For a rapidly increasing number of manufacturers, hardened components provide extreme wear resistance and strength along with superior surface finish quality. However, production of such parts can be time consuming and costly. For this reason, many shops will, when possible, machine parts completely from raw hardened material.

The following paper identifies the top five operational challenges managers face in a metal-cutting environment, the impact they can have on the bottom line, and best-practice approaches for achieving operational excellence.

After years of uncertainty, metal-cutting companies and other industrial manufacturers are gaining confidence about future market prospects. Even with this renewed confidence, industry leaders know that continuous improvement activities can’t be placed on the backburner. Lenox Institute of Technology’s benchmarking study reveals four key sources of frustration for today’s industrial metal-cutting organizations and recommended strategies for attacking each challenge.

Slotting has never been faster, easier and more accurate. If you’ve ever struggled with inserts coming loose during a slotting operation, keep reading. How about inconsistent slot widths, fumbling with awkward screws and inserts on a slotting cutter, or having to use a piece of shim stock to pry wedged chips from deep inside a slotted workpiece? These are just a few of the problems machinists face when trying to cut narrow slots and grooves, but thanks to the newly introduced Kennametal Narrow Slotting (KNS) cutter, the days of “slotting dread” are over.

Wouldn't it be great if you had one online resource you could rely on every day to help manage maintenance repair and operations?