Reducing waste on the shop floor with mobile power April 4, 2018 Speed, safety and efficiency are important to running a successful manufacturing floor. The more efficient workers are on the floor, the quicker products can be finished and sent to their destination. The major opponent to efficiency on the floor is, of course, waste.
Which Technologies Should Come First, Second, Third? March 6, 2018 Analytics solutions. The industrial Internet of Things. Robotics. Automation. Manufacturers looking for tech solutions that will help them control costs and gain a competitive edge have many great options. In fact, deciding what type of technology to invest in and why can seem overwhelming.
Good Times in Thermoplastic Composites March 30, 2018 Thermoplastic composites are gaining traction in manufacturing applications, offering benefits like lighter weight, faster production times, longer shelf life and easier shipping compared with metals or other composites.
To Each His Own: Batch Size 1 Arrives March 30, 2018 New systems, software and processes are replacing so-called islands of automation with seamless, automated manufacturing lines that boost overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) from 30 to 80% or more. Like a chess master, these systems think multiple moves ahead on the factory floor to ensure continuing production when circumstances change.
Vision and Robotics: Happy Together March 30, 2018 The next “dynamic duo” may not involve humans at all. “Machine vision and robots make for a perfect marriage,” stated Klas Bengtsson, global product manager, vision systems for ABB Robotics (Auburn Hills, MI). This is not new. Vision and robotics have gone hand in hand for years.
Storied UIUC Engineering Program Tackles Tough Manufacturing Problems March 7, 2018 The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC; Urbana, IL) has a long, distinguished history and tradition in mechanical and applied engineering sciences, and the university will soon celebrate the opening of a long-planned, multi-million-dollar expansion to its Mechanical Science and Engineering (MechSE) building.
In Hamburg, Tiny Synergeticon Floats With Some Big Boats March 23, 2017 David Küstner and Daniel Erdelmeier wrote their theses at Lufthansa Technik. Now, their firm, Synergeticon, provides digital assistance to factory workers—and its small but growing staff counts among its customers Lufthansa Technik and its partner Airbus, Küstner said in a group interview with British and American tech writers visiting ZAL (Zentrum für Angewandte Luftfahrtforschung) TechCenter for applied aviation research here yesterday.
Gap in industrial IoT stack presents edge challenges May 15, 2017 Many people want to implement IoT in their factories, and with the abundance of IoT platform technologies out there, they think it’s a breeze. But many challenges await those who don’t think things through carefully—challenges for which traditional IoT platforms do not have effective solutions.
ERP Software Gives Real-Time Data Access February 6, 2017 Enpress LLC (Eastlake, OH) selected ERP software from Epicor Software (Austin, TX) in March 2014 to gain real-time access to data to improve operational efficiencies internally and communications with its customers.
Raising the Stakes with High-Speed Aerospace CNCs February 6, 2017 In the aerospace world, as in all sectors of manufacturing, the race is on for faster, more automated and connected machining operations. Aerospace builders have steadily pushed for more automotive-like automation over the past several years in order to improve productivity and more effectively handle large order backlogs in commercial aviation.