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April 2020

The April 2020 edition of Smart Manufacturing is now available as a digital magazine. Links to individual articles are below.
John Wilczynski, executive director of America Makes, says the institute recognizes that it must play a coordination role in standards discussions.

America Makes reaches significant milestone

March 18, 2020
America Makes, the public-private partnership that the Obama administration set up to foster research and innovation in additive manufacturing, achieved a significant milestone late last year: an online portal to track gaps in additive manufacturing (AM) standards.
By Karen Haywood Queen Contributing Editor, SME Media
Ahmed Busnaina of Northeastern University and the NSF’s Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center for High-rate Nanomanufacturing took 10 years to develop a nanoscale printing system for making sensors.

Manufacturers in medical space cottoning to the idea of flexible sensors

March 18, 2020
There’s a bit of Rob Podoloff in every Dr. Scholl’s Custom Fit Kiosk for foot orthotics: The chief technology officer at Tekscan Inc. is a pioneer in flexible force-sensing resistors (FSRs).
Ilene Wolff
By Ilene Wolff Contributing Editor, SME Media
CESMII CEO John Dyck, Rep. Lou Correa (D-Calif.) and UCLA’s Gene Block and Jim Davis met in Correa’s office in Washington immediately  after a Feb. 26 congressional briefing.

CESMII briefs U.S. leaders

March 24, 2020
U.S. manufacturing in general, and small- and medium-sized manufacturers in particular, are in danger of being left behind as Europe and Asia move faster toward Industry 4.0, John Dyck, CEO of the Clean Energy Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CESMII), told congressional staff, federal agency staff in a February briefing.
By Karen Haywood Queen Contributing Editor, SME Media
Delta now has predictive analytics/maintenance program for its engines and airframes. Above, maintenance technicians rig a door.

Measuring the right data, and context, to ditch costly unplanned maintenance

March 17, 2020
Until 2014, Delta Airlines often had little warning before an airplane airframe experienced a maintenance issue requiring additional ground time, resulting in delayed or canceled flights.
By Karen Haywood Queen Contributing Editor, SME Media
Karim Lakhani, professor of business administration at Harvard Business School.

At Automate show, blockchain described as ‘World Wide Ledger’

March 18, 2020
Blockchain, the distributed, encrypted, tamper-evident ledger platform that gave rise to Bitcoin, has birthed a new, foundational market concept to execute business transactions, Karim Lakhani, professor of business administration at Harvard Business School, said as he led a panel talk on blockchain tech for supply chains at Automate 2019.
Brett Brune
By Brett Brune Editor in Chief, Smart Manufacturing
30 leaders transforming manufacturing

30 leaders transforming manufacturing

March 25, 2020
As manufacturing undergoes the revolutionary changes of the Digital Age, the people with the keenest leadership skills have taken up the charge to modernize the industry so that it leverages the cloud and Big Data and is connected and smart.
Ilene Wolff
By Ilene Wolff Contributing Editor, SME Media

Upfront

  • PRESS RELEASES

    AIM MRO Acquires Advanced Air West Palm Beach

    PRESS RELEASE: AIM MRO March 11, 2026
    AIM MRO Holdings, LLC (“AIM MRO” or the “Company”), a leading provider of highly engineered consumable repair products and materials used primarily in the aerospace aftermarket, today announced that it has acquired Advanced Air West Palm Beach, Inc. (“AA Bushings”), a provider of replacement bushings, sleeves and fasteners for landing gear applications in the aerospace and defense aftermarket.
  • GOVERNMENT AND ECONOMICS

    States Sue for Tariff Refunds

    Michael McConnell March 11, 2026
    Attorneys general in 24 states have filed a lawsuit asking the government to reimburse businesses for the money they’ve already paid in import taxes as well as blocking new levies from going into effect.
  • SMART MANUFACTURING

    Smart Thinking: Resiliency Is the New Advantage

    Amy Bryson March 11, 2026
    Volatility is the new norm for manufacturers. Workforce instability, supply chain vulnerability and cost fluctuations are daily challenges. New research from Rockwell Automation takes a look at how leading OEMs are forced to adapt operations to perform more consistently when conditions are unpredictable.

AM Update

  • PRESS RELEASES

    AIM MRO Acquires Advanced Air West Palm Beach

    PRESS RELEASE: AIM MRO March 11, 2026
    AIM MRO Holdings, LLC (“AIM MRO” or the “Company”), a leading provider of highly engineered consumable repair products and materials used primarily in the aerospace aftermarket, today announced that it has acquired Advanced Air West Palm Beach, Inc. (“AA Bushings”), a provider of replacement bushings, sleeves and fasteners for landing gear applications in the aerospace and defense aftermarket.
  • GOVERNMENT AND ECONOMICS

    States Sue for Tariff Refunds

    Michael McConnell March 11, 2026
    Attorneys general in 24 states have filed a lawsuit asking the government to reimburse businesses for the money they’ve already paid in import taxes as well as blocking new levies from going into effect.
  • SMART MANUFACTURING

    Smart Thinking: Resiliency Is the New Advantage

    Amy Bryson March 11, 2026
    Volatility is the new norm for manufacturers. Workforce instability, supply chain vulnerability and cost fluctuations are daily challenges. New research from Rockwell Automation takes a look at how leading OEMs are forced to adapt operations to perform more consistently when conditions are unpredictable.

Passports to Innovation

  • PRESS RELEASES

    AIM MRO Acquires Advanced Air West Palm Beach

    PRESS RELEASE: AIM MRO March 11, 2026
    AIM MRO Holdings, LLC (“AIM MRO” or the “Company”), a leading provider of highly engineered consumable repair products and materials used primarily in the aerospace aftermarket, today announced that it has acquired Advanced Air West Palm Beach, Inc. (“AA Bushings”), a provider of replacement bushings, sleeves and fasteners for landing gear applications in the aerospace and defense aftermarket.
  • GOVERNMENT AND ECONOMICS

    States Sue for Tariff Refunds

    Michael McConnell March 11, 2026
    Attorneys general in 24 states have filed a lawsuit asking the government to reimburse businesses for the money they’ve already paid in import taxes as well as blocking new levies from going into effect.
  • SMART MANUFACTURING

    Smart Thinking: Resiliency Is the New Advantage

    Amy Bryson March 11, 2026
    Volatility is the new norm for manufacturers. Workforce instability, supply chain vulnerability and cost fluctuations are daily challenges. New research from Rockwell Automation takes a look at how leading OEMs are forced to adapt operations to perform more consistently when conditions are unpredictable.

Field Intelligence

  • PRESS RELEASES

    AIM MRO Acquires Advanced Air West Palm Beach

    PRESS RELEASE: AIM MRO March 11, 2026
    AIM MRO Holdings, LLC (“AIM MRO” or the “Company”), a leading provider of highly engineered consumable repair products and materials used primarily in the aerospace aftermarket, today announced that it has acquired Advanced Air West Palm Beach, Inc. (“AA Bushings”), a provider of replacement bushings, sleeves and fasteners for landing gear applications in the aerospace and defense aftermarket.
  • GOVERNMENT AND ECONOMICS

    States Sue for Tariff Refunds

    Michael McConnell March 11, 2026
    Attorneys general in 24 states have filed a lawsuit asking the government to reimburse businesses for the money they’ve already paid in import taxes as well as blocking new levies from going into effect.
  • SMART MANUFACTURING

    Smart Thinking: Resiliency Is the New Advantage

    Amy Bryson March 11, 2026
    Volatility is the new norm for manufacturers. Workforce instability, supply chain vulnerability and cost fluctuations are daily challenges. New research from Rockwell Automation takes a look at how leading OEMs are forced to adapt operations to perform more consistently when conditions are unpredictable.