After petroleum prices collapsed in the mid-2010s, shale oil and gas producers responded to the down-swing by borrowing techniques and technology from the energy sector’s offshore well operations, manufacturing, and even the medical industry to increase efficiency.
On June 22-23, SME hosted a Smart Manufacturing Working Group meeting at Texas A&M University (College Station, TX) followed by an international workshop on Smart Manufacturing for the Factory of the Future.
In the manufacturing industry, the importance of metrology, or the science of measurement, is often underestimated. However, inspection is critical for ensuring products work and operate safely.
The focus on digitalization in design and machining has highlighted the importance and advantages of more sophisticated digital tool management (DTM) systems. While this has generated a great degree of differentiation, and some confusion regarding a generally accepted system definition, it has resulted in the evolution of objectives and capabilities that are both more comprehensive and more customer-centric.
What does a submarine operating underwater have in common with a metal stent propping open a human artery? More than you’d think initially.
Industry 4.0 is often referred to as smart manufacturing, where technology enables interconnectivity for machines and manufacturing software and systems. It also provides “Big Data,” increased visibility and remote access to manufacturing assets.
In a perfect CNC world, the first part is always a good one. There’s no need for extra blanks or barstock. Setup times are only as long as is needed to swap out a few tools and load a new program. There’s never a crash, never the need to reprogram an inefficient bit of code. The operator just pushes the green button and out pops a finished workpiece minutes or hours later.
For today’s industrial cutting tool manufacturers there is a continuous and increasing demand for faster cycle times, better asset utilization, tighter tolerances and improved quality. Running a successful manufacturing facility takes more than acquiring the latest state- of-the-art equipment and the most advanced grinding technology.
A portentous encounter six years ago propelled Expert Teleportation founder to a place where he’s (almost) ready to pursue the remote expert market in the U.S.
The combination of metrology hardware, adaptive CAM software and connectivity to plant-wide systems is making additive hybrid machine tool applications ever more practical on the shop floor.
