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Manufacturers of many stripes can save money just by making better use of data emanating from the factory floor. But for those in aerospace and defense—Airbus Helicopters is a prime example—the potential payoffs are legion.

A strong manufacturing ecosystem that includes manufacturing engineering education is critical to ensuring the future vitality and innovation of manufacturing initiatives in the US. So it was welcome news to learn that the DOD is developing a new manufacturing engineering education (MEE) grant program, authorized by Congress with initial funding of $10 million for fiscal 2017.

Starting with the primitive laminates of the Wright Brothers era, the use of composites in aircraft has evolved over the last century from small amounts on nonstructural components to up to half of some aircraft and use on critical structures, such as wings. A key benefit is reducing weight.

In an effort to make products better, faster and stronger, the manufacturing process has grown significantly more complex in recent years. Technology and automation play much larger roles. The supply chain is longer and more diverse. Measuring processes with an eye on improving performance, finding efficiencies and increasing the bottom line has become all consuming.

With additive manufacturing (AM) as an established part of many companies’ product development and manufacturing processes, there has been a greater understanding of the technology’s technical and business advantages. With that, more users are benefitting from lighter and more durable parts, increased design freedom and on-demand part production.

Unplanned downtime and production loss due to equipment failure is one of the leading losses for manufacturers. Most shops perform maintenance on a fixed schedule or on failure. This means a machine will be maintained regardless of how often it is used and unexpected breakdowns will stop production.

To address the growing opportunities in urbanization and in Asia, Siemens will be setting up a Digitalization Hub in Singapore. At this Hub, Siemens will develop innovations for the Internet of Things (IoT) and Industrie 4.0 in collaboration with its customers in Southeast Asia.

Mazak Corp. (Florence, KY) continues its steady advance toward the complete factory digitization of all its manufacturing operations with the recent transformation of its Oguchi, Japan, facility into yet another Mazak iSMART Factory.

All the hand-wringing around robotics and jobs in the US really needs to stop. It’s astounding that manufacturers here are still fighting this battle.

In an interview with Manufacturing Engineering Editor in Chief Alan Rooks, DIEGO TAMBURINI, senior design and manufacturing industry strategist for Autodesk, details key strategies for remaining competitive and spells out the IIoT opportunity for manufacturers.