Model Airplanes

When folk singer Bob Dylan wrote the lyrics to his iconic song, “The Times They Are A-Changin,” in 1963, it’s a safe bet he wasn’t thinking of the business world. But, there might not be a better description of the rapid changes underway or on the horizon for business and procurement. CPOs should be studying those changes to see how they can take advantage of them.

Some of the changes have received wide attention, such as increased connectivity across the supply chain, the potential of big data for predictive analysis, and the new skills and mindsets the next generation of procurement professionals will bring to the function. But there is much more. Here are two other items to consider:

• New methods of manufacturing. 3D printing technology, or additive manufacturing, is changing the way engineers design parts and manufacturers make them. Once used to speed up prototyping, the technology is now used to make some airplane parts and components of satellites. Essentially, it’s a system for building three-dimensional parts by laying down successive layers of liquid or powder by computer. Some say it could spell the end of the traditional factory. Procurement executives need to work with their engineering colleagues to understand the uses of this and other breakthrough technologies so they can better evaluate suppliers and advise design teams.

• New paths to innovation. CPOs should be constantly looking at ways to draw out innovation from the supply chain. There may be some offbeat ways to do that. One is

  Article source: http://www.procurementleaders.com/blog/my-blog--paul-teague/2015/05/11/changing-times-offer-new-opportunities

Question-and-Answer Session

Operator

[Operator Instructions]. And our first question comes from the line of Kevin Ciabattoni with KeyBanc. Please go ahead with your question.

Kevin Ciabattoni

Hi, good morning guys. Thanks for taking my question.

Peter Gundermann

Good morning.

Kevin Ciabattoni

Pete, just looking at your last quarterly call, kind of late mid-February, it sounds like the deliveries in Test completed in 2014 and obviously I understand the timing of it. I guess, I’m just trying to understand did something change between that February conference call and the end of the quarter, because obviously you were a little bit more than half way through the quarter there at that point.

And it seems like you should have had a good grip on this shipment in 1Q at that point versus what they’ve been in 4Q in the past. Just kind of wondering if the cadence changed partly through the quarter or if it just wasn’t communicated well?

Peter Gundermann

Well, I was hoping to get it to at least the second or third question before we got to this topic. But we basically didn’t communicate it well. And to be honest when we come to a year-end we are pretty much all hands on deck trying to close the previous year especially a year like we had last year.

And we gave some indication that we thought the first quarter was going to be lighter and we were going to build later in the year. But we weren’t as specific as I think we need to be. So

Article source: http://seekingalpha.com/article/3176306-astronics-corporations-atro-ceo-peter-gundermann-on-q1-2015-results-earnings-call-transcript

General Electric this week revealed that it has completed a multi-year project to print a working jet engine.

The engine, small enough to fit in a backpack, was built by a team of technicians, machinists and engineers at GE Aviation’s Additive Development Center outside Cincinnati. The lab is working with additive manufacturing as a way to produce next-generation jet parts using a technique known as (DMLM).

GE

The engine also required some post-printing machining and polishing of parts. The research team then rigged up a data acquisition system to measure exhaust temperature, speed and thrust.

The engine, which consisted of more than a dozen parts, was printed on an M270 industrial 3D printer from EOS. The machine can melt a variety of alloys, including cobalt chrome, nickel alloy, titanium and stainless steel.

The M270 3D printer allowed the GE engineers to use high-temperature alloys not typically available to the radio-controlled engine industry. The resulting engine from GE’s 3D printing process endured numerous tests and the turbine achieved 33,000 rpm.

GE

The GE research team had been working on the engine for several years. The researchers have already build working aircraft components using the DMLM 3D printing method, including

Article source: http://www.computerworld.com/article/2921583/3d-printing/ge-3d-prints-a-working-rc-jet-engine.html

In early January, artist Chris Burden gathered a small group of friends and colleagues in an airplane hangar in Camarillo to witness his newest sculptural installation, “Ode to Santos Dumont,” take flight.

It was a beautiful, clear afternoon, and as shards of sunlight shot through the space, the 40-foot-long white balloon floated ethereally around the room. Burden stared up at it, clearly proud of the fusion of science, engineering and art, said Paul Schimmel, a close friend who was there.

“He was kind of loving that magic space between him as a kind of engineer and him as a kind of intuitive visionary,” said Schimmel, formerly chief curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art. “It had this kind of intimacy to it, this beautiful, slow propeller whirring. It flew at a human pace, almost like walking — it was elegant and poetic.”

The piece would be Burden’s last finished artwork. The 69-year-old conceptual artist died Sunday at his home in Topanga Canyon.

“I took a little video that day, during the test flight, and Chris said, ‘Don’t show it to anyone or post to Facebook!'” Schimmel said. Despite the bravado often involved in his performance art, Burden was famously private in his personal life. His diagnosis of malignant melanoma was kept secret from all but a tight circle of friends and family members.

A wider audience will be able to see “Ode

Article source: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-chris-burden-santos-dumant-lacma-20150512-story.html