The $150 million “factory of the future” that the Swiss innovator ABB announced a year ago is becoming reality in this enormous city’s Pudong New Area.
Manufacturers of all sizes see an uptick in productivity after adding a factory within a factory via an automated machining cell. The cells are small-scale, clearly defined production units, often for a family of similar parts or a product, and they typically include a robotic arm and one or more machine tools.
As I walked the floor this spring at North America’s largest trade show for automation technologies, Industry 4.0 was on everybody’s lips. One of the more complex of our industrial revolutions, Industry 4.0 has been about the Internet of Things: digitizing and connecting things.
Put the paper and pencil away. Hybrid data management and analysis systems-where users combine paper tracking with computer processing-are no longer meeting the needs of manufacturers for speed, accuracy, traceability and compliance with regulations.
Wyoming Completion had a shock when it began machining parts in an automated machining cell. It was a good shock: While the company hoped for a 25-35% boost in production, it experienced 400% improvement.
The second level of machining automation is here. It may not be at every shop or factory yet, but it’s coming.
Cutting tool and tooling system specialist Sandvik Coromant is adding round geometry (-RM) inserts to its program of CoroCut® QD parting-off and grooving tools.
Industrial robots are becoming easier to program, more versatile, more cost-effective, more accurate and more mobile. These changes are lowering barriers to entry, shortening return on investment and making robots a more practical investment.
Cloud technology presents manufacturers with opportunities to improve the flexibility, scalability and efficiency of their operations. Realizing these benefits will require more than simply doing a one-to-one transfer of current technology to cloud-based servers.
CGTech, a developer of verification and simulation software technology for the manufacturing industry, has appointed Mark Forth as Global Business Development Manager. Forth joined CGTech’s corporate headquarters in Irvine, Calif. on Oct. 1.
