Three Reasons Why Advanced Manufacturing Institutes Matter
American manufacturing is surging with almost 900,000 new jobs created in the past six years. While thats incredible progress, how do we take manufacturing to the next level?
Industry 4.0: What businesses need to know
By Barclay Ballard for ITProPortal: In order for businesses to prepare for Industry 4.0, they first need to understand the technological driving forces behind it, including the Internet of Things. Although mainstream examples of IoT devices are relatively limited at the moment, in the future connected objects are expected to revolutionise a whole host of business sectors. In the same way that new manufacturing processes brought about huge upheaval during the Industrial Revolution, the Internet of Things is also predicted to bring wholesale changes to industry.
“The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has been described as a crucial step in the Fourth Industrial Revolution or Industry 4.0,” explains Martyn Williams, managing director of industrial automation software expert, COPA-DATA UK. “Using IoT technology, organisations are developing smarter infrastructures and building connected networks across entire manufacturing processes.”
Some of the key changes predicted to emerge as the Internet of Things is adopted by industrial firms include the following: Cont'd...
Four Points You Need to Consider when Thinking About Automating or Robotizing Your Operations
If your products have regular and stable characteristics, hard automation makes sense. If however each product is different, flexible automation or robotics should be favored.
Japan Embracing Industry 4.0 And IoT To Leap Into Next Industrial Automation
The challenge ahead is that not only manufacturing technologies will change drastically but the whole business environment, in which Japan may have to strive to overcome other than IoT super next generation automation.
UK 'risks losing out in Industry 4.0 race'
By PRW: A leading trade body has warned that a lack of government planning was threatening the UK’s position at the forefront of Industry 4.0, also known as the fourth industrial revolution.
A number of plastics companies in the UK and on the Continent have begun to develop products and processes that take into account developments in and around Industry 4.0 – also known as the ‘Internet of Things’.
However research conducted by manufacturers’ organisation the EEF found that while 91% of companies surveyed believed that internet access was as important to their business as electricity and water supplies more than half reckoned connectivity was inadequate for the future.
While the awareness of how important the internet was to a company’s operation was seen as a positive, the EEF highlighted that poor digital connectivity may prove to become a drag on future growth.
Many companies were already having to pay a premium to ensure they had high-speed access, the trade body said. Cont'd...
Smart Factories Need Smart Machines
Industry 4.0 Smart Factories and Smart Machines continue to drive dramatic efficiency improvements across the supply chain, within the factory and inside machines.
Five Reasons Why Manufacturers Are Embracing IoT
The Internet of Things (IoT) is enabling manufacturers to be more efficient, productive and profitable in the face of increased competition worldwide. We look at five reasons why manufacturers are betting big on these new technologies.
Three Things to Do Before Operating Your New Automated Equipment
Youre getting impatient to turn the main switch "on" to benefit from the enhanced productivity that it will give you. Before doing that, we recommend a few actions that should be completed before running at full production speed.
Boy, do Fanuc and Cisco have a deal for your factory
Fanuc and Cisco Systems are set to commercialize a technology this summer that promises glitch- and disruption-free factory operations. The Internet of Things-based system monitors machinery and spots signs of possible abnormalities so that parts can be replaced more smoothly and without affecting operations.
A one-minute suspension at a car factory generally costs around 2 million yen ($16,900). If, for example, a gear breaks and operations are halted for 60 minutes to replace it, the costs would be 120 million yen. Frequent line stoppages could also affect product quality.
The Fanuc-Cisco system uses sensors attached to each robot carrying or welding parts to monitor temperatures, vibration and other conditions. Data streams are sent via the Internet. A computer analyzes the data and decides which parts will likely need fixing and when. The system also places orders for replacements. The accuracy of the system's prediction and analysis functions will increase as data accumulates, representatives from the companies said. Cont'd...
U.S. official sees more cyber attacks on industrial control systems
Jim Finkle for Reuters: A U.S. government cyber security official warned that authorities have seen an increase in attacks that penetrate industrial control system networks over the past year, and said they are vulnerable because they are exposed to the Internet.
Industrial control systems are computers that control operations of industrial processes, from energy plants and steel mills to cookie factories and breweries.
“We see more and more that are gaining access to that control system layer," said Marty Edwards, who runs the Department of Homeland Security's Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team, or ICS-CERT.
ICS-CERT helps U.S. firms investigate suspected cyber attacks on industrial control systems as well as corporate networks.
Interest in critical infrastructure security has surged since late last month when Ukraine authorities blamed a power outage on a cyber attack from Russia, which would make it the first known power outage caused by a cyber attack. Cont'd...
Thoughts turn to revolution in Davos
By Matthew Allen for SWI: Intelligent robots and drones, 3D printers, self-driving vehicles, data mountains, smart production lines, fintech and blockchain – the fourth industrial revolution is here. The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual Davos meeting will ponder the potential, limitations and societal impacts of “Industry 4.0”.
Will the transformation of the workplace create jobs or unemployment? Will it close the gap between industrialised and developing economies, rich and poor - or widen it? For Swiss firms, can the new technological revolution ease the pressures of the strong franc?
Speaking ahead of the annual meeting in Davos, WEF founder Klaus Schwab called on world leaders to revise policies to accommodate the coming changes. “We are not yet sufficiently prepared for this fourth industrial revolution that will come over us like a tsunami and will change whole systems,” he said.
“My fear is that if we are not prepared we will create a world where particularly the middle class is frozen out. That would lead to a new problem of social exclusion that we absolutely have to avoid.” Cont'd...
Getting Started with Collaborative Robots - Part 4 - Assess Your Potential Applications
Documenting the actual process will allow you to evaluate if the process can be automated. This will also give you a starting point on cell performance and improvement opportunities.
For Advanced Manufacturing, Success Demands Innovation, Education and Public-Private Partnership
MICHAEL D. WHEELER for Photonics.com: Global manufacturing has undergone enormous changes in the past decade as many developing countries have joined the club of tier-one manufacturing nations, a recession stalled demand, and employment fell precipitously in leading economies. Yet manufacturing remains critical to the future of both developing and advanced worlds, driving innovation, productivity and competitiveness, and offering a pathway out of poverty.
Recent attention has focused on “advanced manufacturing,” which replaces traditional labor-intensive processes with ones based on the newest technologies. It encompasses a family of activities that depends on information, computation, software, sensing and networking, while making use of cutting-edge materials and emerging capabilities such as nanotechnology.
Advanced manufacturing is an especially potent propellant of future economic growth, distinguished by continual process improvement and rapid new product introduction. These critical features will lead to the building of lighter, more fuel-efficient automobiles, the creation of “needleless” tests for medical conditions like diabetes, and the fabrication of semiconductors with 10 times the current processing power. Cont'd...
Special Tradeshow Coverage for Advanced Manufacturing Conference & Expo 2016
Advanced Manufacturing Conference & Expo 2016 will be held from February 9th - 11th in Anaheim, California. This ManufacturingTomorrow.com Special Tradeshow report aims to bring you news, articles and products from this years event.
Robotics 2016: Doubling Throughput in Distribution and Factory Operations
Two existing bakery facilities were successfully integrated into one and finished goods capacity nearly doubled from 6,500 lbs. /hour to 12,000 lbs. /hour.
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Automation & IIoT - Featured Product
The Wire Association International (WAI), Inc.
The Wire Association International (WAI), Inc., founded in 1930, is a worldwide technical society for wire and cable industry professionals. Based in Madison, Connecticut, USA, WAI collects and shares technical, manufacturing, and general business information to the ferrous, nonferrous, electrical, fiber optic, and fastener segments of the wire and cable industry. WAI hosts trade expositions, technical conferences, and educational programs.
Manufacturing and Automation - Featured Company
Parvalux Electric Motors Ltd
Parvalux is a leading global manufacturer of geared motor solutions with over 70 years' experience in creating the perfect combination of motor and gearbox to match the customer's application. Whilst we offer thousands of standard options we can easily customize any motor or gearbox to meet your exact requirements at no or minimal extra cost. Our design team can work closely with your own to optimize your solution for your application helping you to secure a genuine competitive advantage in your market. Our products are found in hundreds of applications but we are particularly strong in healthcare, leisure, mobility, transport, and a diverse range of industrial applications.
