Here's a deeper look into the top trending stories in manufacturing today based on reader feedback. Ford expands it's near-dry machining; GM makes some changes; and a former CEO concedes mistakes. Below these stories, check out links to other related news and features at Manufacturing Business Technology.
Ford Expands Near-Dry Machining Technology
DEARBORN, Mich. – As part of its commitment to sustainability, Ford Motor Company has added its dry machining capability to six plants globally – a number that will nearly double in the next few years.
Near-dry machining, also known as Minimum Quantity Lubrication or MQL, is a process that lubricates cutting tools with a fine spray of oil exactly when and where it is needed. In comparison, conventional wet machining floods the part with metal-working fluids, requiring large amounts of fluid to cool and lubricate the tools used to make engines and transmissions.
For a typical production line, MQL can save more than 280,000 gallons of water per year, or enough to fill 5,600 average-sized bathtubs. Cologne Engine Plant in Germany decreased water use per engine by 50 percent from 2011 to 2012 by switching to the MQL process. Continue reading...
'No More Crappy Cars' For GM
Mary Barra, who is a top contender to eventually run General Motors, is considered to have one of the hardest jobs in the global auto industry.
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GM Boosts Prices As Pickup Battle Rages
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors is taking a seemingly odd approach to falling sales of pickup trucks: It's raising prices.
The company says the price of the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado will go up almost $2,100 over the introductory price in the spring. GM is also raising prices on the GMC Sierra and other trucks. Continue reading...
Former CEO Concedes Mistakes In Nokia's Downturn
HELSINKI (AP) -- Ex-Nokia CEO Jorma Ollila says the former No. 1 mobile phone company made several mistakes at its peak, including failure to predict changing customer needs.
In his autobiography, which translates from the Finnish as 'An Impossible Success', Ollila concedes that after 2001 the Finnish company was unable to sustain its role as the main innovator in the wireless industry. Several of its models flopped and it failed to sense popular trends such as folding clamshell handsets and touch screen models. Continue reading...
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