Measuring the right data, and context, to ditch costly unplanned maintenance March 17, 2020 Until 2014, Delta Airlines often had little warning before an airplane airframe experienced a maintenance issue requiring additional ground time, resulting in delayed or canceled flights.
Manufacturers in medical space cottoning to the idea of flexible sensors March 18, 2020 There’s a bit of Rob Podoloff in every Dr. Scholl’s Custom Fit Kiosk for foot orthotics: The chief technology officer at Tekscan Inc. is a pioneer in flexible force-sensing resistors (FSRs).
At Automate show, blockchain described as ‘World Wide Ledger’ March 18, 2020 Blockchain, the distributed, encrypted, tamper-evident ledger platform that gave rise to Bitcoin, has birthed a new, foundational market concept to execute business transactions, Karim Lakhani, professor of business administration at Harvard Business School, said as he led a panel talk on blockchain tech for supply chains at Automate 2019.
The beauty of MRPeasy, Cosmetri, Asana and Hubspot March 17, 2020 We use an MRP (material requirements planning) system to track all components of a product ranging from packaging to batch specific ingredients.
Doughnut maker sprinkles traceability over operations March 19, 2020 Smart technology can turn a food and beverage producer into a predictor rather than a reactor. When it comes to safety, today’s connected metal detectors allow immediate and remote access while enabling suppliers to review and compare operational data.
Keep the human element in mind when choosing robots March 19, 2020 As advanced automation and digitization permeate the industrial landscape, tech-savvy companies are striving to create value-added products that foster growth for customers.
What supply chain players are learning from the pandemic March 31, 2020 In the U.S., we are not seeing any specific localized disruption yet, although I’m watching New Jersey where it could be on the cusp. There are a lot of manufacturing facilities there in pharmaceuticals and chemicals, and therefore that’s an area I think we should be paying attention to.
How much better off would U.S. be during pandemic with smart, connected manufacturing? March 30, 2020 With automakers turning out ventilators and protective face shields, brewers and distillers bottling hand sanitizer, and garment factories stitching up gowns and masks to fill a yawning gap in personal protective equipment for health care workers, the coronavirus pandemic is shining a million-watt spotlight on the critical role manufacturing plays in society.
Adapting Metal Cutting to Higher Power, Higher-Speed Lasers October 25, 2019 Using lasers to cut metal, especially sheet metal or tubes, continues to show its value. The market is becoming dominated by the newer solid-state fiber laser over its CO2 gas rival. Fiber’s advantages in ease of operation, packaging and efficiency are clear.
American, German, Swedish manufacturers gladly adopt factory-within-factory concept October 16, 2019 Manufacturers of all sizes see an uptick in productivity after adding a factory within a factory via an automated machining cell. The cells are small-scale, clearly defined production units, often for a family of similar parts or a product, and they typically include a robotic arm and one or more machine tools.