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Additive manufacturing startup MarkForged aims to make it happen and is already marketing systems. Additive manufacturing (AM) is one of the hottest areas in parts fabrication. Interest is high, research dollars are being spent and company stocks are attracting investor attention. Why? First, because AM has moved beyond its initial role as a prototyping tool to a process that can build finished parts. AM technologies — stereolithography, fused deposition modeling (FDM), laser sintering (LS), material extrusion, direct metal deposition and more (see "The rise of rapid manufacturing," under “Editor's Picks,” at top right) — were able from their beginnings to...

The Department of Energy is looking to regulate two types of household lamps. The Energy Department's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy announced Monday in the Federal Register it is considering new energy conservation standards for general service fluorescent lamps (GSFLs) and incandescent reflector lamps (IRLs). The Energy Department estimates the rules will save the public billions in energy bills over the next three decades and have substantial environmental benefits. But the agency also expects the rules will cost manufacturers more than $90 million, which could lead some to close up shop and cut jobs. It is weighing the...

In Washington, they think that “Made in the U.S.A.” is as outdated as carbon paper, and it was bad policies from both parties that hurt American manufacturing. Only yesterday manufacturing was a key contributor to our nation’s wealth and strength, and it was the economic foundation of many hardworking families. The evaporation of U.S. manufacturing, consequently, was devastating to working Americans. To explain the challenges that American manufacturers face, let me tell you about Bemidji Woolen Mills, a family-run business I got to know in 2012 when I was running for president. Campaigning across the frigid Midwest, I’d wear a...

The US Is Now A 'Rising Star' Of Global Manufacturing James B. Kelleher, Reuters Apr. 25, 2014, 5:05 AM (Reuters) - Call it the comeback kid. A new ranking of the competitiveness of the world's top 25 exporting countries says the United States is once again a "rising star" of global manufacturing thanks to falling domestic natural gas prices, rising worker productivity and a lack of upward wage pressure. The report, released on Friday by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG,) found that while China remains the world's No. 1 country in terms of manufacturing competitiveness, its position is "under pressure"...

The 3D printer has been revolutionizing everything from art to medicine to accessories, and its latest foray has been into the field of architecture. Peter Ebner, architect and UCLA professor, tasked his architecture students with a homework assignment for the ages: develop a 3D-printed apartment that’s easy to transport and manage. The class rose to the challenge and then some, constructing mini mobile homes that measure 50 square feet and are equipped with thermal insulation, electricity, water, heating, and sewage systems (which are also 3D printed). The living area comes with a collapsible counter, a foldaway toilet, a pullout bed,...

HIGH POINT, NC - Stanley Furniture Company, Inc. today reported it will cease domestic furniture production in the factory that supports its Young America brand. “We have a healthy Stanley business that is making money. It is supported by a wonderful heritage, strong product in the field and future pipeline, and we are looking forward to the prospects of focusing our team solely on the growth and profitability of this brand in the short-term” “We have decided to cease manufacturing operations in Robbinsville,” said Glenn Prillaman, President and Chief Executive Officer. “After a thorough review of both our own operations...

MADISON, Wis. — Of all the national casualties expected from the Obama administration’s “War on Coal,” manufacturers in Wisconsin’s 6th Congressional District could be hit the hardest. That’s the finding of a new analysis, published by the conservative Heritage Foundation, that tracks the long-term economic impact of the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed limits on carbon dioxide emissions — strict standards that, industry officials assert, would all but kill construction of new coal-fired power plants and force existing facilities into early retirement. Energy expert Nicolas Loris analyzed the effects of a 20-year phase-out of coal. His study projects significant job loss...

What do you do when a union vote doesn’t go your way? Well, if you are the United Auto Workers union, you ask for a “re-do”. The UAW has asked the National Labor Relations Board to reconsider their failed attempt to unionize Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, because… Well because they think it was unfair that anti-union voices were allowed to make their case on TV, highway billboards, and newspaper columns. In other words: the UAW feels they were unfairly outgunned by free-speech. According to the Wall Street Journal: The UAW has filed an election objection with the labor board alleging...

If you think life changed after the Internet emerged, wait until you see what’s coming next. Tech people say three-dimensional printing will create the next wave of joys and frustrations, job creation and job loss. In five to 10 years, 3-D printers will be all around us, they predict. The printers will make food, including customized wedding cakes. They will make shoes, clothes, aircraft parts, dresses, steaks, replacement bones and eventually even replacement kidneys. If you find that bit about the kidney hard to believe, Google a company called Organovo. The printers might make outsourcing jobs to China, India and...

Plenty of excuses out there for this evening's collosal miss in Chinese exports (-18.1% YoY vs an expectation of a 7.5% rise) mainly based on timing issues over the Lunar New Year (but didn't the 45 economists who forecast this data know the dates before they forecast?) This is a 6-sigma miss and plunges China's trade balance to its biggest miss on record and 2nd largest deficit on record. Combining Jan and Feb data (i.e. smoothing over the holiday), exports are still down 1.6% YoY - not good for the much-heralded global recovery. Exports to the rest of the BRICs...

Boeing Co said on Friday that "hairline cracks" had been discovered in the wings of about 40 787 Dreamliners that are in production, marking another setback for the company's newest jet. The cracks have not been found on planes that are in use by airlines and therefore posed no safety risk, Boeing said, adding the problem also will not alter Boeing's plans to deliver 110 787s this year. Wing-maker Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd notified Boeing in February of the problem, which arose after the Japanese company altered its manufacturing process. He added that the manufacturing change was probably aimed at...

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) forthcoming climate change regulations for new and existing electricity generating units have been appropriately labeled the “war on coal,”[1] because the proposed limits for carbon dioxide emissions would essentially prohibit the construction of new coal-fired power plants and force existing ones into early retirement. However, the casualties will extend well beyond the coal industry, hurting families and businesses and taking a significant toll on American manufacturing across the nation. Congress should stop the EPA and all other federal agencies from regulating carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions. Driving Energy Prices Up, Economic Activity Down...

Imagine going online and, with a single click, printing out any physical object. With a miniature production plant in every home, there would be no need for retail stores, factories, shipping or the pollution associated with those activities. Large-scale automation of a huge segment of the workforce, combined with free worldwide-Internet, 3D printing and renewable off-grid energy will free humanity to achieve anything without worrying about basic material needs. FREE WIFI FOR ALL In the next few years, everyone on the planet with a wireless device will likely have access to high speed, uncensored Internet. A futuristic project spearheaded by...

Back when 3D printing was just kicking off, there was much talk of a future where people could download new furniture designs, print them, and furnish their living rooms with new pieces whenever they pleased. But despite the fact that 3D printing your own furniture is totally possible now, it hasn’t really caught on for one simple reason – nobody wants to fill their house with a bunch of snap-together plastic furniture. But the dream of printing your own furnishings isn’t dead yet. A fledgling company by the name of 4 AXYZ has developed a process that allows you...

<p>South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley didn’t mince words when she spoke about unions at an automotive conference in Greenville this week. The state loves its manufacturing jobs from BMW, Michelin and Boeing and welcomes more, she explained, but not if they’re bringing a unionized workforce with them.</p>

Technology to bring 3D printing closer to the mass market is accelerating, though most 3D printed items tend to be rather small in size. To help demonstrate the effectiveness of printing larger items, BigRep, a company founded in 2014, opens the door to printing items such as furniture. The device is launching worldwide at large trade shows, and begins shipping in two months, with a $39,000 MSRP.The BigRep One can print full-scale objects in sizes up to 45x39x47 inches, and has the ability to print plastics, nylons, Laywood (wood fibers mixed with polymers), and Laybrick (something similar to sandstone-type of...

<p>Although we often hear about how China is in hot economic competition with the U. S., we don’t hear as frequently how eerily similar their education system is to ours. “The Chinese government has always been concerned about being outmaneuvered” by its opponents and as a result, their history books are “not even 5% correct” and “children grow up with a certain view of the world and of China,” author Timothy Beardson said at the Cato Institute on February 6, 2014.</p>

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - Remington Outdoor Co. plans to open a plant to make and develop weapons in Huntsville that could employ about 2,000 workers, sources have confirmed to AL.com. The deal is set to be announced Monday at a special meeting of the Huntsville City Council, though sources said there may be a news conference prior to the meeting. Huntsville and Madison County elected officials declined to comment when contacted about the deal this morning. Officials with Remington Outdoor did not immediately return requests for comment Gov. Robert Bentley did not directly confirm the reports about Remington, but told AL.com...

Never underestimate the power of human ingenuity paired with a machine that can print almost anything. It’s been over 30 years since Chuck Hull invented the first 3D printer in 1983. Ever since then, the idea of machine-printing objects from scratch has gone from fiction to reality, opening up new opportunities for every field from science to art. 3D printing may not be quite there yet, but in three decades the technology has progressed leaps and bounds in terms of the scope and utility of 3D-printed objects. Surprise, surprise: It's not just gimmicks and toys. It’s easy to be skeptical...

Nanoparticle inks can turn your existing 2D printer into a circuit board production line – and the possibilities for 3D printers are mind-boggling. Printing foldable mobile phones on a sheet of paper from a normal 2D printer is just a decade away, according to Jürgen Steimle, head of the Embodied Interaction Group at the Max Planck Institute for Informatics in Saarbrücken, Germany. Steimle and his colleagues took a step towards this in 2013, when they used a standard printer loaded with nanoparticle ink to print a paper circuit that works even after the sheet is torn. In the past couple...