For machine shops in a competitive global marketplace, keeping spindles running and making product is the only way to stay in business. Still, adding a new piece of equipment, even with the promise of improving the efficiency of your existing ones, may be a difficult sell to management.
Road to maturity involves safeguarding supply chains, treating security with the same urgency as safety, for starters.
Kent, Wash.-based Flow International Corp., a developer and manufacturer of ultrahigh-pressure waterjet solutions for cutting applications, announced a new partnership with Joe Gibbs Racing. A current competitor in the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series and The NASCAR Xfinity Series, North Carolina-based Joe Gibbs Racing is looking to Flow’s elite waterjet technology to support the team’s endeavors in the upcoming 2019 season and beyond.
Blockchain technology is becoming a key player in modernizing supply chains to enable easy tracking, automate transactions and delivery, and build end-to-end trust, Chandra Narayanaswami, principal research staff member, Member IBM Academy of Technology at IBM Research, told people attending a smart manufacturing session at the MD&M West conference here last week.
So you have finally decided to start your digital transformation. You have seen the benefits around digitizing your operations. By connecting your disparate systems, you can start seeing what is actually happening in your plant and become more efficient. And not just in one plant, but in multiple plants.
Machine vision is proving ideal in helping humans perform tedious but crucial manufacturing tasks. That is why it is poised to grow significantly in the next few years.
St. Louis-based Hydromat Inc. is celebrating its 40th anniversary (1979 -2019). As part of this celebration, the company engaged Orange County Choppers (OCC) to build a custom motorcycle to commemorate this milestone.
Midway between Houston and Austin sits Brenham, Texas, home to Blue Bell ice cream and the world’s largest BBQ pit. Within this smallish town you’ll find a not-so-small contract manufacturer, MIC Group LLC.
For years, companies have struggled to understand how additive manufacturing (AM) can add value to their businesses. This makes sense because for a long time, additive tech didn’t meet the threshold for producing industrial-grade parts.
With an influx of investment in digital factories, the playing field is changing and the ROI for digitizing production is becoming ever more apparent. However, restraints, such as company size and a disconnect between IT and OT, means the road to a successful digital transformation is one very few will be able to do alone.
