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.
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.
Crossing the digital divide key to improving labor productivity May 18, 2020 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.
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.
Experts: Increased Automation Critical to Meeting Aircraft Demand October 5, 2020 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.
Welding With Laser September 24, 2020 As more original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and job shops “warm up” to the idea of laser welding, many have turned their attention to four specific technologies.