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SME Home Media Smart Manufacturing Magazine March 2018

Smart Manufacturing: March 2018

The March 2018 edition of Smart Manufacturing is available as a digital magazine. Links to individual articles are below.
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Trumpf lists 7 key benefits emanating from tech in its just-built smart factory

Trumpf lists 7 key benefits emanating from tech in its just-built smart factory

December 12, 2017
The smart factory Trumpf built in this Chicago suburb, in the works since early 2014 and open to the public since September, is just a few months away from running full steam ahead: Smart Manufacturing recently asked its director, Tobias Reuther, to identify the seven key benefits of a smart factory.
Brett Brune
By Brett Brune Editor in Chief, Smart Manufacturing
Rockwell Automation

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).
Ilene Wolff
By Ilene Wolff Contributing Editor, SME Media
Dassault Systems Eric Green

In China, Dassault’s Green details work of innovation labs, acknowledges speedy adoption of robots

February 27, 2018
Eric Green, vice president, user experience and marketing for the DELMIA product brand at Dassault Systèmes, weighs in on what “super fab labs” in Beijing and Moscow might well produce. He also describes how Dassault’s 3D Experience Lab works and identifies the important smart manufacturing trends to watch in China.
Brett Brune
By Brett Brune Editor in Chief, Smart Manufacturing
Michelle Mertens

The IT Director Who Guided Hitachi to “One Common Code Set”—From Norman, OK

October 17, 2017
The 70-acre Hitachi campus in Norman, Okla., where Michelle Mertens serves as IT director for Hitachi computer products employs just 400 people. And while that pales in comparison to the more than 700 people Hitachi employs in Asia, her factory led a worldwide initiative under which Hitachi unified its shop floor systems.
Brett Brune
By Brett Brune Editor in Chief, Smart Manufacturing
Ron Emerson

Honda Details Work With Dassault on Planning Structure Capability

October 23, 2017
To improve time to market and productivity at Honda, the Japanese automaker partnered with the French software giant Dassault Systèmes on planning structure, including a new model process development (NMPD) project, Ron Emerson said here this week at Dassault’s 3DExperience Forum North America event.
Brett Brune
By Brett Brune Editor in Chief, Smart Manufacturing
Huawei Technologies’ He Fred

Huawei Urging Suppliers to Use Cloud Technology to Match Its New Quality Standards

November 7, 2017
With user costs rising and automation still not at the optimum level in China, the best option for pulling small and medium enterprises along on the smart manufacturing journey is cloud technology, Huawei Technologies’ He Fred said here today at a conference titled Manufacturing in the Age of Experience.
Brett Brune
By Brett Brune Editor in Chief, Smart Manufacturing
Adam Hehr, a Fabrisonic research engineer

A 3D Printing Startup Grows Up

October 30, 2017
Fabrisonic, Now 6 Years Old, Moves to Develop New Processes, Materials
Bill Koenig
By Bill Koenig Senior Editor, SME Media
Jay Flores stem ambassador Rockwell automation

Narrowing the Skills Gap

February 15, 2018
Technological gains, young ambassadors, apprenticeships help. But manufacturers’ training investment remains a problem.
By Karen Haywood Queen Contributing Editor, SME Media
creaform reverse engineering

Metrology helps manufacturers repeat good parts of the past

February 20, 2017
Scanning metrology providers respond to varied needs; software improves to help engineers with scan data
Bruce Morey
By Bruce Morey Senior Technical Editor, SME Media
Jim Gilbert

SPECIAL REPORT: Sensors’ Meteoric Rise

February 20, 2018
The devices quickly become less costly, sophisticated and independent, gaining wider influence.
By Karen Haywood Queen Contributing Editor, SME Media

Up Front

Tech Front

  • AI software firm Embodied Intelligence

    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.
    By Suzy Marzano - Contributing Editor, Smart Manufacturing Magazine

Guest Columns

  • lee lane
    Expert Opinion

    What defense firms can do to ensure industrial security

    December 19, 2017
    Defense systems are, by design, built to defend against threats. Today, however, manufacturers of these systems are focusing on an entirely new kind of threat: security breaches targeting their automation systems.
    By Lee Lane - Chief Product Security Officer, Rockwell Automation
  • Conrad Leiva
    Smart Manufacturing

    Three perspectives converge on smart manufacturing

    February 27, 2018
    Manufacturers continue to be bombarded with an onslaught of technology terms, as well as different ideas on where to begin and how to proceed. This confusion has slowed the adoption of new technology. Yet a big opportunity for a huge increase in efficiency awaits.
    By Conrad Leiva - VP Product Strategy and Alliances, iBASEt
  • Vinay Nathan

    Thanks to the IoT, dog days of low-value data are over

    January 10, 2018
    For many years, the knowledge economy and traditional industries like manufacturing appeared to be on parallel tracks. Now those tracks are converging.
    By Vinay Nathan - Co-founder and CEO, Altizon
  • Expert Opinion

    Removing mental roadblocks to improving operations

    January 30, 2018
    It’s a familiar scenario at the factory. Quality issues have reared their ugly heads, requiring rework, causing backorders, delaying shipments, and driving tense daily customer calls. Meanwhile, the team works to address production issues using a mix of day-old post-mortem reports, shop-floor observations captured on notepads, and other operational data summarized on spreadsheets and sticky notes.
    By Ed Potoczak - Board member, Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association (MESA) Americas, Director of Industry Relations, IQMS
  • Nick Pinkston
    Smart Manufacturing

    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.
    By Nick Pinkston - CEO, Plethora
  • Miika Mäkitalo
    Smart Manufacturing

    Updated standard encourages proactive weighing of hazards

    February 27, 2018
    When the new ISO 9001:2015 certification standard was announced in late 2015, it made waves in manufacturing due to its heavy emphasis on risk management. In our experience, in helping companies become ISO 9001:2015 certified, we’ve seen first hand how the value of embracing a risk-averse culture and the other core aspects of ISO 9001:2015 extends to all aspects of operations.
    By Miika Mäkitalo - CEO, M-Files
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