Attending Industry and Association Trade Shows

Every two years, the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) is held during the month of September in Chicago. It is one of the world’s...

Recruiting Millennials

If you’ve attended any industry function lately, you’ve noticed that conversations invariably include discussions about the shortage of skilled gear designers and the difficulty...

Developing Your Gear Design Team

Translating your customer’s needs into a product requires a well-rounded and practical approach that balances four key areas: engineering expertise, the ever-changing technological advances...

Variables for Quality Design: The Manufacturing Process

In the May Tooth Tips column, we covered design — the third major element that dictates the ultimate performance of the required gearing. In...

Variables for Quality Design: The Design Process

In the April Tooth Tips column, we covered specifications — the second major element that dictates the ultimate accuracy of gearing and how well...

Variables for Quality Design: Specifications

In the March Tooth Tips column, we covered applications — the first major element that dictates the ultimate accuracy of gearing and how well...

Variables for Quality Design: Application

In the February Tooth Tips column, an overview was presented of the four major elements — application, specifications, design, and process — that dictate...

Variables for Quality Design

As the most demanding yet common mechanical system in a gear train, gearing provides a mechanical interaction to transmit power while changing torque and...

Analyzing Product Failures

In the design and manufacturing of any product, there will always be failures, and whether anticipated or not, you can bet that they will...

Gear Expo 2015 Recap

Most of you know that the gear production machines today are much more capable and productive than those of even 10 years ago. However,...

Recycling and Reusing

Unfortunately, every company makes scrap parts, and many of these parts are kept long after all MRB (Material Review Board) efforts to sell the...

Streamlining Processes

In the gear manufacturing world, there are many ways to design and make gears. In the quest to compete, many companies are not satisfied...

Making Time to Work on Your Business

I’ve been involved in manufacturing since I was in high school when I was working part time at my family’s gear business. Since then,...

How To Find Qualified Employees

Wouldn’t it be great if when you needed to hire some employees, you put an advertisement in the paper and 100 qualified candidates lined...

Buying Used Equipment: Do’s and Don’ts

For those of you who didn’t attend the recent American Gear Manufacturers Association (AGMA) annual meeting, you missed a great opportunity to network and...

Protecting Critical Infrastructure

Information is the most valuable commodity any company has. Whether it is held in a persons mind, a cabinet, or a computer, the information...

Looking at a Print

Gears are hard to make. They come in all shapes and sizes and are made out of a variety of materials. Our customers dream...

Dealing with Parts Rejection

You got the call or the email, or maybe the box just showed up. One of your customers rejected some parts. The box winds...

Executing a Quality Product

As a former owner of a mid-sized gear manufacturing facility, I understand the pressures that owners and their staffs endure to satisfy their customers....

Preliminary Results of Testing of Low-Tooth-Count Bevel Gears of a Novel Design, Part III

For the manufacturing purpose, a simplified approach can be used for the development of the CAD models of the gear and the pinion in...