ABB and Microsoft Corp. today announced a strategic partnership to help industrial customers create new value with digital solutions. Customers will benefit from the unique combination of Microsoft’s intelligent cloud and ABB’s deep domain knowledge and extensive portfolio of industrial solutions.
There have been many process improvement trends in manufacturing over the decades, and none have had more significant ROI than machine monitoring. The increase in machine monitoring is owed in large part to the rise in popularity of the open and royalty-free interconnectivity standard MTConnect.
Today, laser technology in manufacturing touches all of our lives on a daily basis; lasers cut air bag material and weld air bag detonators for our in-car safety; lasers weld the batteries in many of our mobile devices; lasers drill aero-engine components for planes; lasers cut the glass for our smart phones and tablets screens; lasers weld the drivetrains in our cars and trucks; lasers cut medical stents that increase and enhance our lives, just to name a few.
Solid-state laser technology has matured, leading to development of new, cost-effective welding applications, such as hybrid welding
Lean manufacturing principles and automation systems can coexist, although many lean purists contend that lean goals conflict with using automation. Smart applications of automation, however, can result in deployment of systems that are both automated and lean, with flexible manufacturing systems that can be easily reconfigured as factory operations change.
Common misperceptions about lean manufacturing and automation systems lead many manufacturing managers to dismiss the use of automation in a lean setting.
Winthrop Sheldon of SLM Solutions spoke with Editor in Chief Brett Brune at the Aerodef 2017 conference in Texas.
Metrology developer Jenoptik AG (Jena, Germany) on Thursday officially opened its new North American technology campus here that will focus on the industrial metrology and laser processing systems used primarily by its automotive OEM and Tier customers.
Faurecia decided it needed to get serious about Industry 4.0 fast. To show the way, the French automotive supplier built a $64 million factory in Columbus, IN.
It’s no secret that Additive Manufacturing (AM), while often regarded as “emerging” technology, has secured its place in the manufacturing arena. There is good reason for this: AM offers a lure of solutions to previously impossible-to-solve design and manufacturing challenges.
