Additive manufacturing (AM) refers to processes used to make a three-dimension object layer-by-layer. The shape of each layer can be dynamically controlled by computer-aided design (CAD).
What is smart manufacturing? Essentially, smart manufacturing is the practice of making information about manufacturing processes available when and where it is needed, in the form it is needed, so that smart decisions can be made about the course of critical business operations.
Automotive manufacturers and their Tier One suppliers spend endless engineering hours developing the PAB (passenger airbag) system, from the airbag and its propellant to the construction of the materials used in the composite instrument panel.
Smart Manufacturing sat down with KIMBERLEY HAGERTY, Industry 4.0 digital manufacturing transformation manager at Pratt & Whitney, at the Westec conference in Los Angeles in September to hear about the progress her firm is making adopting smart manufacturing processes, solutions and strategies.
It’s said you don’t know where you’re going if you don’t know where you’ve been. For Industry 4.0 and advanced manufacturing, digital libraries provide that map.
Speed, safety and efficiency are important to running a successful manufacturing floor. The more efficient workers are on the floor, the quicker products can be finished and sent to their destination. The major opponent to efficiency on the floor is, of course, waste.
Dassault Systèmes (Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA) today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire IQMS, a leading manufacturing ERP software company, for $425 million. With the acquisition of the California-based IQMS, Dassault Systèmes extends the 3DEXPERIENCE platform to small and midsized manufacturing companies seeking to digitally transform their business operations.
It’s probably not a bad idea for smaller and mid-sized manufacturers (SMMs) to adopt an “us against them” attitude as they become aware of the prevalence of cyber-attacks in the digital age of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Industry 4.0.
The U.S. needs to build a national infrastructure in engineering and manufacturing R&D that parallels its scientific infrastructure. While it makes all the sense in the world, it is not happening.
Smart sensors, already an integral feature of many manufacturing plants that are integrating IT and OT, are now making their way into the supply chain where they monitor reliability and shipping conditions, improve predictive maintenance and make just-in-time delivery (the innovation from the 1980s) easier.