Metalworking and maintenance, repair, and operations products distributor and service provider MSC Industrial Supply announced earlier this month that it has entered into a cooperative research and development agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory to advance manufacturing in the United States.
The two-year agreement is focused on improving milling performance on new computer numerical control (CNC) machine tools through the use of impact-testing software.
"Improving CNC machine tool performance ultimately will lead to energy and cost savings, extended tool life, improved productivity, and greater competitiveness for U.S. manufacturers,” said Scott Smith, group leader for machining and machine tooling research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Under the project, MSC’s metalworking experts will work with manufacturing customers to optimize their CNC machine tools and to collect data that will be used to build tool models for industry use in the future.
"We are excited to have the opportunity to partner with Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This project is consistent with our customer-centric approach in helping manufacturers solve their mission-critical challenges on the plant floor and improving capacity and productivity,” said Jaimie Goettler, MSC’s director of metalworking innovation. “Contributing to the advancement of a healthy, competitive U.S. manufacturing economy will be incredibly impactful and gratifying.”
