Companies are Building a Future in Florida
Thanks in part to its pro-business policies, strong workforce, and trade infrastructure, Florida ranks among the nation’s top 10 states for manufacturing.
Thanks in part to its pro-business policies, strong workforce, and trade infrastructure, Florida ranks among the nation’s top 10 states for manufacturing.
Formlabs, known for its line of desktop stereolithography (SLA) printers, is looking to expand its 3D printing reach with availability of its new Fuse 1 benchtop industrial selective laser sintering (SLS) 3D printer. Under development for nearly seven years, the Fuse 1 marks a notable change for Formlabs as they expand into a new additive manufacturing process.
Manufacturers need to create more production setups as batch sizes get smaller. Skilled labor continues to be hard to hire and keep. Higher levels of automation are needed, not just in material handling but also in fabricating, machining, assembly, and inspection.
In manufacturing, potentially flammable and hazardous chemicals such as acetone and isopropyl alcohol are often stored in 55-gallon or larger drums for dispensing into smaller containers or at the point of use.
Vibratory feeding and conveying equipment has been used in the manufacturing industry for several decades to move fine and coarse materials into mixers, furnaces, production processes or final containers.
The CEO of an artificial intelligence company discusses how AI affects workers and how AI can be deployed well.
Avoiding product defects—and quickly finding and fixing those that occur—is a critical priority for all manufacturers.
Extreme complexity is inherent to jet engines of all sizes, from those on a Boeing 777x to ones that power the smallest drone.
Florida's advanced manufacturing industries are diverse and include sectors producing intermediate and finished products ranging from plastics and micro-electronics to tortillas and motor vehicles.
As in other industries, U.S. forming and fabricating companies are experiencing a critical shortage of skilled labor. In this SME Media podcast, Alan Rooks, Editor in Chief of Manufacturing Engineering magazine, talks with Robert Tessier, National Director of Advanced Fabrication Technologies for Airgas about the skills gap in the forming and fabricating industry; changes needed in the education system to fill the need for skilled labor; how automation factors into efforts to reduce the skills gap; and efforts at Airgas to develop workers for manufacturing operations, including a special program for military veterans.