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How do you boost productivity in a highly competitive industry segment while improving the quality of life for your workforce? That’s the story of Skills Inc. (Auburn, WA), a company that is so unique it has two bottom lines—one financial and one social.

I traveled to Toyota headquarters in Japan with Jeff Liker for a research project. We wanted to learn more about the engineering and collaboration that created the Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA), the strategy and innovation behind hydrogen vehicles, and how they had adapted and improved their development system to meet the increasing demands of the ultra-competitive global auto industry.

Modern manufacturing is rapidly adopting model-based definition (MBD). When employing an MBD strategy, the CAD model becomes more than the nominal to which all parts are measured and inspected against. MBD keeps the all-important digital thread intact—from design to manufacturing to inspection and quality reporting.

Demand for machining titanium for aerospace applications won’t abate any time soon. It is driving OEMs and the supply chain in the commercial airplane market to find ways to dramatically increase machining output. Whatever date you pick from now until 2030, there’s a sufficient backlog of commercial airliners for both structural and jet engine applications to keep spindles humming around the clock cutting titanium.

“Metrology and its relationship to manufacturing is rapidly evolving,” Ken Woodbine, president, Wilcox Associates, a brand of Hexagon Metrology (North Kingstown, RI), recently observed. “We are seeing larger quantities and faster speeds of measurement data collection. The next challenge is what to do with all that data.”

The classic manufacturing conundrum is how to make products quicker, cheaper, and better.

Overall, there are two overriding customer needs: reducing cycle time and machine downtime. They want higher feed rates and depth of cut for greater metal removal.

To remain competitive in the fiercely contested North American automotive industry, the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI, Fremont, CA) assembly plant, a joint venture between Toyota Motor Corp. (Aichi Prefecture, Japan) and General Motors Corp. (Detroit), has rededicated its efforts in lean manufacturing during the past few years by applying key tenets of the Toyota Production System (TPS). 

IIoT expert Steve Jones who will speak Oct. 29 at “The Best of SMX” (smxevent.com), describes in detail the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), as well as AI/machine learning and other promising technology for manufacturing’s future. Like with many things in life, it is important to set goals first, the Steelcase executive says. Not sure where to begin with IIoT? Never fear: Jones has the answer.

Craig Zoberis and Davin Erickson detail how Fusion OEM discovered and implemented collaborative robots, or cobots. The company is now investing in future expert machinists by using cobots—and making headway in closing the manufacturing industry skills gap. They explain the phases of training for cobots, as well as how cobots “talk” with other machines—and how machines perform “handshakes” (and are therefore envied by humans who today are struggling with social distancing).