The demand and application of micron and sub-micron manufacturing requirements is growing, which offers unique challenges and immense opportunities to a wide group of tool shops and production parts manufacturers in the United States. The term micromachining loosely refers to part details and holes smaller than the human hair that are measured only in microns-or one thousandth of a millimeter.
This focus on micromachining has captured the imagination of nearly every industrial segment. According to several market studies, micromanufacturing was a $3.9 billion industry in 2001. The market is expected to reach $9.6 billion by 2006.
Technical and application engineers at Makino, a global provider of advanced machining technology, say that such industries as biomedical, medical appliance, personal electronics, fluid transfer, optics and fiber optics, RF electronics, communications, military, aerospace products, and the automotive world are focused on micromanufacturing. They all see the potential in new and exciting consumer and industrial products emerging daily.
These smaller, lighter parts with higher degrees of functionality have set new demands on...