Delta Sigma started thinking about augmented reality (AR) in 2005. By January 2008, the company, which designs and builds custom machinery to automate manufacturing and assembly processes for aircraft production, made its first installation on the F-22 vertical stabilizer.

Tackling the workforce skills gap issue involves dealing with not only experienced employees who have sharp subtractive manufacturing skills but have to be prodded to move into additive manufacturing (AM) but also newbies who still need to hone skills required to harness the promise of emerging technology, Atlas Stamping and Manufacturing CEO Lynda Prigodich-Reed said.

SME’s Smart Manufacturing Hub will be part of IMTS this year. Smart Manufacturing asked past Hub speakers to imagine what manufacturing will look like in 2030. Here are their visions:

Smart factory systems benefit from improved technologies, as well as proven applications.

Advances in CAD/CAM algorithms have improved tool paths, resulting in more speed and efficiency and less stress on both the tool and the objects being cut. Because these new algorithms help tools cut more efficiently and faster, operators save time and the tools last longer.

The latest mobile robots are designed to accomplish tasks in manufacturing plants without requiring major factory modifications. This emerging robot generation also meets workers where they are, functioning more like independent team members as opposed to complicated, difficult-to-use hardware.