Putting Safety First in Robotic Automation August 31, 2016 New ISO safety specification helps automation developers design safer robots for close encounters on the factory floor
New materials hard to come by for medical device makers October 17, 2017 When it comes to using new materials, medical and dental device makers are ultra-conservative—because they need to clear devices through a thicket of federal regulators.
How to set off on the smart manufacturing journey August 1, 2017 Conrad Leiva, vice president for product strategy and alliance at iBASEt and chair of the smart manufacturing working group at MESA International, speaks with Smart Manufacturing magazine Editor in Chief Brett Brune.
Smart Tools’ Target: Data Analysis, Not Paralysis November 28, 2017 The road to manufacturing success today runs through the mountain of data that tools are generating in metalcutting applications, and most importantly communicating and reacting to in real time on the shop floor.
Use-based maintenance beats alternatives hands down July 18, 2017 Unplanned downtime and production loss due to equipment failure is one of the leading losses for manufacturers. Most shops perform maintenance on a fixed schedule or on failure. This means a machine will be maintained regardless of how often it is used and unexpected breakdowns will stop production.
Mazak iSMART Factory Initiative Spreads to Japan Plant July 13, 2017 Mazak Corp. (Florence, KY) continues its steady advance toward the complete factory digitization of all its manufacturing operations with the recent transformation of its Oguchi, Japan, facility into yet another Mazak iSMART Factory.
Smart Manufacturing Celebration Explores ‘Future of Making Things’ May 7, 2018 Autodesk (San Rafael, CA) and Paragon D&E (Grand Rapids, MI) hosted the Smart Manufacturing Celebration, April 26-27, at the newly-expanded Paragon D&E facility in Grand Rapids, MI. Attendees heard from industry experts about disruption factors manufacturers are facing, including in the automotive and aerospace manufacturing sectors, and how manufacturers can not just survive in disruption, but thrive in it.
Survey: Digitization in US Takes Hold But Has a Lot of Room to Grow May 1, 2018 Most of the nearly 400 C-suite manufacturing executives recently surveyed by SME.org and the software firm Plataine on plans for factory digitization expect at least single-digit business growth over the next three years, Plataine’s Ofer Abramsohn said here today, presenting the survey results for the first time at the Smart Manufacturing Experience.
Partnership between motion control, cameras more than stands test of time February 20, 2018 While cameras and motion control have worked in tandem for at least 15 years, their integration has improved because networks have gotten faster, more reliable, and more deterministic (i.e., nothing will interfere with a function that’s a priority).
Agile hardware development can quicken product lifecycle January 16, 2018 In today’s booming software landscape, you see highly dynamic teams quickly iterating to develop and improve their products. Yet while the world’s software creators have learned to “move fast and break things,” hardware developers are still (slowly) moving to adopt a more agile product development methodology.
