Controls help make modern manufacturing go. Controls help shop floor employees monitor Industry 4.0 technology. Controls also boost productivity on the shop floor. Technology companies are highlighting improvements designed to maintain the forward momentum of advanced technology.
If Industry 3.0 is identified by the computerization of factory floor processes to make them “smart,” then Industry 4.0 can be understood as the expansion of the idea to include all of the non-factory floor inputs required to produce a quality product and a successful enterprise.
What a difference a month makes. In a survey by the Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network (MAGNET) in February, only 24 percent of Ohio manufacturers said innovation was a priority.
Today, it’s tremendously difficult to get products made. To turn an idea into a tangible object requires a list of difficult-to-obtain resources, including expensive machinery and capital, and a lot of time to program and configure machines.
New system detects process anomalies during metal cutting in machine tools.
Shops that have always wanted full simultaneous five-axis machining capability but were afraid to take the plunge now have access to a recently developed vertical machining center from Mazak Corp. that the company says not only helps reduce the intimidation factor of full simultaneous five-axis machining, but also makes automation integration a whole lot easier.
While businesses were in lockdown and people were quarantined at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, TRAK Machine Tools – Southwestern Industries Inc. and New Century Careers continued to forge a partnership that will benefit Pittsburgh’s regional manufacturing industry.
The promise of 5G is tempting. Fast data speeds and low latency rates make wireless connectivity, and real-time monitoring and decision making a possibility. Cost, legacy systems, security and other issues might be a deterrent that keeps some from dipping their toes into 5G waters.
One of the biggest challenges that any shop faces in 2020 is finding skilled workers to backfill those baby boomers who are retiring, or simply finding staff to meet the demand of a healthy manufacturing economy.
The COVID-19 crisis caught all of us off guard and interrupted global systems in a way not experienced in recent memory.