Inside an electronics factory in China as late as early 2019, workers and smart machines were building circuit boards with chips in a multi-step process using a variety of machines from different vendors.
Although the first iteration of 5G technology has offered limited use cases in manufacturing, the next two generations, now expected to be available in the fall of this year and then the fall of next year because of COVID-19-related delays, will help factory owners achieve greater digital transformation of their factories.
The Manufacturing Leadership Council, a division of the National Association of Manufacturers, released a new collection of emerging strategies and operational practices that manufacturers of all sizes are implementing to keep their employees safe and facilities operating.
Respondents in a survey said supply chain planning drives better business performance.
Crafts Technology, Elk Grove Village, Illinois, said it is rush-producing CraftAlloy tungsten carbide pin tooling to be used in injection molding machines that make vials for COVID-19 testing.
The Association for Manufacturing Technology Board of Directors, which represents more than 600 builders and distributors of machine tools, manufacturing machinery, and related products, announced that it elected its 2020-2021 Board of Directors at its Annual Business Meeting held virtually on April 2, 2020.
Dedicated in-house labs create and optimize laser welding processes for electric motors and batteries.
Like most of the digital architecture of manufacturing, computer numerical controllers (CNCs) have advanced rapidly in recent years, producing far more processing speed and implementing advanced algorithms, while at the same time offering simpler, more intuitive user interfaces.
Edge. Cloud. Digital twin. AI. AR. VR. Cobots. Once they were buzzwords. Now, they are becoming technical realities in mid- to large-scale manufacturing plants in North America.
As we enter Industry 4.0, the lines continue to blur between the digital and the physical. With this, the workplace is rapidly changing at every level in every industry.