To Each His Own: Batch Size 1 Arrives March 30, 2018 New systems, software and processes are replacing so-called islands of automation with seamless, automated manufacturing lines that boost overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) from 30 to 80% or more. Like a chess master, these systems think multiple moves ahead on the factory floor to ensure continuing production when circumstances change.
Berkeley lab hopes to birth teachable robotic systems February 27, 2018 A team of researchers from UC Berkeley, led by Pieter Abbeel, is working on the creation of smart robots that are teachable and can learn new skills without pre-programming. Abbeel and his team also formed a startup called Embodied Intelligence with the aim of developing artificial intelligence (AI) software to enable robots to learn from humans to perform complex tasks.
Good Times in Thermoplastic Composites March 30, 2018 Thermoplastic composites are gaining traction in manufacturing applications, offering benefits like lighter weight, faster production times, longer shelf life and easier shipping compared with metals or other composites.
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).
Siemens Conference Focuses on Teamwork and Digital Twins June 29, 2018 Visitors to the Valley of the Sun were recently treated to a dizzying display of software technology at Arizona’s Phoenix Convention Center. From June 4-7, the Siemens PLM Connection—Americas 2018 user conference hosted thousands of visitors from hundreds of manufacturing companies.
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.
To do: Get faster, cheaper, more flexible & less wasteful May 15, 2017 Additive manufacturing firms are focused intently on speeding up the 3D printing process, radically expanding the development of printing materials, printing larger parts, wasting less material, reducing the cost of capital equipment overall and addressing issues that will lead to the move from prototyping to rapid manufacturing.
VIDEO: A Look Inside B&R, as Its Story Is About to Take a Turn May 8, 2017 Summary of report from EGGELSBERG, Austria—Bernecker + Rainer Industrie-Elektronik GmbH, the 3,000-person firm that ABB recently said it would buy, shows Smart Manufacturing how it puts together automation PCs, or APCs, in a batch-size-one mode.
Raising the Stakes with High-Speed Aerospace CNCs February 6, 2017 In the aerospace world, as in all sectors of manufacturing, the race is on for faster, more automated and connected machining operations. Aerospace builders have steadily pushed for more automotive-like automation over the past several years in order to improve productivity and more effectively handle large order backlogs in commercial aviation.
Japanese, German Innovators Broaden Work That Stars ‘Digital Companion’ March 20, 2017 In preparation for mass customization, for starters, Japanese and German tech research officials today committed to expanding their joint work to establish a “social-technical or maybe ‘cyber-social’ environment where ‘digital companions’ and production lines communicate with humans” working in manufacturing, Andreas Dengel said in an interview with Smart Manufacturing magazine here at the CeBIT (Centrum der Büroautomation und Informationstechnologie und Telekommunikation) fair.
