To assist manufacturers on their Industry 4.0 journey, global engineering technologies company Renishaw has partnered with the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology. Renishaw provided the center with industrial metrology and additive manufacturing equipment to help companies adopt new manufacturing strategies and accelerate implementation of new digital technologies.
Hexagon is providing mold and die shops using its CAM software WORKNC with immediate access to its model preparation software. This allows integration of production workflows from any CAD model format to CAM so shops can machine parts more efficiently and avoid costly errors.
When Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute needed clear plastic to make face shields for the coronavirus pandemic, conventional suppliers were unable to provide it. “We are now one of the largest purchasers of document covers in the country,” Robert Hull, acting VP for research at Rensselaer, said during a webinar that SME and CESMII – the Smart Manufacturing Institute hosted last week.
This is the first in a series of articles that will cover the accelerating improvement in manufacturing technology.
Designing new aerospace engines is challenging, but Rolls-Royce Germany turned to data analytics and AI to meet these challenges. The results? Reduced costs and shortened lead times.
The increased use of CT scanning for metal powder bed fusion parts is usually associated with high-value parts and elevated quality requirements. There are increased requests for CT scanning on parts made of engineering-grade polymers like PEEK, PEKK or ULTEM and for fiber-reinforced composites like Nylon 12 CF.
The industry’s fastest growing firms are leveraging new artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions to transform supply chains, transport and logistics. Reliance on paper forms and clashing systems are giving way to improved transparency across the value chain.
At a Tier 1 automotive manufacturer in Mexico, it quickly became clear that AI in the factory was a fantastic solution to help human workers achieve greater levels of success; a human plus machine scenario where AI enhances the capabilities of, rather than replaces, human workers.
AI already helps individual factories improve production, safety, efficiency and other metrics while lowering costs. Marrying AI and cloud technology can supercharge those benefits.
Integrate lasers onto PICs? Use silicon to make PICs? Co-package optics with electronics? This institute is tackling it all.
