Smarter factory systems connected via the cloud are the grand vision offered for the future factories that will fully leverage the best available tools from automation, software and machine tool builders.
The issues around OEE are not its utility but the ease and credibility of the data used to calculate it
The smart factory Trumpf built in this Chicago suburb, in the works since early 2014 and open to the public since September, is just a few months away from running full steam ahead: Smart Manufacturing recently asked its director, Tobias Reuther, to identify the seven key benefits of a smart factory.
What is good about inventory? Being able to find a part when you need it. What’s not so good about inventory? Where to even start…
The 70-acre Hitachi campus in Norman, Okla., where Michelle Mertens serves as IT director for Hitachi computer products employs just 400 people. And while that pales in comparison to the more than 700 people Hitachi employs in Asia, her factory led a worldwide initiative under which Hitachi unified its shop floor systems.
Starting with the primitive laminates of the Wright Brothers era, the use of composites in aircraft has evolved over the last century from small amounts on nonstructural components to up to half of some aircraft and use on critical structures, such as wings. A key benefit is reducing weight.
Design for manufacturing has been around for decades, but industry insiders say the next few years will be critical as technologies like additive manufacturing (AM) and virtual reality (VR) shape the future of the industry.
To improve time to market and productivity at Honda, the Japanese automaker partnered with the French software giant Dassault Systèmes on planning structure, including a new model process development (NMPD) project, Ron Emerson said here this week at Dassault’s 3DExperience Forum North America event.
“We expect to see the world machinery market grow in the next five years,” said Arun Kumar a director at AlixPartners in a discussion he and I had recently.
Digitization of industry has become an established global trend. Despite all the enthusiasm of visionaries, the machine tool is, was and will remain the core element in production.
