It is not surprising that the aerospace and defense industry exists at a higher plane of manufacturing. The components and end products being assembled must endure intense forces and pressures, are expected to perform without failure, and even the slightest mistake comes with extreme safety risks.
Before the coronavirus pandemic upended normal life and essentially shut down commercial airliners, the aviation industry had a projected need for 40,000 new aircraft—planes, helicopters, air taxis, and unmanned aerial vehicles—in the next 20 years.
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?
To advance means to move forward or expand. In that case, Advanced Carbide Grinding Inc., Derry, Pa., is certainly true to its name. Since the shop’s start in 1999, continuous growth and a commitment to producing the highest-precision quality parts have driven, and continue to drive its success.
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.
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.
