If you were to rebuild your manufacturing business today, would you build it in the same way, or would you shape it differently to address new challenges and future innovations?
An Eaton executive describes the automotive supplier's plans to utilize Industry 4.0.
Part 1 of this three-part series on the Connected Machine Shop ran in the July issue of Manufacturing Engineering.
Before Industry 4.0, it didn’t matter that the CAM software didn’t talk to the ERP system, or that the CNC machine tools were mute. Islands of information were acceptable back then.
The Italian Trade Agency via its North American Offices is producing a 2020,Volume XIII edition of its Machines Italia magazine, highlighting solutions provided by Italian companies to a North American audience.
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.
Manufacturing is moving towards high-mix production different products in very small lots. Advanced robotics may be needed to get there.
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.
