Innovative Safety Concept Adds Flexibility to Modular Production March 9, 2017 A dynamic safety concept has been implemented in the Industrie 4.0 demo production plant of the SmartFactoryKL consortium on the basis of an industrial, Ethernet-based communications protocol.
The Year of Living Digitally March 9, 2017 When Kimberley Hagerty became lean transformation manager at Pratt & Whitney’s Hot Section Module Center, she quickly realized that the company, while flush with the most advanced technology needed to make “the world’s most advanced jet propulsion system in the world,” lacked the “most advanced processes and systems that supported the manufacturing of that technology,” she told people attending The Digital Transformation, a smart manufacturing seminar SME held here recently.
Build-to-Stock or Build-to-Order? March 1, 2017 Manufacturing companies are responsible for creating products to deliver to their customers. Of course, a production system needs to be in place to understand how much product needs to be made.
Lasers and Robots: Marriage of Convenience March 1, 2017 As both robots and lasers improve their capabilities, they prove to be even better partners in more applications
Metrology helps manufacturers repeat good parts of the past February 20, 2017 Scanning metrology providers respond to varied needs; software improves to help engineers with scan data
Conductive Thermoplastics for 3D Printing February 9, 2017 As inventive and imaginative as 3D printer technology is, so are the materials that R&D labs have come up with to build parts, including conductive thermoplastics.
Materials Choices Test Innovative Cutting Solutions February 8, 2017 With advances in material sciences and the ability to design composite parts with new virtual software technology, cutting tool manufacturers are being challenged to continually evolve and develop solutions for these versatile materials.
New Graphene Synthesized for Industrial Uses February 7, 2017 Materials researcher Metalysis Ltd. (South Yorkshire, UK) recently announced that it has developed a new synthesized graphene material that holds potential for future industrial production. Metalysis, which is focused on commercializing its proprietary electrochemical metal-powder manufacturing technology, said its R&D successfully produced graphene using the company’s own process.
Pilot Composites Workshop Wows Students February 7, 2017 Carbon fiber is a magical material. That or similar comments were heard over and over from Roosevelt High School (Seattle) students attending a Composites 101 Workshop held at the National Resource Center for Materials Technology Education (MatEdU), a National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education (ATE)-sponsored program at Edmonds Community College (Lynnwood, WA).
Raising the Stakes with High-Speed Aerospace CNCs February 6, 2017 In the aerospace world, as in all sectors of manufacturing, the race is on for faster, more automated and connected machining operations. Aerospace builders have steadily pushed for more automotive-like automation over the past several years in order to improve productivity and more effectively handle large order backlogs in commercial aviation.