When Your Ship Comes in and Needs Sizing Up April 26, 2019 When drilling a well, clearing a forest or excavating a building site, experienced operators count on their toughest equipment to help them get the job done.
Price Downturn Leads Shale Producers to Greater Efficiency November 15, 2018 After petroleum prices collapsed in the mid-2010s, shale oil and gas producers responded to the down-swing by borrowing techniques and technology from the energy sector’s offshore well operations, manufacturing, and even the medical industry to increase efficiency.
READY TO SHARE: MetraLabs Robots Poised to Grease the Skids for Automotive Suppliers in an AI World November 27, 2018 Cofounder Johannes Trabert, who lives a poetic life in the Thuringian Forest, says the future will be focused on ‘the clever share of work’ between humans and robots.
Industry 4.0 and the Smart Shop Floor November 29, 2018 The industrial revolution of today, called Industry 4.0, is driven by the interconnectedness of advanced technology, automation, robotics, and real-time data, also called the Internet of Things (IoT). While these cyber-physical systems can autonomously exchange information to trigger actions and make decentralized decisions, it’s impossible to dismiss the importance of the human element in manufacturing.
EXCLUSIVE REPORT: The Nascent State of Cyber Defense April 26, 2019 Road to maturity involves safeguarding supply chains, treating security with the same urgency as safety, for starters.
Brousell: To survive, think like Merck, Cisco, Lexmark and Dow April 1, 2019 If you look at all the companies that were on the Fortune 500 list in 1990, “a very large percentage of them are not there anymore,” David Brousell, executive director of the Manufacturing Leadership Council, told people attending his talk on “Manufacturing 4.0” at Oracle’s recent Modern Business Experience conference.
A&D Parts Maker Goes OCD on OTD, Thrives With New Tool April 26, 2019 On-time delivery (OTD), a measurement of the level of finish goods or services delivered when promised and in full, is a signal of efficiency that reveals how well operations is doing.
Testing the Metal November 27, 2018 Materials science has opened new possibilities for designers of cars, planes and other products. Metal alloys are now as precisely engineered as they are machined. The result is longer lasting, stronger parts. But with a wider selection of materials comes risk—how can you be sure that one piece of gray metal stock is different than another? Careful warehousing procedures and paperwork only go so far.
Bridge Tool & Die: CNC Turns ‘Feel’ Into High-Precision Carbide Grinding November 28, 2018 Glenn Bridgman describes the difference between his shop’s manual grinders and its newest state-of-the-art CNC ID/OD grinder, a Studer CT960 OD/ID from United Grinding (Miamisburg, OH), as “feel vs. facts.” Bridgman, president of Bridge Tool & Die (Buckley, MI), believes that manual grinding is a somewhat personal operation.
How AM is Changing Inspection in Smart Factories November 1, 2018 In the manufacturing industry, the importance of metrology, or the science of measurement, is often underestimated. However, inspection is critical for ensuring products work and operate safely.