William Kane 
MWL Automation Note MWL Automation Note Working code and maintainable code are not always the same thing. Most controls engineers have probably inherited, or written, a PLC program that runs the machine perfectly well but could use some cleanup. Maybe the naming is inconsistent. Similar functions are programmed several different ways. Old logic remains because … Read more
From Handheld Welding to Advanced Packaging: Building Better Laser Manufacturing Platforms September 24, 2026 This week’s stories have a common theme: laser technology is becoming easier to turn into a production platform. IPG is showing handheld-laser users a path toward cobotic welding. Novanta is packaging the laser, scanner, controls, software, and calibration into one OEM … Read more
A Manufacturing With Light Perspective September 23, 2026 I only began paying close attention to handheld laser welding a few months ago, when I started Manufacturing With Light. Now it’s clear that a lot had been happening while I wasn’t paying attention. I feel a little like I walked into a movie during the second … Read more
MWL Laser Manufacturing Weekly — Edition 9 September 24, 2026 This week’s stories have a common theme: laser technology is becoming easier to turn into a production platform. IPG is showing handheld-laser users a path toward cobotic welding. Novanta is packaging the laser, scanner, controls, software, and calibration into one OEM subsystem. ASMPT is combining … Read more
When someone says a machine has “motion control,” that does not tell you very much. A PLC controlling two positioning axes has motion control. A CNC following thousands of G-code blocks has motion control. A six-axis robot carrying a laser head has motion control. A galvanometer scanner moving a beam across a small field has … Read more
From Handheld Laser Safety to Smarter AM Quality September 17, 2026 Handheld laser welding continues to move into mainstream manufacturing, while metal additive manufacturing is becoming more focused on prediction, inspection, and repeatability. This week, a newly revised ISO standard addresses hand-held and hand-operated laser-processing machines. FANUC combines a manual laser-welding system with a collaborative … Read more
September 15, 2026 This is an opinion shaped by my background in controls, software, motion, and automation on laser manufacturing systems. I’m not a welding engineer. But years spent working around automated laser cutting and welding taught me one thing pretty clearly: a good laser weld normally came from developing a process, not simply choosing … Read more
Blue Lasers, Beam Profiles, Microholes & Recovery This week we have four stories that touch very different parts of manufacturing with light. A blue diode laser is being used to deposit copper directly onto ceramic substrates. Tamron is moving into laser welding with a real-time beam profiler. New research shows just how much control is … Read more
One thing I have learned over the years is that programming the automatic cycle is sometimes the easy part. The machine starts in a known condition.You tell it what to do.It moves through the sequence.Everything happens in the order you expected. Then somebody asks: “What happens if it stops right here?” And suddenly the simple … Read more
Handheld laser welding is getting faster, easier to use, and more capable. But in my view, its long-term future depends on treating it like what it is: a real welding process requiring trained and qualified people. It is hard not to pay attention to handheld laser welding when you are trying to launch a newsletter … Read more