The adoption of smart manufacturing processes reminds Bob Willig of his “lean manufacturing journey, years ago,” he said.
NASA landed another rover on Mars in February, thanks in part to the work and leadership of Adam Steltzner. Smart Manufacturing interviewed him shortly thereafter—just as he got off the phone with U.S. President Joe Biden.
A new partnership between Impossible Objects and Ricoh 3D will make strong and lightweight printed composite parts available to Ricoh 3D’s customers in Europe for the first time.
When designers at Siemens started using virtual reality (VR) to quickly evaluate early-stage ideas, the usually slow and costly design-and-iteration process went from days and hours to minutes.
Until just a few years ago, if a vehicle maker wanted to test the process for making a newly designed composite part at full scale, the company’s R&D engineers would call one of its Tier Ones and ask to schedule a trial run on the composites fabricator’s machines during off hours.
Before harmonizing new technology onto the manufacturing floor, critical steps include determining the business problems to be solved and securing buy-in from all stakeholders, industry leaders said recently during an AeroDef conference panel talk on manufacturing production harmonization.
A fully connected factory floor is the way forward for any manufacturer seeking to fully realize the Industry 4.0 vision.
LK Metrology is supplying 3D articulating arm metrology systems with the launch of a range of 24 portable measuring arms called “FREEDOM”.
Manufacturers who have deployed the digital or smart factory have put down their pencils, found new uses for their clipboards and closed their spreadsheet programs in favor of using real-time data gleaned from condition monitoring of their machinery.
Information technology and operations technology are unlikely candidates for a successful marriage. But to ensure that manufacturers thrive in the digital age, OT and IT must find ways to work together—or to at least, as on Tinder, swipe right to indicate interest.
