As any college football fan knows, the Southeastern Conference (SEC) takes sports seriously, with numerous gridiron rivalries. An engineering professor at the University of Tennessee has come up with a way to transfer some of that competitive spirit to the world of manufacturing.

SUDBURY, MA—Methods Machine Tools, a supplier of automation and CNC machine tools, says it will open a production and distribution center in Fort Worth, TX, in February 2023.

WASHINGTON—U.S. sales of machine tools totaled $473.9 million in May. That’s a 14 percent increase compared with April sales and a 19 percent increase compared with May 2011 sales.

BERLIN—A high-speed, five-axis CNC machine built by EEW Maschinenbau is larger than a football field.

WASHINGTON—U.S. sales of machine tools totaled $496 million in March, an increase of 11 percent from February sales, according to AMT—The Association For Manufacturing Technology. With a year-to-date total of $1.35 billion, 2012 is up 13 percent compared with 2011.

WASHINGTON—U.S. sales of machine tools totaled $444.06 million in February. That’s a 9 percent increase from January and a 35 percent increase compared with February 2011 sales.

WASHINGTON—U.S. sales of machine tools totaled $401.69 million in January, an 8 percent increase compared with January 2011 sales.

WASHINGTON—U.S. sales of machine tools totaled $5.5 billion for 2011, a 66.4 percent increase compared with 2010 sales.