While the manufacturing sector generates large amounts of data, relatively few companies have fully harnessed that data to improve operational efficiencies.
Improvements in manufacturing management software, robotics, additive manufacturing and thermal controls are making small batch sizes more cost effective—even for smaller shops. Manufacturing plants are able to reduce inventory, improve throughput and reduce demands on human operators.
The National Safety Council says it is highly alarmed to see that the mortality numbers for COVID-19 already have surpassed the total annual number of preventable, accidental deaths in 2018, the most recent year of final data—and it is only August. At this pace, COVID-19 likely will be the third leading cause of death in 2020, behind only heart disease and cancer.
Ford Motor Co. is leasing four-legged robots from Boston Dynamics as part of a program to reduce cost and boost efficiency.
Manufacturing technology is constantly changing, both in terms of the types of products produced and the ways those products are made. As we ease into 2021, here are some interesting trends I’ve heard about.
In 2020, most manufacturers focused on mitigating the impact of COVID-19, but mitigation is too little too late. Many companies learned that lesson after seeing how COVID-19 outbreaks affected either their own facilities or other manufacturing firms.
2020 was certainly an unusual year—for SME, for our industry, and for the world. There is no question that these unusual times will carry over into 2021. Unusual does not necessarily mean bad; it just means different. Often hidden within those differences are opportunities.
Kyocera Corp. said it will begin construction of a new research and development center in January 2021 at its Kokubu campus in Kirishima City, Kagoshima, Japan.
Marposs said its Artis CTM Tool and Process Monitoring System has played a role in a 2020 Henry Ford Technology Award (HFTA) winning program focused on Torque Monitoring of Gear Machining Processes.
While FABTECH 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, plans are underway to bring FABTECH 2021 to Chicago in 2021. That means North America’s largest metal forming, fabricating, welding and finishing event will be heading to McCormick Place Sept. 13-16, 2021.
