Industry 4.0 Offers Real Solutions April 20, 2020 Industry 4.0 often seems like a vague, faraway idea, but there are several practical and relatively easy steps that can be taken to jump into the “future of manufacturing” right now. From addressing skilled labor shortages to increasing machine utilization, a fancy title should not stop a shop owner from using what works.
No Shop Too Small for Industry 4.0 April 21, 2020 The ability to take Industry 4.0 software and implement it into your current server system, connect your machine tools, start collecting data and make it valuable to your business is very easy to do. That is according to Brad Klippstein, supervisor and product specialist at Okuma America Corp., Charlotte, N.C.
Stratasys moving beyond tooling October 27, 2020 Rich, General Motors recently invested in 17 production-grade FDM printers, intending to use them for 3D-printed tooling. The term “tooling” is quite broad, however. Can you share details about what types of tooling GM and others are 3D printing, and why?
Embracing Digital Twins October 1, 2020 The concept of the digital twin in A&D was born in the 1970s, when NASA began employing full-scale virtual mock-ups of space capsules to forecast the performance of machines in outer space.
New smart training framework works for Industry 4.0 jobs July 22, 2020 The credential hanging on my wall that swells me with pride is my machinist certificate. That apprenticeship experience was the “ON!” switch for my career path. The brightness of that light helped maintain the vision and the hope even as I faced significant racial bias almost 30 years ago.
Bringing the frontline to the forefront of Industry 4.0 July 21, 2020 I met a man recently. He had worked at a small manufacturing company for 20 plus years and was the sole technician responsible for the assembly of his company’s most complex product. After years of dedication to the company, he was set to retire.
Trillium Machine finds a way to effectively train newbies May 12, 2020 One of the biggest challenges that any shop faces in 2020 is finding skilled workers to backfill those baby boomers who are retiring, or simply finding staff to meet the demand of a healthy manufacturing economy.
Zapping waste at a critical juncture in history July 9, 2020 The economic challenges brought forth by COVID-19 are causing a more intense focus in manufacturing on the need for the kind of alacrity achieved with digital tools and the kind of digital savvy achieved with strong partnerships.
One man's war on disaster May 12, 2020 Factory safety is not a theoretical issue for Gabe Glynn, CEO of the wearable tech firm MākuSafe.
For older workers, wearables are where it's at May 13, 2020 When the ergonomics team at General Motors decided to field test wearables to augment their plant workers’ physical abilities, they partnered with body mechanics experts who collect data in a scientific way—and talked with users.
