Dear Membership,
My name is John Cross, I am the new chairman of the American Gear Manufacturers Association (AGMA) Board of Directors. Seeing as I am in my beginning months of serving this great association, I wanted to share how important it is — now more than ever — to get involved with AGMA.
As the president of ASI Drives, I am busy every day dealing with my business and the decisions we have to make to better serve my employees and my customers. My focus is on our bottom line and growing the company that I lead. I am able to do this because I am an AGMA member, and I am heavily involved in all they have to offer my company, my employees, and OUR industry.
While I am focused on my business, AGMA is focused on the future of gears and manufacturing as a whole. It has its finger on the pulse of everything I need to know to be a better business professional. From economic reports, emerging technology, and the latest industry news, to educational opportunities and networking events, AGMA works endlessly to supply you with the tools necessary to succeed. Serving as a global steward for gears and producing gearing standards used around the world throughout many industries, AGMA’s technical division alone is the only division that exists for the purpose of making sure our gear products are the best they can be. Everything we do starts with AGMA and because of the exceptional connections I have made there, it ends with them, too.
2019 is already a very busy year for AGMA and its members. With the new Motion + Power Technology Expo debuting in October, AGMA members will have the greatest opportunity to connect with all the moving parts of the power transmission system supply chain. This show is a great representation of how far the gear industry has come, coupled with the emerging markets that will affect the future of our business. Being an AGMA member allows me to exhibit at events like these knowing I will see a direct return on investment because they have thought of all the details to make a tradeshow attractive to my customers.
Another great reason to be a part of AGMA is that they offer the latest education for gear-industry professionals. I have personally taken classes with AGMA’s knowledgeable instructors and know how important it is to have a resource that will help me grow not only my education but also my employees’ skillsets. And now, thanks to the power and hard work of collaboration, AGMA has partnered with Richard J. Daley College of City Colleges of Chicago, to establish the first-ever AGMA National Training Center. AGMA education will thrive even more with a central location close to so many members and their employees. This type of forward thinking is why I take pride in being the AGMA chairman.
With a growing emerging technology division acting as the periscope for innovation throughout our industry, AGMA has provided members with impressive and ample opportunity to stay up to date on the latest technologies available. Through newsletters, weekly videos, factory tours, and expert speakers, the AGMA Emerging Technology Committee is comprised of some of the best minds in the industry to guide us during the transitions to our manufacturing practices that allow us to stay competitive and innovative. Manufacturing doesn’t look exactly like it used to, and it is nice to know AGMA is helping us see the future.
I really could go on about the amazing resources and opportunities that AGMA provides members. I know that many of you are busy with your work, and I can relate. I hope that, for the remainder of the 2019 year, you take a moment and participate in at least one thing AGMA is offering so you, too, can see the rewards of being a part of an association that puts its members in the driver’s seat toward success. I hope to see you all at Motion + Power Technology Expo this October; come visit me at the ASI Drives booth number 3000!
If you want to get involved with AGMA, please contact one of these departments:
Membership: membership@agma.org
Education & Training: education@agma.org
Fall Technical Meeting: ftm@agma.org
Motion + Power Technology Expo: mptexpo@agma.org
Technical questions and standards: tech@agma.org
AGMA Foundation: foundation@agma.org
Motion + Power Technology conference speakers
Motion + Power Technology Expo gathers thinkers and doers in the power transmission industry. Our conference is designed for these thinkers and doers. We are bringing you speakers who will provide you current information in two tracks: Business and Emerging Technology. Check out our speaker line-up and learn from the best at this year’s MPT Conference.
Know Your Business (business track)
- Blockchain
- Cybersecurity
- Market info
- Supply chain
- Workforce
Be Prepared for the Future (emerging technology track)
- 3D printed metal
- Electric drive technology
- IIoT
- Robotics
MPT Conference schedule
- Wednesday, October 16: 9:30 am – 4:30 pm
- Thursday, October 17: 9:30 am – 4:30 pm
Each session has a 45-minute presentation (one speaker) with an additional 15-minute Q&A portion. Presentation topics include:
Jeff Newman, VP Supply Chain Visibility Solution Sales, CalAmp: Improve In-Transit Visibility to Reduce Supply Chain Risk
Stacy Pease, Director of Customer Success, MachineMetrics: Simplifying Industrial IoT for Discrete Manufacturers
Chloe Parkins, Fluid Power Specialist, Oxford Economics: Economic Outlook and Trends Within the Industrial Fluid Power Market
John Bennett, VP and CTO, Meritor: The Future of eMobility in the Commercial Vehicle Space
Joel Neidig, CEO and Co-Founder, SIMBA Chain: The Future of Manufacturing
Kirk Rogers, PhD, Senior ADDvisorSM, The Barnes Group Advisors: Processes and New Machines for 3D Printing Metal
Tom Rouse, Founder, Rouse Contract Consultants, LLC: Effective Contract Negotiations: The Path to Commercial Success with Large OE Customers
Alberto Moel, PhD, VP Business Development, Veo Robotics: The End of Fear: How Collaborative Industrial Robots Will Change Durable Goods Manufacturing
Casey Selecman, Director – Advisory Services, IHS Markit, Powertrain Specialist: The Evolution of the Automotive Powertrain
Russ Waddell, Director, MTConnect: Standards for IIoT Interoperability
Tony Velotta, Organizational Development Leader, Scot Forge: Workforce Development using a Farm Team Approach
Jeff Hemphill, CTO, Schaeffler: Losing Teeth? The Future of Gear Trains in the Age of Electrification
James McQuiggan, CISSP, Chapter President, (ISC)2 Central Florida Chapter: Cybersecurity Hygiene in Motion
Jeff Grabowski, PhD, Materials Specialist, QuesTek Innovations, LLC: Materials Challenges and Solutions in Additive Manufacturing
Todd Palmer, Founder and President, Diversified Industrial Staffing: Hire Like Nobody’s Business
John Tuohy, Executive Director Global Solutions, and Curt Christensen, FANUC Robotics: Shopfloor Connectivity and IIoT
Education Events
Detailed Gear Design
August 20-22, 2019 | Clearwater Beach, Florida
Learn how to improve gear designs and gain new insight into concepts presented through illustrations and demonstrations. Explore all factors that go into good gear design from life cycle, load, torque, tooth, optimization, and evaluating consequences.
Basic Training for Gear Manufacturing
September 9-13, 2019 | Chicago, Illinois
Learn the fundamentals of gear manufacturing in this hands-on course. Gain an understanding of gearing and nomenclature, principles of inspection, gear-manufacturing methods, and hobbing and shaping. Using manual machines, develop a deeper breadth of perspective and understanding of the process and physics of making a gear as well as the ability to apply this knowledge in working with CNC equipment commonly in use.
This course is taught at Daley College. A shuttle bus is available each day to transport students to and from the hotel.
Fundamentals of Gear Design and Analysis
September 17-19, 2019 | Chicago, Illinois
Gain a solid and fundamental understanding of gear geometry, types and arrangements, and design principles. Starting with the basic definitions of gears, conjugate motion, and the Laws of Gearing, learn the tools needed to understand the interrelation and coordinated motion operating within gear pairs and multi-gear trains. Basic gear system design process and gear measurement and inspection techniques will also be explained. In addition, the fundamentals of understanding the step-wise process of working through the iterative design process required to generate a gear pair will be reviewed. Learn the steps and issues involved in design refinement and some manufacturing considerations. An explanation of basic gear measurement techniques, how measurement equipment and test machines implement these techniques, and how to interpret the results from these basic measurements will also be covered.
Online Education
Don’t have the ability to come to one of AGMA’s fantastic face-to-face courses? We understand that you are busy, and that is why we offer online education to meet your schedule. Now you can grow your gear knowledge, get the same quality AGMA education, and save money on travel by learning directly at your own computer.
AGMA’s online education courses include:
- Gear Failure Analysis.
- Gearbox CSI: Gears Only.
- Detailed Gear Design–Beyond Simple Service Factors.
- Fundamentals of Gearing.
- Hobbing.
- Parallel Gear Inspection.
