Charles Caristan, PhD
Technical Fellow Air Liquide
SME Member Since 1993 SME SPEAKS GUEST EDITORIAL The Revolution on Display at FABTECH 2016 W
isdom without knowledge is useless; knowledge without the wisdom to apply it is unprofi table! For forming and fabricating practitioners and
equipment manufacturers to gain intelligence on the latest technologies, products and industry trends, as well as sharpen their skills and broaden their fi elds of application, “the FABTECH show has become the premier go-to confer- ence and exposition,” so says Jeff Cass, president, Airgas (Independence, OH). Cass is representative of over 30,000 attendees and 1500 exhibitors from over 70 countries expected to gather together at the FABTECH International Show in Las Vegas Nov. 16–18. In addition to attending the exhibit fl oor, wise visitors will also take advantage of 130 educational programs, including workshops and one to three-day seminars as well as technical, managerial and workforce-development-focused sessions. The special event program will feature an opening keynote by box- ing legend Sugar Ray Leonard and three high-level panels focused on industry education.
In a survey conducted for SME, half of the expected
visitors are interested in seeing and hearing about the latest in cutting and welding technologies, and about the same proportion expects novelty in forming technologies. Laser machinery, robotics and additive manufacturing interests drew respectively 38%, 33% and 26% of the responses. Surely these last three interests exhibit a dramatic increase since the end of the last century. Imagine Austin Powers being put into hibernation after FABTECH 2000 in Cleve- land, barely fi ve years after the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum opened there, and just now waking up in time for FABTECH 2016. Certainly Dr. Evil remained busy throughout that period, attempting to destroy the world. Also in 2008, Michael Phelps dominated the summer Olympics. That was followed by the 2008 global economic crash, which resulted
century when the Boeing 767 and Airbus A320 airplanes contained over 70% aluminum by weight. In contrast, the latest 21st
century Dreamliner 787 and Airbus A350 civil- ian airplanes contain less than 20% aluminum, displaced by over 50% carbon-fi ber-reinforced plastics (CFRP). The newest V22 Osprey military “plane-copter” by Bell Helicopter and Boeing is made of 70% FRP: a $72 million toy! Such industry-quake within a 20-year span could be seen as das- tardly by some on the wrong side of “change.” For others, it opens up opportunities with changes in design, engineering, tooling, fabrication and supply chain. Interestingly, this civilian aerospace industry-quake sent tremors in the automobile industry where steel reigned and any alternative to steel was relegated to low-volume luxury and electrical vehicles. Today, Audi features a lightweight aluminum body on main models and Jaguar on all their models. The high-volume Ford F-150
November 2016 |
AdvancedManufacturing.org 11
in staples like GM and Chrysler going into, and being resusci- tated from, bankruptcy the following year. Later, the auto- makers roared back with record sales! Would Austin have been among the ones in 2000 poking fun at the possibility of driverless cars manufactured by Google that can pick up the kids from school while you are at the gym? How about a vehicle that is 3D printed from the bottom up by one of those BAAM machines? Or powered by Microsoft where you counterintuitively have to push the start button to shut the engine down? Could he picture a show fl oor where over 80% of laser machines have fl exible-cladded fi bers delivering up to 100 kW of infrared laser power? However, enormously fast pace that change is, the paradigm shifts in materials of choice for various products is equally consequential, impacting standards, safety, profi t- ability, the environment, competitiveness and even employ- ment. “Cars are made out of steel, aluminum is for airplanes and plastic is for toys!” This adage held true throughout the 20th
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