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A conversation between Smart Manufacturing Editor in Chief Brett Brune and Sridhar Kota, professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan and Executive Director of MForesight. 

Additive manufacturing (AM) refers to processes used to make a three-dimension object layer-by-layer. The shape of each layer can be dynamically controlled by computer-aided design (CAD).

Within manufacturing, a shift has begun to extend big data analytics and condition monitoring beyond the factory door to both ends of the supply chain—to customers, other end users and to second-and third-tier suppliers.

The International Federation of Robotics (IFR) in 2016 showed unit sales figures in 2015 up 15% on the year before, reaching an all-time high of 253,748. Since 2010, technical improvements in robots and automation have turbocharged investment, according to the report.

Universal Robots (UR, Odense, Denmark) was one of the pioneers of today’s modern field of collaborative robots (cobots) with the launch of the UR5 robot in 2008, however the company didn’t rest on its laurels at IMTS 2018 in Chicago.

Throughout 2018, SME has published a series of Smart Manufacturing Industry Reports, with the third being released at IMTS this month. The reports, available at sme.org/reports, detail the necessity and advantages of smart manufacturing, the challenges to implementing digital solutions, and, finally, keys to implementing the technologies and tools.

What is smart manufacturing? Essentially, smart manufacturing is the practice of making information about manufacturing processes available when and where it is needed, in the form it is needed, so that smart decisions can be made about the course of critical business operations.

The US Department of Defense (DoD) is keen on exploring the implementation of additive equipment in the battlefield and shipboard for quick-turn part fabrication.

Automotive manufacturers and their Tier One suppliers spend endless engineering hours developing the PAB (passenger airbag) system, from the airbag and its propellant to the construction of the materials used in the composite instrument panel.

When considering a new robotic automation system, one of the biggest concerns can be the weight of the initial costs. While such a large capital expense may be hard to swallow at first, it’s industry-proven that manufacturers see an average ROI of 24 months from robots.