How the riches of Industry 4.0 are helping small medical device makers go beyond expectations July 14, 2020 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.
COVID-19 is teaching us just what innovation is possible July 20, 2020 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.
How ‘smart processes’ fit into Industry 4.0 July 21, 2020 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.
The 20 most influential professors in smart manufacturing May 13, 2020 Innovation in smart manufacturing can come in a flash from a lightbulb moment, but those instances are few. More often than not, breakthroughs in technology, such as bioprinting, blockchain, cloud-based manufacturing and real-time production control, happen after years of careful study accompanied by painstaking, methodical work done sometimes in academic settings.
Trust and Truth: How Blockchain is Forming the Foundation of the Next Manufacturing Renaissance February 6, 2020 Amid predictions of global economic slowdowns and several recent PMI readings indicating manufacturing contraction, it becomes easy to see how slow production performance and data inefficiencies throughout the manufacturing supply chain contribute to economic uncertainty and concerns for future business.
Friendlier, Faster Information Collection June 25, 2020 Manufacturers are featuring some of the latest equipment and software for metrology, quality assurance, and collecting information for process control.
For manufacturers and 5G, it’s still ‘early days’ May 14, 2020 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.
Heavy-duty robotic welding cells can be a great first step May 21, 2020 Like many technologies in manufacturing and fabrication today, welding operations have evolved to be more automated, flexible, adaptive, and “smarter” for improved throughput, safety and deposition accuracy.
New Laser Measurement for Cylindrical Components March 26, 2020 Marposs, announced on March 24 the availability of its Aeroel MecLab.X laser micrometer systems. These provide diameter measurements for components such as electric motor shafts, gage or piston pins, hydraulic components or any number of ground or turned parts.
Experts at FABTECH talk VR, AM and, yes, ROI January 24, 2020 Foundry 45 is helping Delta Air Lines strategize on ways to keep maintenance workers safe in the “ingestion zone”—the dangerous environment underneath the airplane where people and equipment are moving around in close proximity to engines.