Shops today must track or measure their manufacturing operations to improve them. This need drives the growing use of MTConnect—an open, royalty-free protocol for extracting data from practically any piece of equipment, including machine tools and other manufacturing systems. The integration of MTConnect is a major undertaking, and can be a bit challenging unless certain preparations are made ahead of time.
An Eaton executive describes the automotive supplier's plans to utilize Industry 4.0.
Specifications alone don’t tell the full story of a machine’s value – discover three key areas to explore when making a machine tool purchase.
Claudia Jarrett, U.S. country manager at automation parts supplier EU Automation, explains why robots are more than affordable for small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs).
With Lantek MES, the entire manufacturing process can be tracked from planning through execution, allowing operators to group parts according to various criteria, such as machines, materials, thicknesses, customer and delivery date.
AM is used in everything from aerospace and automotive to consumer products. But some of the earliest and most significant applications are in healthcare. To this end, the theme of this month’s Manufacturing Engineering is medical machining.
Cobots are an ideal, entry-level robotic device for smaller shops to begin using automation.
When fully integrated with 5G and MEC, manufacturers should be able to accurately track costs using computer vision and launch immersive collaboration and training with the help of augmented reality.
Mayo Clinic’s 3D Anatomic Modeling Laboratory is inventing how to use 3D printing for surgical planning and instruction. People undergoing new, uncommon or complex surgeries at Mayo Clinic may benefit from access to the clinic’s expertise in 3D anatomic models. The models the lab builds also helps with patient and medical education.
Having a plan for maintaining and improving the performance and reliability of every machine on a shop floor is vital to manufacturing operations. Reliable machines make short-notice production runs possible. And the more flexible manufacturers are, the more new customers they’ll attract.