accessory tooling, mostly computer numerically controlled (CNC) equipment, such as vertical machining centers and horizontal machining centers, lathes/turning centers, and rotary tables and indexers. Most of its products are manufactured at the company's main facility in Oxnard. The company is also involved in motorsports: it owns the Haas F1 Team and is a co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing in NASCAR. Haas is one of the largest machine tool builders in the world by total unit volume.
The Bemis Manufacturing Company is an American manufacturing company based in Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin, and is best known for its toilet seat products. Bemis also manufactures plastic lawn, commercial, and indoor furniture, suction canisters, sharps containers, fluid management systems, gas caps, gauges and various contracted extrusion and injection molded plastic parts for companies such as John Deere and Whirlpool Corporation. The company is a pioneer of co-injection molding, a process in which virgin resin is injected with scrap plastic.
IMCO Carbide Tool is an American manufacturing company that researches, designs and manufactures high-performance cutting tools for a variety of applications in the aerospace, automotive, medical, petrochemical, and manufacturing industries. Founded in 1977 by Lawrence R. Osburn and headquartered in Perrysburg Twp, Ohio, IMCO serves a diverse customer base of small job shops to large production operations around the world.
Founded in 1873, the Dieffenbacher Group, located in Eppingen in the administrative district of Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg, is a family-run enterprise in the field of mechanical engineering, plant systems engineering, and construction. They develop and manufacture press systems and complete production systems for the wood composites, automobile, aerospace and recycling industries. In addition, the company develops power plants and process equipment for energy generation and waste heat recovery.
Solid Concepts, Inc. is a custom manufacturing company engaged in engineering, manufacturing, production, and prototyping. The company is headquartered in Valencia, California, in the Los Angeles County area, with six other facilities located around the United States. Solid Concepts is an additive manufacturing service provider as well as a major manufacturer of business products, aerospace, unmanned systems, medical equipment and devices, foundry cast patterns, industrial equipment and design, and transportation parts.
The machine industry or machinery industry is a subsector of the industry, that produces and maintains machines for consumers, the industry, and most other companies in the economy.
Kemet International Limited, based in Maidstone, Kent UK, is involved with precision lapping and polishing technology using diamond media, composite lapping plates and precision lapping and polishing machines to produce polished finishes with close tolerances. In 1998 Kemet was Britain's largest supplier and manufacturer of diamond compounds and slurries.
Fabricators and Manufacturers Association, International (FMA) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit professional association serving both company and individual members in the metal processing, forming, and fabricating industries.
