In this episode of Advanced Manufacturing Now, Steve Bauer sits down with Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT) Vice President of Technology Ryan Kelly to unpack a unique industry challenge: why breakthrough technologies aren't reaching factory floors fast enough. Plus, a preview of what to expect at IMTS, where the next wave of innovation takes center stage.

The uncomfortable truth? Most AI initiatives fail - not because of the technology, but because engineering data is fragmented, tribal knowledge lives in inboxes, and process discipline isn't built for scale. Join Patrick Harrigan, VP of Partnerships at CADDi, and Greg Cunningham, Platform Specialist at IMAGINiT Technologies, for a candid discussion on what it actually takes to prepare your organization for AI-driven growth. This isn't theory. It's a practical game plan for manufacturers who want to: Turn engineering data into competitive advantage Break down silos between design, manufacturing and supply chain Reduce costly rework and accelerate speed to market Build the structured foundation AI requires to succeed PRESENTERS: Patrick Harrigan VP of Partnerships CADDi Greg Cunningham Platform Specialist IMAGINiT Technologies Presented by CADDi Visit https://advancedmanufacturing.org/webinars for more webinars and an interactive experience with visuals.

From supply chain volatility and geopolitical unrest to workforce challenges and transformative technologies, manufacturers need to learn how to survive—and thrive—in dynamic environments where flexibility is critical. Quickparts CEO Avi Reichental and SME Media's Steve Plumb and Michael McConnell discuss what this means for the industry today and how it could impact the future.   Reichental leads Quickparts' global operations, creating components for aerospace, medical and mobility through additive manufacturing. This episode is a recording of the latest episode of Advanced Manufacturing Live. Previous episodes of Advanced Manufacturing Live are available on advancedmanufacturing.org/live. Follow SME Media on Facebook, LinkedIn, X and YouTube to join us live every other Thursday at 1 p.m. Eastern Time.

On the latest episode of Advanced Manufacturing Now, the editorial team discusses the 250th anniversary of the United States, and the spirit of innovation they discovered while putting together the State-by-State of the Manufacturing Industry special report.

This episode of Advanced Manufacturing Now brings together three Executive Perspectives from RAPID + TCT 2026, exploring where additive manufacturing stands today and where it's headed next. Featuring conversations with SME's Brett Conner, Stratasys' Foster Ferguson, and Brigadier General Beth Behn, we discuss the shift from prototyping to production, the rise of digital supply chains and the growing influence of AI, qualification standards and defense demand in shaping the future of AM.

The job market for manufacturing engineers may be stronger than in other industries, but uncertainty still persists for job seekers. Industry veteran and former executive recruiter Dick Schenkel speaks with us about the qualities job seekers can practice to stand out to prospective employers.

On December 5, 2022, researchers at the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory achieved a landmark breakthrough in Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF), producing an energy output that exceeded the laser input for the first time. The success of an ICF experiment hinges on multi-stage lapping and polishing of fuel capsule shells to nanometer-scale finish and devoid of major surface defects. This talk presents our work with LLNL on assuring surface quality of the fuel capsule shells. Rare surface defects, such as deep pits, can severely degrade ICF performance. Exhaustive inspection across multiple finishing stages to detect these defects is both cost- and time-prohibitive. Conventional scalar surface quality quantifiers fail to capture the manifestation of rare surface pits. We investigated novel inspection strategies that substantially reduce measurement burden while retaining confidence in defect-risk estimation. Here, we impose a multivariate probabilistic bound on pit distribution estimation error to determine the minimal number of surface scans needed to guarantee a specified confidence level. This enables reliable assessment of deep pit risk using approximately 5 – 6 scans (a 5- to 10-fold reduction), thereby substantially reducing the inspection time per shell at each finishing stage. These challenges also motivate the need to move beyond reactive, post-process inspection toward proactive, process monitoring methods that can detect and mitigate the process anomalies that lead to these defects. In this context, we leverage generative machine learning methods conditioned on polishing process parameters combined with shell tracking to identify deviations from expected motion patterns that may lead to surface defects. We also introduce a deep learning model that can track the evolution of pit populations across the polishing stages, capturing rare-event manifestations that scalar surface quantifiers miss. Predictive insights from these models inform possible triaging of at-risk parts and more informed process planning decisions. Taken together, these contributions illustrate how integrating inspection efficiency, process understanding, and predictive decision support can advance manufacturing quality control in settings where rare anomalies and high-consequence requirements demand more than conventional approaches. PRESENTERS: Satish Bukkapatnam, PhD Regents Professor, Sugar and Mike Barnes Department Head Chair, Industrial & Systems Engineering Texas A&M University Shashank Galla Graduate Research Assistant, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) Texas A&M University Presented by SME Technical Activities Visit https://advancedmanufacturing.org/webinars for more webinars and an interactive experience with visuals.

Senior Editor Michael McConnell speaks with Jason Rolland, PhD, chief technology officer at Carbon, a California-based 3D printing technology company, about the growing role of additive manufacturing in healthcare and where he thinks the technology will go in the future. This episode is a recording of the latest episode of Advanced Manufacturing Live. Previous episodes of Advanced Manufacturing Live are available on advancedmanufacturing.org/live. Follow SME Media on Facebook, LinkedIn, X and YouTube to join us live every other Thursday at 1 p.m. Eastern Time.

In this episode of Advanced Manufacturing Now, we speak with Heather Curtis of Tormach and Joe Leonhard of Sheboygan Central High School about how their partnership with the National Coalition of Certification Centers is shaping the future of manufacturing education.

Hole making remains one of the most critical and cost‑intensive operations in metal cutting. From initial drilling to high‑accuracy finishing, choosing the right tooling strategy has a direct impact on cycle time, tool life, and bore quality. This webinar delivers a practical, application‑driven overview of modern hole‑making solutions, covering solid drilling, indexable drilling, adjustable diameter tools, rough and finish boring, and reaming. Real‑world examples across steel, stainless steel, titanium, and cast iron demonstrate how advanced tool designs, modular connections, and diameter adjustment capabilities can significantly improve process stability and productivity while maintaining tight tolerances. Participants will gain insight into how to select the appropriate hole‑making concept based on material, bore size, depth‑to‑diameter ratio, tolerance requirements, and machine interface—helping them reduce machining time, simplify setups, and increase consistency on the shop floor. Key Takeaways for Attendees How to choose the right hole‑making strategy Understand when to use solid drills, indexable drills, rough boring, finish boring, or reaming based on hole size, depth, and accuracy requirements. Improving productivity with indexable drilling Learn how insert geometry, diameter adjustment, and modular connections enable higher feed rates and faster changeovers without sacrificing performance. Achieving tight tolerances and surface finish Compare finish boring versus reaming and understand the trade‑offs in accuracy, cycle time, surface quality, and setup effort. Managing large diameters and deep holes Explore solutions for large bore sizes and deep drilling applications, including adjustable cartridges, guide pads, and modular extensions. Critical setup and process considerations Best practices for tool runout control, diameter adjustment, coolant delivery, and bore measurement to ensure repeatable, stable results. Presenter:Adrian von Rohr Product Management Lead - Americas Ceratizit   Brought to you by: Ceratizit Visit https://advancedmanufacturing.org/webinars for more webinars and an interactive experience with visuals.