A machine tool is a machine for handling or machining metal or other rigid materials, usually by cutting, boring, grinding, shearing, or other forms of deformations. Machine tools employ some sort of tool that does the cutting or shaping. All machine tools have some means of constraining the work piece and provide a guided movement of the parts of the machine. Thus, the relative movement between the workpiece and the cutting tool is controlled or constrained by the machine to at least some extent, rather than being entirely "offhand" or "freehand". It is a power-driven metal cutting machine which assists in managing the needed relative motion between cutting tool and the job that changes the size and shape of the job material.
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.
A die is a specialized machine tool used in manufacturing industries to cut and/or form material to a desired shape or profile. Stamping dies are used with a press, as opposed to drawing dies and casting dies which are not. Like molds, dies are generally customized to the item they are used to create.
A hose clamp (hose clip,hose lock or Jubilee clip (UK)) is a device used to attach and seal a hose onto a fitting such as a barb or nipple.
Sheet metal is metal formed into thin, flat pieces, usually by an industrial process. Sheet metal is one of the fundamental forms used in metalworking, and it can be cut and bent into a variety of shapes.
Danaher Corporation is an American globally diversified conglomerate founded by brothers Stephen and Mitchell Rales in 1984. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the company designs, manufactures, and markets medical, industrial, and commercial products and services. The company is named after Danaher Creek in Western Montana, with the Rales brothers first conceptualizing the company while fishing there. Danaher was one of the first companies in North America to adopt Kaizen principles to manufacturing, which is a lean manufacturing Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement and elimination of waste.
Punching is a forming process that uses a punch press to force a tool, called a punch, through the workpiece to create a hole via shearing. Punching is applicable to a wide variety of materials that come in sheet form, including sheet metal, paper, vulcanized fibre and some forms of plastic sheet. The punch often passes through the work into a die. A scrap slug from the hole is deposited into the die in the process. Depending on the material being punched this slug may be recycled and reused or discarded.
A stamping press is a metalworking machine tool used to shape or cut metal by deforming it with a die. In simple terms, a stamping press is the modern day equivalent of a hammer and anvil. The difference is that a stamping press uses precision-made male and female dies to dictate the shape of the final product.
Worthington Industries, Inc. is a global diversified metals manufacturing company based in Columbus, Ohio. It is a steel processor and manufacturer of pressure vessels, such as propane, oxygen and helium tanks, hand torches, refrigerant and industrial cylinders, camping cylinders, exploration, recovery and production products for global energy markets; water system tanks for storage, treatment, heating, expansion and flow control, and compressed natural gas storage cylinders. The company also manufactures framing systems for mid-rise buildings and steel pallets and racks for shipping. It is the largest independent processor of flat-rolled steel in the United States. The company takes steel from steel producers and processes it for customers in industries including automotive, lawn and garden, construction, hardware, office furniture, electrical control, leisure and recreation, appliance, agriculture and HVAC.
Stamping is the process of placing flat sheet metal in either blank or coil form into a stamping press where a tool and die surface forms the metal into a net shape. Stamping includes a variety of sheet-metal forming manufacturing processes, such as punching using a machine press or stamping press, blanking, embossing, bending, flanging, and coining. This could be a single stage operation where every stroke of the press produces the desired form on the sheet metal part, or could occur through a series of stages. The process is usually carried out on sheet metal, but can also be used on other materials, such as polystyrene. Progressive dies are commonly fed from a coil of steel, coil reel for unwinding of coil to a straightener to level the coil and then into a feeder which advances the material into the press and die at a predetermined feed length. Depending on part complexity, the number of stations in the die can be determined.
Tool and die makers are highly skilled crafters working in the manufacturing industries. Variations on the name include tool maker,toolmaker, die maker,diemaker, mold maker,moldmaker or tool jig and die-maker depending on which area of concentration or industry an individual works in.
Dover Corporation is an American conglomerate manufacturer of industrial products. The Downers Grove, Illinois-based company was founded in 1955. As of 2021, Dover's business was divided into five segments: Engineered Products, Clean Energy and Fueling, Imaging & Identification, Pumps & Process Solutions and Climate and Sustainability Technologies. Dover is a constituent of the S&P 500 index and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under "DOV". Dover was ranked 433rd in the 2022 Fortune 500. The company relocated its headquarters to Illinois from New York in mid-2010.
Littelfuse, Inc is an American electronic manufacturing company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The company primarily produces circuit protection products but also manufactures a variety of electronic switches and automotive sensors. Littelfuse was founded in 1927. In addition to its Chicago, Illinois, world headquarters, Littelfuse has more than 40 sales, distribution, manufacturing and engineering facilities in the Americas, Europe and Asia.
Tube bending is any metal forming processes used to permanently form pipes or tubing. Tube bending may be form-bound or use freeform-bending procedures, and it may use heat supported or cold forming procedures.
Pridgeon & Clay provides metal stamping and fine-blank components, specializing in exhaust components for the automotive industry. Pridgeon & Clay also produces components for the class 8 truck, agriculture, medical, battery, fuel cell and other alternative energy industries. The company holds ISO 14001 and TS 16949 certifications, which allow the company to carry out its own product validation.
Enerpac Tool Group Corp, formerly Actuant Corporation, is a premier industrial tools, services, technology and solutions provider serving a broad and diverse set of customers in more than 100 countries. The Company makes complex, often hazardous jobs possible safely and efficiently. Enerpac Tool Group’s businesses are global leaders in high pressure hydraulic tools, controlled force products, and solutions for precise positioning of heavy loads that help customers safely and reliably tackle some of the most challenging jobs around the world. The Company was founded in 1910 and is headquartered in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. Enerpac Tool Group common stock trades on the NYSE under the symbol EPAC.
Diehl Metall is a corporate division of the Diehl Stiftung & Co. KG, a worldwide operating industrial group with its head office in Röthenbach an der Pegnitz near Nuremberg, Germany. The production units of Diehl Metall are situated at 13 locations in Europe, Asia, South America and the US. With 3,420 employees the company generated a turnover of €917 million in 2017. Diehl Metall produces semi-finished products, forgings and rolled products, high-precision stamped parts with plating technologies as well as Schempp+Decker press-fit zones and metal-plastic compound systems. The company provides material development and production, sheet metal forming and forging technology as well as plating, press-fit, overmolding and assembling technology completely in-house.
Batesville Tool & Die, Inc. is a precision metal stamping company that supplies parts to the automotive, appliance, and global industrial markets. It is a privately held company headquartered in Batesville, IN. In addition to the Batesville facility, parts are also manufactured at the Troqueladora Batesville de México plant in Querétaro, Mexico. This satellite plant began production in 2000.
Fabricators & 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.
Women in Manufacturing (WiM) is a national trade association headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, that promotes and supports women who are pursuing or have chosen a career in manufacturing. It is the only national trade association dedicated to providing year-round support to women in manufacturing careers, representing more than 12,000 members from 48 U.S. states and from 40 countries. WiM encompasses manufacturers of all types and welcomes individuals from every job function – from production to the C-Suite. Membership is available to women and men working within or with the manufacturing sector. WiM presently powers year-round virtual learning, bi-annual virtual career fairs, executive networking group services, a robust job board called WiMWorks, 20 meetings and conferences annually, 30 local U.S. chapters and 3 formal professional development programs. Our first international activity is scheduled to be held at EUROBLECH 2022 in Germany where we have our largest population of international members.
