Smart Manufacturing: November 2019
The November 2019 edition of Smart Manufacturing is now available as a digital magazine. Links to individual articles are below.
Barriers to robot deployment falling one by one
October 16, 2019
Industrial robots are becoming easier to program, more versatile, more cost-effective, more accurate and more mobile. These changes are lowering barriers to entry, shortening return on investment and making robots a more practical investment.
IoT + analytics = cool new stuff to sell
October 16, 2019
Put the paper and pencil away. Hybrid data management and analysis systems-where users combine paper tracking with computer processing-are no longer meeting the needs of manufacturers for speed, accuracy, traceability and compliance with regulations.
ABB’s ‘factory of the future’ in China to demo safety, sustainability
October 16, 2019
The $150 million “factory of the future” that the Swiss innovator ABB announced a year ago is becoming reality in this enormous city’s Pudong New Area.
By Brett Brune
Editor in Chief,
Smart Manufacturing
American, German, Swedish manufacturers gladly adopt factory-within-factory concept
October 16, 2019
Manufacturers of all sizes see an uptick in productivity after adding a factory within a factory via an automated machining cell. The cells are small-scale, clearly defined production units, often for a family of similar parts or a product, and they typically include a robotic arm and one or more machine tools.
By Ilene Wolff
Contributing Editor,
SME Media
Traditional IT firms, traditional OT firms try newfangled ties
October 16, 2019
Information technology and operations technology are unlikely candidates for a successful marriage. But to ensure that manufacturers thrive in the digital age, OT and IT must find ways to work together—or to at least, as on Tinder, swipe right to indicate interest.
Contextualized insights gained from data save precious time, material
October 16, 2019
Manufacturers who have deployed the digital or smart factory have put down their pencils, found new uses for their clipboards and closed their spreadsheet programs in favor of using real-time data gleaned from condition monitoring of their machinery.
By Ilene Wolff
Contributing Editor,
SME Media
Upfront
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Smart ManufacturingFactory-within-factory idea delivers productivity gains
October 16, 2019Wyoming Completion had a shock when it began machining parts in an automated machining cell. It was a good shock: While the company hoped for a 25-35% boost in production, it experienced 400% improvement.
Collective Intelligence
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Smart Manufacturing
Blockchain can power move to monetize Big Data, experts say
October 16, 2019Blockchain can help power the process to monetize Big Data and will play a role in the FDA’s regulations to limit pharmaceutical counterfeiting by increasing security of the drug supply chain, said experts Smart Manufacturing gathered at Westec 2019 for an exclusive blockchain-tech roundtable
Field Intelligence
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Smart Manufacturing
Going digital helped mailbox maker supersize its product
October 16, 2019Cloud technology presents manufacturers with opportunities to improve the flexibility, scalability and efficiency of their operations. Realizing these benefits will require more than simply doing a one-to-one transfer of current technology to cloud-based servers. -
Smart Manufacturing
Ways to get ready to take part in evolving ecosystems
October 16, 2019I experienced the end of the Third Industrial Revolution as I began my career in manufacturing. Closed government and private networks gave way to an open network called the Internet. -
Smart Manufacturing
Hey, machining automation is growing up. Time to mark ‘2.’
October 16, 2019The second level of machining automation is here. It may not be at every shop or factory yet, but it’s coming. -
Smart Manufacturing
At long last, IoT is breaking down walls between IT, OT
October 16, 2019With an influx of investment in digital factories, the playing field is changing and the ROI for digitizing production is becoming ever more apparent. However, restraints, such as company size and a disconnect between IT and OT, means the road to a successful digital transformation is one very few will be able to do alone. -
Smart Manufacturing
One way to calculate business value with AM
October 16, 2019For years, companies have struggled to understand how additive manufacturing (AM) can add value to their businesses. This makes sense because for a long time, additive tech didn’t meet the threshold for producing industrial-grade parts. -
Smart Manufacturing
Mass customization will only work if we return the power to the people
October 16, 2019As I walked the floor this spring at North America’s largest trade show for automation technologies, Industry 4.0 was on everybody’s lips. One of the more complex of our industrial revolutions, Industry 4.0 has been about the Internet of Things: digitizing and connecting things.
