Japan worker shortage has only one winner so far: robots
Leo Lewis for Financial Times: Earlier this week, Japanese TV audiences glimpsed a potentially revolutionary contraption from the Matsue College of Technology that rapidly separates closed shijimi clamshells into those with a live mollusc inside and those without.
Cut to footage of a human sorter, expertly performing the same function at a rate of just 90 kgs of shijimi per day and whose job this machine seems destined to replace. In other parts of the world, the juxtaposition could seem cruel or politically charged; in Japan, it is almost celebratory. The great conundrum for investors — and increasing preoccupation of sellside analysts attempting to talk clients out of underweight Japan positions — is whether the equity market provides a neat play on Japan’s deepening worker shortage and the promised surge in wages that has to date been all gong and no dinner. Cont'd...
Rolling On Interroll
The long-term objective of the program is to continue providing support to system integrators and OEMs in our target industries, and to also expand into new verticals.
How Industry 4.0 and BIM are Shaping the Future of the Construction Environment
By Mark King, EMEA BIM Solutions Manager, Leica Geosystems via GIM International: The construction industry is on the cusp of a new industrial age. The fourth industrial revolution, or ‘Industry 4.0’, will see construction coming in line with more digitally developed industries, which will revolutionise not only how physical structures are designed, built and maintained, but also how they are subsequently used.
What it means in reality is open to interpretation and the ability to future-gaze. Some anticipate it will mean the use of smart materials and technologies to make our buildings intelligent. Others envisage that it will come to mean autonomous machinery carrying out aspects of production, with minimal human input. But what is commonly agreed is that it represents the use of technology to fundamentally improve the way we design and construct the world around us. Cont'd...
Manufacturing in America 2017 Trade Show
Over 2500 manufacturing executives, engineers and enthusiasts will meet at Manufacturing in America 2017, which will be held on March 22 and 23rd at the Detroit Marriott located at the Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit.
Hot Jobs Study Reports Manufacturing a Top Industry
For entry level manufacturing positions, higher education is not normally required. Instead, a personal and commercial drivers license, and special certifications such as an Occupational Safety & Health Administration Certification, Food Safety Program education, and HAZMAT endorsement, can make a candidate more qualified when applying to manufacturing jobs.
Ericsson and China Mobile jointly demo the 5G-enabled Smart Factory at MWC 2017
Ericsson and China Mobile have jointly developed a 5G-enabled Smart Factory prototype using key 5G Core Network technology - Network Slicing. The prototype will be on display at Mobile World Congress 2017 in Barcelona, Spain. The demo will simulate the assembly line in the Smart Factory environment, enabled by the 5G connected industry standard PLC connections.
Triggered by Made-in-China 2025 and Industry 4.0, the manufacturing sector has changed profoundly in China during recent years. Industries have engaged in a steady re-industrialization relying on ICT enhancements.
At the root of industrial revolution is the implementation of a reliable and flexible communication layer, capable of dealing with increasingly higher capacity allocations of on-demand manufacturing and adjustments. View Video here:
What's Driving Assembly Line AGVs?
Were even seeing companies with millions of dollars in chain-based conveyance move to AGVs. As this trend continues to advance, we see manufacturers gaining unprecedented flexibility that will allow them to quickly respond to market changes in a way thats smart, cost-effective, and safe.
Successful Mechatronics Program at Vaughn College
Mechatronics is an exciting major for students because it combines computer, mechanical and electrical engineering into one field of study.
Campofrio Food Group Leads the Way in Digitization with Cisco Connected Factory Solution
Marketwired: Campofrío Food Group, the leading international producer of branded processed meats, headquartered in Madrid, Spain, has cut the ribbon on a brand-new plant that boasts the latest in digital technology.
With a gross surface area expanding 99,000 square meters and an estimated production of 101,400 tons a year, the 'New Bureba' plant is located in Burgos, in Northern Spain. It replaces the previous facilities, destroyed by a fire in November 2014, but is far from a standard rebuild, incorporating the industrial sector's very latest innovations.
From the beginning of the design process, Campofrío seized the opportunity to create a 'smart' factory that connects machines, devices, sensors and people in real-time. The company selected Cisco Connected Factory solution to create a 'Factory 4.0' that would enable to manage and optimize its business processes and make well-informed decisions. Cont'd...
State-of-the-art Motion Control and Electronics for Sorting Line
The sorting and packaging of small, medium and large ceramic formats represent a crucial phase in the manufacturing process.
Closing US Manufacturing Trade Deficit Would Create 1.3M Jobs, Says Tech Think Tank
The prevailing narrative says automation was the main culprit behind U.S. manufacturing job losses in the early 2000s, and that automation is now powering an unprecedented manufacturing technology revolution that will continue to displace jobs. But a new report from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) finds that both of these claims are false.
ITIF, a leading tech-policy think tank, finds that trade pressure and faltering U.S. competitiveness were responsible for more than two-thirds of the 5.7 million manufacturing jobs lost between 2000 and 2010. And rather than entering a "fourth industrial revolution," U.S. manufacturing productivity growth is actually near an all-time low. In light of these facts, ITIF concludes that U.S. policymakers should aim to close the country's trade deficit in manufactured goods by fighting foreign mercantilism and pursuing a national competitiveness agenda that hinges in part on boosting manufacturing productivity rates. The report estimates that successfully closing the manufacturing goods trade deficit this way would create 1.3 million jobs. Full Press Release:
Industry 4.0 Ushers in a New Era of Manufacturing Intelligence
Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things are far more than technology buzzwords; instead the possibilities of these technologies are almost impossible to imagine and overestimating their potential is difficult.
Manufacturers raise investment in next-gen tech, survey says
Dustin Walsh for Crain's Detroit Business: U.S. manufacturers are rapidly boosting investment in advanced digital technologies, according to a survey to be released Monday by Troy-based technology business association Automation Alley. The survey coincides with the association's 2017 Technology Industry Outlook event on Feb. 13 at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Nearly 400 manufacturing and technology business leaders are expected to attend.
According to the survey, 85 percent of U.S. manufacturing executives responded they plan to increase existing budgets for new technologies, with nearly a third planning to increase budgets by up to 15 percent. More than half of the respondents said they have a dedicated budget to technologies described as Industry 4.0, with the top three being cloud, cybersecurity and data analytics. Cont'd...
S. Korea's Hanwha to develop smart factory platform
Pulse News: South Korea’s leading conglomerate Hanwha Group plans to venture into the smart factory business, joining the burgeoning market dominated by General Electronics Co. (GE) and Siemens AG in the transitional age of industry and society heading towards full automation and practical robotics applications.
According to a senior official at Hanwha Wednesday, the group recently formed a task force team dedicated to the development of hardware and software that can help to make factories smarter, cost-efficient, and more productive through increased computing systems. Hanwha Techwin Co., the group’s defense and aircraft engine making unit, will first come up with a pilot model in automating factories that would be applied to other manufacturing subsidiaries. Cont'd...
Mitigate Risk with Flexible Automation
Self-driving vehicles (SDVs) break free of magnetic strips and pre-programmed routes, unlike their autonomous guided vehicle (AGV) brethren
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Automation & IIoT - Featured Product
Collision Awareness Products - The Leader in Intersection Protection
The Look Out 4 is a motion-activated forklift intersection warning system designed to alert warehouse personnel of cross-traffic at 4-way intersections, using sensors and high-visibility LED lighting to reduce the risk of forklift-pedestrian collisions. With full 360° coverage and easy installation, it's ideal for high-traffic, blind-spot intersections where visibility is limited and quick reaction time is critical.
Manufacturing and Automation - Featured Company
NORD DRIVESYSTEMS
With four production facilities in the Midwest, on both coasts, and in the South, NORD is prepared to serve you with some of the shortest lead times in the industry. We house extensive component inventory, allowing us to assemble and ship 25% of all standard product orders same or next day!
