Does such enlightened self-interest pay off? Well, Peter Lo- etzner of EMAG LLC USA (Farmington Hills, MI) noted during the German-based company’s press conference that EMAG keeps its employment pipeline filled through apprenticeship and training programs. Of the company’s approximately 1800 workers worldwide, 175 are either apprentices or trainees.
Students Engaged Throughout IMTS
Standing in front of the Hyundai WIA F400VM donated to Humboldt Park Vocational Education Center (left to right): Ki Hyo Park, president of Hyundai WIA America; Greg Jones, VP of Smartforce Development at AMT; Jim Palos, president of Wilbur Wright College (site of HPVC); Zin Young Hong, senior VP of Hyundai WIA Machine Tool Division.
Indeed, the decision point for following a college vs. skilled trade career path is around age 14, according to one IMTS conference speaker, who discussed using technology learning tools to enthuse as well as educate students, especially those in the secondary school pipeline. “We need to help teachers drive students to the careers where there is a skill and worker shortage. That means engag- ing young people to use technology in a way that educates them,” said Deanna Postlethwaite, marketing manager, Lincoln Electric Co. (Cleveland).
With 43.7% of all students using digital textbooks, there is a receptive audience for technology-based, hands-on interaction. Postlethwaite believes showing students that the technology they play with is implemented on the shop floor is a definite plus in encouraging the skilled career path and showing that “manufacturing is not a cubicle.”
One of the real-world application cells in the Fanuc Robot- ics booth was “co-owned” by SME student member Amanda Nixon. She majors in mechanical engineering at Kettering University (Flint, MI) and is a temp/co-op at Fanuc’s Roches- ter Hills, MI, facility. Impressions of her first visit to IMTS were that “it was a lot bigger than I thought it would be, and there was also a larger variety of companies than I was expecting.” Nixon explained that the Fanuc booth had 15–20 different demo cells, some with multiple robot implementations. After ideas for the demo cells took shape in March, the design- program-test-approve cycle took four to five months. “It took that long because most of the cells for IMTS were brand new and had a lot of custom parts that needed to be made for the full functionality of the cell,” she explained. The cell Nixon helped design and program featured a new robot model that was introduced for the first time at the show—the LR-Mate 200iD intelligent assembly robot. “I was considered partial owner of the cell along with a senior engineer. The owners of the cell did most of the work, along with a few other people who helped throughout the process. We had some things outsourced to other companies so that we were able to meet our deadline,” she added. “The robot’s job was to pick light sockets off a Flexomation feeder at random and insert them into their fixture. Fanuc’s 2D iRVision was used for the robot to pick the parts that were fed at random. A recirculating system was designed so the robot could continuously go through parts during the show without stopping. The point of the cell was to show the speed of the new robot and to market its new capabilities.”
Other Highlights from IMTS 2012:
Multitasking Machines Have Kentucky Roots Mazak’s exhibit booth which was designed to mimic its award-winning aesthetic machine design featured the latest offerings in its 3-4-5 grouping of manufacturing resources: one that encompasses Mazak’s 3 levels of control, 4 levels of automation and 5 levels of Multi-Tasking. Automating devices include bar feeders, gantry loaders, robots, and Mazak’s Palletech manufacturing system. Multitask machines and five- axis machine highlights included the Vortex 1060V/8 vertical machining center for processing large complex components in single setups and the Variaxis i-700 machining center, among the new machines exhibited. Of the 22 new machines Mazak