GM Hooking 30,000 Robots to Internet to Keep Factories Humming

Thomas Black for Bloomberg: General Motors Co. has connected about a quarter of its 30,000 factory robots to the internet, and the largest U.S. automaker already is reaping the benefits of less down time.

In the last two years, GM has avoided 100 potential failures of vehicle-assembling robots by analyzing data they sent to external servers in the cloud, Mark Franks, director of global automation, said at a conference in Chicago on Monday. Connectivity is preventing assembly line interruptions and robot replacements that can take as long as eight hours.

“If we can avoid a disruption in our manufacturing, we can save ourselves a significant amount of money,” Franks said at an International Federation of Robotics roundtable. “It’s a pretty good payback.” Full Article:

Always know what you have in stock and what you'll need to fulfill orders. Never forget to order parts on time or fail to notice a late delivery from your vendor. Easily create manufacturing orders and schedule them automatically according to resource availability or delivery deadline. Generate accurate cost and lead time estimates and provide customers with quick quotes. Receive notifications when orders are late or inventory levels reach a critical point. Ensure seamless communication between sales, production, warehousing, procurement, administration, and finance. Integrate with popular accounting, CRM, and e-commerce apps. MRPeasy is an ERP software for small manufacturers that gives you all that and more. Our users report a 54% average improvement in the overall performance of their business and a 42% increase in on-time deliveries. Try for free, no credit card needed.

GM Hooking 30,000 Robots to Internet to Keep Factories Humming

Featured Product

MRPeasy - ERP for Small Manufacturers That Delivers Results

More Advanced Manufacturing and Factory Automation Resources