Getting rid of personal mementos is an arduous housekeeping ritual for some of us; every last gear has a memory. One man’s trash is another man’s gold, after all, or in some cases, one failed business is a forgotten piece of personal and mechanical genealogy. Such is the case of the Hill-Climber chainless bicycle, the remains of which were pulled from a family junk pile after nearly half a century.

If anyone should ever need convincing that the state of American manufacturing is in ongoing decline, consider this: the state of Michigan has the highest concentration of engineers in the country, yet also has the highest unemployment rate. But there are ripples of hope out there as grassroots and otherwise organized groups are fighting the good fight in an attempt to reverse that trend.

Two high-volume gear production cells grace the shop floor at Delta Research Corporation in Livonia, Michigan. Thanks to lean manufacturing, these cells have never shipped a defective part to a customer since they were developed over three years ago.

The complete Industry News section from the September/October 2008 issue of Gear Technology.

Most anyone that has been in the gear industry—or any machining and tooling oriented business, for that matter—is probably at least somewhat familiar with the Roto-Flo workhorse line of hydraulic-actuated spline and thread rolling machines. After all, they’ve been at it for decade

This paper acknowledges the wide variety of manufacturing processes--especially in grinding--utlized in the production of bevel gears...

Alternative business strategies from some alternative gear manufacturers.

It is with regret we report that Donald R. McVittie passed away January 20, 2008.

Matt McBride of Riverside Spline & Gear responds to last issue's Voices piece by Fred Young, and Tom Schmitt of Schmitt Design responds to last issue's publisher's page.

Lamentations continue—legitimately so—over the second-citizen status of manufacturing in the United States. The need undoubtedly continues for renewed support by government and educators for making things here once again...