Adopting AM to Drive Organizational Value September 2, 2020 John Deere’s Eric Johnson discusses the company’s additive manufacturing journey—with an eye toward helping small and medium businesses get going in AM. Learn about the early days of getting one of the first AM parts, as well as unrealistic expectations of the technology and how John Deere is creating value with the technology today. Finally, Johnson provides tips on unlocking the value of AM for your business in five key applications.
Digital Twin and the Smart Enterprise August 25, 2020 Bruce Morey, Senior Technical Editor for Manufacturing Engineering Magazine in this podcast engages in a wide ranging discussion on Digital Twin technology with Ron Beck, Marketing Strategy Director for Aspen Technology, Inc.
The Importance Of Being Able To Pivot August 17, 2020 Crean Inc. President James Crean discusses the post-pandemic future of manufacturing. His firm has been helping companies implement smart manufacturing tech so they can be more flexible and able to pivot, whenever necessary. Supply chains need to be brought back to the U.S., in part because of mass customization and “Amazon-time” demands, he says. He also prescribes ways for smaller companies to take advantage of demand shifts in the marketplace.
The Intersection of Manufacturing & Cloud August 14, 2020 In this podcast, Bruce Morey, Senior Technical Editor for Manufacturing Engineering magazine host Tom Jones and Isaiah Weiner, senior managers for Amazon’s Cloud Services to Simulation & High Performance Computing and its role as one of the enablers that the Cloud provides for discrete manufacturing.
Creating Operational Excellence with Incentive Pay August 12, 2020 In this podcast, Bruce Morey, Senior Technical Editor for Manufacturing Engineering Magazine discusses with Vince Bovino, of the Bovino Consulting Group how four basic principles around incentive pay can improve an organization’s performance and profitability.
The Digital Transformation of Manufacturing July 29, 2020 Digital transformation has been a major topic for manufacturers, but what exactly is it, and how can manufacturers use it to their advantage? In this episode, Alan Rooks, Editor in Chief of Manufacturing Engineering Magazine talks with Mo Abuali, Ph.D., Managing Partner at IoTco, about what Industry 4.0, IIoT, AI, and machine learning mean to the North American manufacturing industry; how manufacturers can create value from these tools; use cases that manufacturers should focus on; and the first steps manufacturers should take in order to get started in their own digital transformation.
Targeting the Skills Gap in Forming and Fabricating July 24, 2020 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.
The Growing Role of Automation in Finishing Operations July 15, 2020 Finishing operations have traditionally been manual, but automation and robotics are making major inroads in this key manufacturing process. In this podcast, Alan Rooks, Editor in Chief of Manufacturing Engineering magazine talks with Normand Stoycheff, Business Development Manager for AV&R, and Giovanni Bevilacqua, Business Development Manager also with AV&R about emerging trends in automation/robotics; the main reasons allowing robotics to evolve from traditional pick-and-drop usage to more elaborate processes; how robots help the surface finishing process throughout the industry; and how surface finishing operations are developing the capability to inspect and repair.
Fusion OEM Embraces Cobots, Invests In Future Expert Machinists July 6, 2020 Craig Zoberis and Davin Erickson detail how Fusion OEM discovered and implemented collaborative robots, or cobots. The company is now investing in future expert machinists by using cobots—and making headway in closing the manufacturing industry skills gap. They explain the phases of training for cobots, as well as how cobots “talk” with other machines—and how machines perform “handshakes” (and are therefore envied by humans who today are struggling with social distancing).
The Role of Abrasives in Automotive Body Shops July 1, 2020 Auto collisions have long been a fact of life but taking care of the damage has become a more complicated task for auto body shops in recent years. In this episode, Alan Rooks, Editor in Chief of Manufacturing Engineering magazine, talks with Shawn Moody, owner of Moody’s Collision Shops, based in Gorham, Maine, about how automotive products have evolved over the past four decades; how abrasive products have evolved during that same time; what are the costs and benefits of using higher-end abrasives; and the types of new equipment body shops need to purchase to keep up with new technology.