Advanced Manufacturing and Factory Automation General Newsletter - Apr 2016

Developing Manufacturing Workers Who Are Job-Ready on Day One

Over the next decade, 3.4 million manufacturing jobs will likely be needed, and 60% of them are likely to be unfilled due to the talent shortage. How can we close that number (and the skills gap)?

Collaborative Robots Are Broadening Their Marketplaces

In a human-machine study conducted by an MIT professor, it was shown that teams made of humans and robots collaborating efficiently can be more productive than teams made of either humans or robots alone.

Robots: A New Kind of Manufacturing Workforce

Improving the effectiveness of small and medium manufacturers could help stimulate the economy and drive job creation. Adding robotic employees to the manufacturing mix might just make manufacturers in the United States more competitive with their counterparts in Asia.

Unique Hybrid Cnc Tool Solution Uses Beckhoff Controls To Integrate Additive Manufacturing With Standard CNC Machining

Hybrid Manufacturing Technologies has developed a unique CNC-based hybrid tool control solution that enables virtually any CNC machine or robotic platform to deploy both metal-cutting and metal-adding heads in the spindle and conveniently change between them.

5 Easy Steps to Choosing a Conveyor

This graphic walks you through all of the components and pieces of a conveyor, the options and configuration varieties available for each part, and the ideal context and product for that specific element.

Industry 4.0: When humans and robots go hand in hand

Kristie Thong for Eco-Business:  Amid concerns that the rise of industrial robots may soon render humans obsolete, Swiss automation giant ABB’s latest innovation may help shine a new light on what the future will look like when humans and robots can work together as partners.  Full Article:

LSIS offers glimpse into smart factory

Lee Min-hyung for Korea Times:  LSIS, the nation's top electric equipment maker, aims to apply integrated automation systems into all of its manufacturing facilities as a core strategy to slash operating costs and dominate the nation's energy efficiency market.

U.S. manufacturing isn't dead; factories are running at close to a record pace

Rex Nutting for MarketWatch:  U.S. manufacturing sector doesn’t get any respect.  Ask a random sample of people on the street and you’re likely to hear that America doesn’t make anything anymore, that China, Mexico and Vietnam took all of our factories, and that the only jobs left in America are flipping burgers and cleaning hotel rooms.

How Innovators Overcome Smart Factory Challenges

Brad Done for Manufacturing.net:  Smart factories are the manifestation of what's being called the Fourth Industrial Revolution — a concept that's been in the conceptual-buzz phase for years.

Midwest Motion Products Inc - "GRA52" Right Angled Gearmotor System

Midwest Motion Products Inc., based in Howard Lake, Minnesota, is pleased to announce the release of the new "GRA52" Right Angled Gearmotor System. This new 1:1 Right Angled Gearbox allows for significantly increased versatility, and design whose geometry allows for the unit to be mounted in tight spaces. We employ our Standard Brushed or Brushless DC Motors and Planetary Gearheads to complete the new R/A Design. Features/Benefits: Cost effective design - as low as $250*, Very Versatile - Output Ratios ranging from 3.7:1 to 2076:1, Fully Reversible Design, Readily available - Samples can be built from Stock Material, High Volume capacity.

Learn More About MMP Inc. / MIDWEST MOTION PRODUCTS, INC.

Harmonic Drive LLC

Harmonic Drive LLC (HDLLC) designs and manufactures precision servo actuators, gearheads and gear components. Harmonic Drive® gears play critical roles in robotics, medical diagnostics and surgical robotics. We work with industry-leading customers and companies of all sizes to provide both standard product and custom-engineered solutions. The majority of the products sold by HDLLC are proudly made at our US headquarters and manufacturing facility in Massachusetts.

ManufacturingTomorrow is a community website where those of you who work in the Advanced Manufacturing and Factory Automation Industries are invited to contribute articles, news and product information for your peers to read and discover. Our philosophy is to create an outlet where the industry can report on itself.

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Bob Hetherington bobh@manufacturingtomorrow.com

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