Danko Arlington was honored to participate in a Tech Fair at the Annual Conference of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME). The event was held at the Renaissance Baltimore Harbor Place Hotel on June 2nd, 2013. SME is a non-profit organization which educates and shares manufacturing knowledge through special events, publishing, membership, and training.
The theme of this year’s Tech Fair was Additive Manufacturing where Danko Arlington displayed its innovative use of 3-D printing to make tooling, jigs, and fixtures for its aluminum sand casting operation. This rapid technology has replaced the knowledge of traditional pattern making – a dwindling trade which is becoming scarce today.
As a result of 3-D printing, however, Danko Arlington has a bright future. It’s hard to believe, but it’s true: a well-established ninety three year old manufacturer with seven smoke stacks is now expanding and creating new jobs – something that has caught the attention of the Mayor of Baltimore, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who also attended the event.
Coincidentally, Danko Arlington operated from 1920 to 1945 just several blocks away from this year’s SME conference site. In those days, Baltimore’s Inner Harbor was crowded with Chesapeake Bay steam boats bringing in goods and services to and from the city. The company’s SME exhibit included a hand carved toy boat made by Joseph O. Danko, Jr., complete with a working Weeden toy steam engine as a reminder of the business’s heritage. Also displayed was a working Stirling Engine model which the company 3-D printed just hours before the Fair to illustrate the recent advances in manufacturing.
Over the years, Baltimore has transitioned to a science and technology leader. The creative use of 3-D printing is a great fit for local businesses and entrepreneurs who are now making computer aided designs (CAD) come true. Danko Arlington is a ‘poster child’ of success and boasts of having the largest 3-D printers in the Maryland.
Needless to say, Danko Arlington is also a great story for SME and how manufacturing is rapidly reinventing itself – literally!
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