Advanced Manufacturing Now

Welcome to the podcast for manufacturing professionals, powered by SME. Featuring a variety of guests from leading manufacturing companies, the Advanced Manufacturing Now podcast drives the conversation about making manufacturing smarter. SME Media is a leading source for news and in-depth technical information about advanced manufacturing in North America. To learn more about SME Media, visit us at AdvancedManufacturing.org.

Humans in the Loop: Expanding Roles on the Shop Floor 06/18/2026

Physical AI Gets Real — Advanced Manufacturing Live 06/16/2026

Speeding up Manufacturing's Metabolism with AMT 06/04/2026

WEBINAR : The Real Game Plan for AI-Driven Growth - Transforming Legacy Data into Strategic Insights 06/03/2026

Manufacturing in Uncertain Times — Advanced Manufacturing Live 06/02/2026

A State-by-State Look at American Innovation 06/01/2026

Executive Perspectives from RAPID + TCT 2026: Additive Manufacturing’s Shift to Production 05/28/2026

How to Market Yourself for Career Growth 05/21/2026

WEBINAR : Efficient Inspection and realtime quality monitoring for ultra-precision polishing of Inertial Confinement Fusion Shells 05/20/2026

WEBINAR : Efficient Inspection and realtime quality monitoring for ultra-precision polishing of Inertial Confinement Fusion Shells 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 for more webinars and an interactive experience with visuals. /episode/index/show/advmn/id/41364005

The Role of 3D Printing in Medical Manufacturing — Advanced Manufacturing Live 05/19/2026

How Schools are Closing the CNC Skills Gap 05/14/2026

WEBINAR : Hole Making Strategies for Productivity and Precision 05/13/2026

WEBINAR : Hole Making Strategies for Productivity and Precision 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 for more webinars and an interactive experience with visuals. /episode/index/show/advmn/id/41282495