ABB’s ‘Factory of the Future’ in China to Demo Safety, Sustainability September 18, 2019 SHANGHAI—The $150 million “factory of the future” that the Swiss innovator ABB announced nearly a year ago is becoming reality in this enormous city’s Pudong New Area.
Laser Scanners Demand Attention as Technology Improves October 7, 2019 Metrology-grade laser scanners are expanding their range of applications. New users are finding the main attractions of laser scanners—speed and ease of use. What prevented more widespread use in the past were laser scanners’ perceived tradeoffs. Using one usually meant sacrificing accuracy or working with noisy data.
Ways to get ready to take part in evolving ecosystems October 16, 2019 I experienced the end of the Third Industrial Revolution as I began my career in manufacturing. Closed government and private networks gave way to an open network called the Internet.
Traditional IT firms, traditional OT firms try newfangled ties October 16, 2019 Information technology and operations technology are unlikely candidates for a successful marriage. But to ensure that manufacturers thrive in the digital age, OT and IT must find ways to work together—or to at least, as on Tinder, swipe right to indicate interest.
Contextualized insights gained from data save precious time, material October 16, 2019 Manufacturers who have deployed the digital or smart factory have put down their pencils, found new uses for their clipboards and closed their spreadsheet programs in favor of using real-time data gleaned from condition monitoring of their machinery.
New System Improves Fiber Laser Welding of Aerospace and Defense Assemblies October 30, 2019 Fiber laser welding is all about control of the process, according to Kurt Magedanz, laser process engineer at Ace Precision Machining Corp., Oconomowoc, Wis. With its new Laserdyne 430 systems, Ace Precision has made huge strides with weld quality while reducing operator intervention in the process.
Smart Manufacturing Drives Five Key Changes October 11, 2019 What do you think of when you hear the word factory? Probably some huge space, with machines humming and personnel walking around with notepads in their hands.
Going digital helped mailbox maker supersize its product October 16, 2019 Cloud technology presents manufacturers with opportunities to improve the flexibility, scalability and efficiency of their operations. Realizing these benefits will require more than simply doing a one-to-one transfer of current technology to cloud-based servers.
Barriers to robot deployment falling one by one October 16, 2019 Industrial robots are becoming easier to program, more versatile, more cost-effective, more accurate and more mobile. These changes are lowering barriers to entry, shortening return on investment and making robots a more practical investment.
Hey, machining automation is growing up. Time to mark ‘2.’ October 16, 2019 The second level of machining automation is here. It may not be at every shop or factory yet, but it’s coming.
