A variety of robotic tooling advances support technologies for moving parts through presses while increasing tooling changeover flexibility, reducing die set risks, creating efficiencies, and protecting against part damage.

Powernail, a Zurich, Ill.-based manufacturer of hardwood flooring nails stamps 1 billion of these L-cleats and E-cleats from flat 0.062 steel annually. The company was looking to improve the lifespan of the high-speed stamping dies his company uses to stamp the hardware. The company purchased die sets made of tungsten carbide, which improves the strength and wear resistance. Since then, Powernailís dies last four times longer than they had, tooling changes are less frequent, and it produceshigher-quality nails.

All machines have a story to tell. Are you listening? Just like a person wo has a cold, the voice of a machine changes when it is "sick." Most times, if you listen, the machine will tell you whatís wrong.

Capital expenditures are necessary for any successful manufacturing business. Stamping is no exception. Here are four easy ways for you to be well-prepared to apply for a loan to finance an unexpected (or planned) new equipment purchase.

2012 has the markings of a transitional year for the automotive industry. If the sales and efficiency gains achieved by the industry, which began in 2009, can be sustained, there is ample reason to believe that salad days lie ahead of automakers, suppliers, and dealers alike.