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The bane of modern engineering is complexity. One promise of artificial intelligence and machine learning is helping engineers to use complex tools and harness vast data sets effectively.

As additive manufacturing (AM) moves from prototypes to mass production, manufacturers are setting their sights on the holy grails—the products and processes that will be game-changers. Many game-changers are already in play.

As with any digital transformation process, the devil is in the details, and there are many potential pitfalls that can derail projects.

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is set to award $10 million in funding this year to the Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute (DMDII) here, UI Labs CEO Caralynn Nowinski Collens, said this morning. UI Labs is DMDII’s parent organization.

Road to maturity involves safeguarding supply chains, treating security with the same urgency as safety, for starters.

Blockchain technology is becoming a key player in modernizing supply chains to enable easy tracking, automate transactions and delivery, and build end-to-end trust, Chandra Narayanaswami, principal research staff member, Member IBM Academy of Technology at IBM Research, told people attending a smart manufacturing session at the MD&M West conference here last week.

So you have finally decided to start your digital transformation. You have seen the benefits around digitizing your operations. By connecting your disparate systems, you can start seeing what is actually happening in your plant and become more efficient. And not just in one plant, but in multiple plants.

Machine vision is proving ideal in helping humans perform tedious but crucial manufacturing tasks. That is why it is poised to grow significantly in the next few years.

The industrial revolution of today, called Industry 4.0, is driven by the interconnectedness of advanced technology, automation, robotics, and real-time data, also called the Internet of Things (IoT). While these cyber-physical systems can autonomously exchange information to trigger actions and make decentralized decisions, it’s impossible to dismiss the importance of the human element in manufacturing.

Glenn Bridgman describes the difference between his shop’s manual grinders and its newest state-of-the-art CNC ID/OD grinder, a Studer CT960 OD/ID from United Grinding (Miamisburg, OH), as “feel vs. facts.” Bridgman, president of Bridge Tool & Die (Buckley, MI), believes that manual grinding is a somewhat personal operation.