One of my favorite events each year is the Car Training Institute (CTI) Symposium USA in Novi, MI. The program brings together engineers to discuss and debate the current state of the North American automotive market from a powertrain, transmission, and electrification perspective.


This article demonstrates why bevel gears are designed with a zero sum of profile shifts—showing that independent shifts merely replicate what a modified pressure angle already achieves—and explains the practical benefits of using conical generating gears for tooth profile crowning.
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The article proposes a method to optimize cylindrical gearbox tolerances by balancing gear noise performance and manufacturing costs using modeling, analysis, and meta-model-based optimization.
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This study investigates how manufacturing-related geometry deviations in the tooth root area affect gear bending strength calculations, demonstrating that accounting for measured tooth contours rather than nominal geometries is essential for accurate material comparisons in fatigue testing.
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This study systematically evaluates how material selection, progressive wear, and grease lubrication affect the noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) performance of polymer gears, providing new insights for designing quieter, more optimized transmission systems.
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As a community, we gear engineers collaborate and share ideas to progress our collective capability. Technology progresses based on our efforts, and we have seen solid advances in the performance of our products as they become quieter, cheaper, more efficient, and more power dense. The pages of this magazine (past and present editions) are filled with examples where talented engineers have dug deeper into a subject using a more precise approach to a particular area concerning gear performance. The implied belief is always that greater precision (complexity) in the calculations brings greater accuracy (alignment with reality).

This article introduces the process of polish grinding of gears. Improved surface quality increases the overall efficiency of gearboxes, resulting in reduced friction and torque loss, higher power density, and noise-optimized gears (lower NVH); all these factors are highly relevant, especially for electric drives. When Reishauer developed polish grinding in 2012, the process aimed to improve the efficiency of ICE engine transmissions, and the set goals were easy to achieve. Today, in 2023, the situation is dramatically different. While an ICE engine operates at around 3,000 rpm and supplies acoustic masking of the gear noise, EV drivetrains feature up to 20,000 rpm and offer no such masking.

For precision measuring, skilled machinists, toolmakers, and inspectors must have accurate tools and gages, produced from quality materials, carefully manufactured, and rigidly inspected, to ensure lasting dependability. Gages have evolved throughout the years beginning with mechanical, then electronic models, and now convenient wireless electronic versions have come on the scene. Each type has an important place in today’s quality control and inspection processes.

Quality control, EV components, energy consumption and material influences are just a handful of topics being discussed in heat treating today. New heat treat methods and global trends will be the topic of conversation later this year at Heat Treat 2023. Here’s a round-up of some stories circulating across key market segments.
Gleason's Closed Loop System with robot or cobot loading now fully automates the measurement and correction process in gear production. Automatically prompting corrections on connected production machines, the GMSP series not only reduces human error in repetitive tasks, it also increases utilization of inspection equipment up to 90%.
TfG’s RGC 350 Radial Chamfering Machine from Machine Tool Builders produces defined, reproducible chamfers and ‘perfect’ teeth every time. The continuous, high-speed cutting process works wonders even on workpieces with interfering contours. What used to be slow, painful and expensive is now fast, painless, and perfect.
Deburring gears is dusty, repetitive, and hard to staff. The OB7 cobot from Productive Robotics automates it with quick setup and no programming required. Consistent finish on every part, built in the USA. See the full cobot deburring package and request a quote.
Download the whitepaper to learn how lifecycle management improves tool performance, reduces downtime, and drives measurable cost savings.
This white paper explores how the use of an automatic tool change system can boost productivity in the grinding process. When manufacturing large gears, the demands regarding surface quality of the ground tooth flanks are increasing.
The Grob G750T boasts efficient machining for gear rings by offering precise and efficient power skiving and seamless integration of milling and turning for maximum flexibility and productivity.

Under the umbrella of Aiktec – Digital Solutions, Klingelnberg brings together smart, industry-ready applications that bring the concepts of Industry 4.0 and the IoT directly to the shop floor. Smart Tracing is a web-based software solution for analyzing machine behavior. It is essentially the Klingelnberg DDQM (Data-Driven Quality Management) for any CNC machine, regardless of the manufacturer. Relevant process and performance information from the CNC machine is uploaded in the form of servo traces and managed and analyzed via a simple browser application.

Index Corp. will present manufacturers with a variety of strategies to streamline production at IMTS 2026, taking place September 14-19 at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois. Visitors to the company’s Booth #339119 in the South Building will witness the North American debut of multiple new machines, including an entirely new design concept tailored to small part production. The company will also demonstrate its full portfolio of proven advanced machine technologies, as well as provide insight into how manufacturers can produce every job faster to maximize profitability.
Sep 22, 2026 - Sep 23, 2026

The RPM (Reliability Process & Maintenance) Symposium (Kalamazoo, MI) is a conference event where end users can network and learn about industrial facilities, reliability, maintenance best practices, electric motor driven powertrains, and IIoT.
Jul 29, 2026 - Jul 30, 2026
Sep 22, 2026 - Sep 24, 2026
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