Manufacturing and Automation White Papers

After analyzing 100+ 3D printing use cases, it’s clear there’s a strong movement towards additive. Read the report to meet the manufacturers capitalizing on 3D printing today, and find out how they are transforming their design and production workflows.

Unitronics’ innovative approach to reliable automation is driven by in-depth knowledge of the needs of the automation control industry. This knowledge is gained through the company’s decades of experience with diverse projects in automated parking systems, packaging and palletizing, energy production, agriculture, HVAC, food, dairy, chemical, wastewater, boiler industries, plastic extrusion, and other industrial channels. Newly added webinars will be listed here.

Case Study from ivalua - Ivalua has enabled our transformation journey effectively, making Procurement more agile and digital. It really began with a focus on suppliers and clean supplier master data to make better decisions. Resolving this empowered efficiency, visibility and much more value creation for the business.

The white paper covers what types of parts can be measured with a Q-Span system, considering part mass and size, features and tolerances, and manufacturing process. The discussion includes: • A detailed description of how the Q-Span System takes measurements, incorporating robotic pick-and-place • How to validate measurements. • How to demonstrate correlation with existing measurement methods.

Xcentric has been a leader in rapid plastic injection molding for over 23 years. We have leveraged our experience and expertise to create several design resources to support designers and engineers working on plastic injection molding projects. Complete the form to access: Design for Manufacturability eBook, Injection Molding Design Best Practices, Mold Flow Analysis Guide, Material Selection Guide,Injection Molding Part Design Guide.

Compressed air is a limited resource that is generated in-house for the benefit of many operations within the manufacturing environment. Learn how to ensure all point of use applications are using your compressed air in the most effective and efficient way possible. Learn how much it costs to produce that compressed air and how Engineered Nozzles can help you use your air more effectively and efficiently.

PI’s 6-DOF alignment technology, integrated in many telescopes, is part of this success story. PI precision motion components (piezo mechanisms) were also involved, when the first merger of black holes was detected by the LIGO collaboration in February 2016, proving the existence of gravitational waves.

The latest generation of PI hexapod controllers with integrated EtherCAT interface now make it very easy for users to integrate hexapods into automation systems without the need for to perform challenging kinematic transformations.

The breadth and scope of traceability has expanded significantly over the years along with advances in technology, making it a ubiquitous and critical application for today’s world-class manufacturers. This white paper explores the evolution of traceability over the past decades and describes how its latest phase – which we’ve termed “Traceability 4.0” – comprises not only the tracking of products and components throughout the supply chain, but also efforts to optimize productivity, quality and brand reputation throughout manufacturing operations.

Written for developers, owner-operators and decision makers, the whitepaper addresses various aspects of creating, acquiring and protecting software for IIoT systems. It also provides practical and actionable best practices for recognizing, addressing, managing and mitigating risks and their sources, and includes numerous use cases.

This paper discusses how machine vision can bring cost and performance benefits to Internet of Things applications, while enabling new machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities,

AI and machine learning promise to bring new cost and process benefits into inspection systems. Our latest whitepaper explores how smart sensor and imaging devices help overcome bandwidth and networking challenges while providing a first step towards integrating AI in automation systems.

3D printing, or additive manufacturing, is an umbrella term for manufacturing technologies that can generate parts by growing them out of base material. This differs from subtractive manufacturing, such as CNC machining, where a bulk material is reduced to its final shape through cutting or forming. 3D printing is a powerful tool for generating custom parts, often with complex geometries, and serves industries from aerospace & defense, to automotive, to medical and dental, and beyond. This guide outlines 3D printing, its basics, getting started, and the top commercial 3D printing processes and materials used today.

The whitepaper offers advice to companies embarking on an IIoT journey based on results from a compilation of IIC testbeds that have produced successful outcomes. The whitepaper also offers lessons learned about project initiation, planning and management, establishing the value of platforms, dealing with brownfield constraints or limited resources, deploying supportive technologies such as machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), and mistakes to avoid.

This whitepaper provides practical guidance on digital twin, including the definition, benefits, architectures and the necessary building blocks to implement one. We illustrate the relationships between an Industrial Internet of Things(IIoT) system and its twin with use cases.

Successfully establishing a scalable and connected additive manufacturing process is a challenge that the vast majority of manufacturers will face. Issues around traceability, connectivity and standardisation remain barriers for companies wanting to make the transition to using AM for production. To overcome these challenges, manufacturers need greater traceability across their operations and a more connected AM workflow. Fortunately, Additive Manufacturing Execution Systems (Additive MES) are helping to tackle these issues by providing manufacturers with the tools to manage their AM processes efficiently, scale up their operations and achieve full traceability. This whitepaper is your guide to using Additive MES software to take your additive manufacturing operations to the next level.

In a new paper, Shackelford examines the cyber risk in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), including security implications in the smart factory revolution and associated policy implications. Although there has been progress in some areas (e.g., making attacks on civilian critical infrastructure, like smart factories, off limits), there is still much to be done. There are several options to consider for IIoT: self-regulation/cyber due diligence, insurance and/or proposed federal policies, like the IoT Cybersecurity Act of 2017, Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights and the Active Cyber Defense Certainty Act.

Static electricity can be a major nuisance in manufacturing facilities. It can affect the finish/quality of the products being produced, impact the speed of the operation, and cause workers to experience uncomfortable shocks. But it doesn’t have to be this way. There are steps that can be taken to eliminate or control static within a facility, and EXAIR can help. EXAIR's White Paper "Basics of Static Electricity" is designed to help readers learn about the causes of static electricity, the steps that can be taken to eliminate static, and the products available to help control it.

Connectors act as the vital link between the cables carrying data and the devices that record and communicate information. The demand for faster data transmissions that can accommodate visuals has driven the development of connectors able to support the gigabit data requirements for the latest sensors.

This 5G Americas’ white paper explores Edge Computing’s role in the evolution of 5G architecture, the application of Cloud-native principles such as software defined networking (SDN) and network function virtualization (NFV), and identifies various methodologies currently being adopted for 5G applications. It covers detailed emerging use cases and outlines the stringent requirements needed to facilitate advanced mobility, compute, storage capabilities for emerging 5G wireless networks.

PostProcess Technologies, in collaboration with the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), has conducted the first-ever Additive Manufacturing Post-Printing Survey in 2019. This report will give you an in-depth look from the end-user perspective of common practices and challenges in 3D Post-Printing, also known as Post-Processing. Data from the survey of industry participants have been tabulated and summarized with key highlights and insights now published in a first-of-its-kind comprehensive report, exclusively available here.

The whitepaper from HMS Networks provides an overview of the industry’s opinions towards 5G technology as an emerging trend and future standard in the manufacturing and industrial automation industry. It also touches on the use of wireless technologies in the industry today and future directions of this technology.

Building new machines for today’s smart factories requires sophisticated control and automation that can only be delivered through multiple solutions and components – including a PLC, HMI, and VFD (Variable Frequency Drive). As all components must be integrated, selecting the right combination is crucial to the efficiency and success of the machine development project.

In the paper, ADDere addresses some of the more important aspects to consider, from beginning the design phase into using the systems for production. Knowing what’s possible and the best practices for the process reduces surprises and ensures success. It also opens an array of opportunities where the large-scale additive system can really make an impact in the production process.

You can lower labor costs, increase accuracy and reduce processing time by automating the control panel modification process. The Rittal Automation Systems Handbook identifies products that provide solutions to all of these plus more.

As AI becomes more prevalent in various aspects of business management and operations, investing in people will become even more important. AI and automation will not displace people but rather combine their capabilities in new ways to create new forms of value and new opportunities. The manufacturers that identify how to empower their workforces through AI applications will create the greatest value going forward.

Designed for stakeholders involved in cybersecurity, privacy and IIoT trustworthiness, the paper describes best practices that can be applied to protect various types of IIoT data and systems. The 33-page paper covers multiple adjacent and overlapping data protection domains, for example data security, data integrity, data privacy, and data residency.

Choosing the right compact enclosure is overwhelming. Hundreds of choices in materials, configurations and ratings can lead to confusion and mistakes when specifying the right product.

Learn how to save on energy costs by optimizing your facility flows that impact costs like compressed air, natural gas, steam, and hot or chilled water.

Aging manufacturing equipment, including industrial parts washers, continues to be a challenge to maintaining operational effectiveness. Parts washers can be designated as either outmoded or “Legacy” in their status, as they outlive their efficient usefulness. The evolution of modern aqueous parts washers is the result of technological innovation in operation and functionality for a wide range of industrial applications. In production process operations, cleanliness of parts and components is directly related to quality and reliability of the final product. This white paper explores the main factors to consider when replacing or upgrading legacy parts washer equipment, including important innovations in automation, functionality and the and the wide variety of parts washers now available.

The Manufacturer’s Guide to Business Process Improvement. The most successful ERP project teams understand the value of putting into place enterprise technology best practices. Most manufacturers and distributors benefit from guidance when embarking on their technology journey. Download a comprehensive eBook that shares enterprise technology educational resources specifically developed for the manufacturing and distribution sector.