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I met a man recently. He had worked at a small manufacturing company for 20 plus years and was the sole technician responsible for the assembly of his company’s most complex product. After years of dedication to the company, he was set to retire.

The economic challenges brought forth by COVID-19 are causing a more intense focus in manufacturing on the need for the kind of alacrity achieved with digital tools and the kind of digital savvy achieved with strong partnerships.

Machining, the military and magnificent beaches work well together in Okaloosa County, Florida. Famous sugar-white sands are frosting on the cake when companies examine the business-friendly climate, educational opportunities and quality of life in Okaloosa County.

Managing sensor performance has become a must-have for manufacturers. The advent and rapid adoption of IoT technology, enabling smart manufacturing systems, has created a two-fold scenario. Intelligent systems at once provide for near-real-time systems monitoring and create a new prediction problem.

The impact of COVID-19 has changed the way we conduct business, and now, more than ever, illuminates the need for manufacturers to assess their processes and implement smart manufacturing technology.

Listen to this Smart Manufacturing magazine article: Pandemic makes case for more automation, robotics. Outbreak poised to prompt changes in the way manufacturers use automation.

Robotics have come a long way since the first industrial robot was installed at General Motors. Denise Ebenhoech, Regional Head of Advanced Robotics Applications at KUKA Robotics, sits down with Chris Mahar, Associate Editor, to discuss recent developments within mobile robots. From cleans rooms to job shops to moving entire airplane assemblies, autonomous mobile robots are helping manufacturers succeed in today’s advanced manufacturing landscape.

As in other industries, U.S. forming and fabricating companies are experiencing a critical shortage of skilled labor. In this SME Media podcast, Alan Rooks, Editor in Chief of Manufacturing Engineering magazine, talks with Robert Tessier, National Director of Advanced Fabrication Technologies for Airgas about the skills gap in the forming and fabricating industry; changes needed in the education system to fill the need for skilled labor; how automation factors into efforts to reduce the skills gap; and efforts at Airgas to develop workers for manufacturing operations, including a special program for military veterans.

Finishing operations have traditionally been manual, but automation and robotics are making major inroads in this key manufacturing process. In this podcast, Alan Rooks, Editor in Chief of Manufacturing Engineering magazine talks with Normand Stoycheff, Business Development Manager for AV&R, and Giovanni Bevilacqua, Business Development Manager also with AV&R about emerging trends in automation/robotics; the main reasons allowing robotics to evolve from traditional pick-and-drop usage to more elaborate processes; how robots help the surface finishing process throughout the industry; and how surface finishing operations are developing the capability to inspect and repair.

A whole new layer of insight can be harvested inside factories with the data you already have, today. Companies are sometimes holding back from leveraging sensors and tools like AI and deep data analysis that would allow for it because of cultural gaps between, for example, IT and OT. Ownership issues can also be a problem if some are, say, building devices vs operating devices. Paul Boris, EVP at Praemo fights against using red herrings like security concerns inside the same factory to continue down the same old paths that limit performance. He understands how seductive risk avoidance can be. And he speaks frankly about this and other issues with Brett Brune, editor in chief of Smart Manufacturing magazine.