Manufacturing and Automation White Papers

Compressed air safety is a concern for all. Compressed air is commonly referred to as the “fourth utility” because it is very common as a resource within manufacturing, mining and processing environments. Employees or contractors in every industrial company or setting are exposed to compressed air’s effects regularly and it should be handled with responsibility and care. The primary dangers from compressed air come from high pressure and noise exposure. Personnel being exposed to compressed air which exits an open line or non-safety nozzle at a higher pressure than 30 PSI risk the air entering the bloodstream and causing air embolism, a serious health risk. Improper use of compressed air commonly exceeds OSHA’s noise exposure standards and causes noise induced hearing loss (NIHL). The CDC reports NIHL is one of the most common occupational diseases and the second most self-reported occupational illness or injury. And because compressed air can be loud and result in hearing loss when it is used through poor nozzles, open tubes and pipe, or home-made blowoffs, their noise exposure standard is important. Limiting pressure and noise is effectively done by using products which are purposefully designed to meet these strict OSHA safety standards. EXAIR's White Paper "Understanding Compressed Air Safety and Savings" is designed to help readers learn more about compressed air, how to be sure you are OSHA compliant and how EXAIR’s Intelligent Compressed Air products can help.

CNC machining is a powerful tool for generating custom parts using subtractive manufacturing. This guide outlines CNC machining, its basics, some pros and cons, and the top commercial CNC machining processes and materials used today.

From parameter storage to detailed diagnostics, IO-Link’s advanced features and functionality have generated plenty of excitement. However, this intensive focus has created the common misconception that advanced capabilities are the only reasons to implement this technology.

Since the 1960s, programmable logic controllers (PLCs) have been the device of choice for automating and controlling machine operation, making them the head of automated processes. In recent years, engineers have started asking why they need to invest in a PLC. The devices can be expensive, require dedicated software and often mean additional panel and wiring expenses. Is a PLC and its cost really the best option for an application that may only need to control dozens rather than hundreds of I/O points?

Manufacturers are faced with the constant demand to increase productivity and reduce operating costs. A powerful industrial tool being implemented today to streamline production is reliable, enterprise-wide connectivity, providing the highest level of visibility, control and flexibility. To accommodate evolving networking requirements, such as decentralization of control, integrated diagnostics and simplified maintenance, network protocols integrate with industrial equipment and control systems to communicate crucial status updates and production data.

Extremely fast, compact, robust and secure: The TBEN-L managed Ethernet switch combines these features, thus enabling the creation of decentralized Ethernet connections directly at the machine. With two GBit high-speed backbone ports, the switch offers enough bandwidth for a high-performance data flow of the eight standard ports (100 MBit/s). Supported by the fastest linkup times and cut-through forwarding, the switch ensures high cycle rates even in tool changing applications. In many applications it therefore saves wiring effort and supports modular machine concepts without the need for a control cabinet.

Gocious recently held a webinar to discuss the results and insights of a recent industry market research study that we conducted. The webinar, available to watch on-demand, presented some of the key insights that we uncovered. We ultimately discussed the ways manufacturers can optimize their product launch cycle times.

Gocious and JATO Dynamics North America recently held a webinar for manufacturing product planners, designers, and engineers to discuss customer behavior trends in manufactured products. The webinar, available to watch on-demand, hosted experts from the two companies who evaluated the situation manufacturers face in designing product lines with complex customizations.

This white paper will describe how global organizations are utilizing MQTT and the Inductive Automation Ignition platform to implement an open standard architecture to achieve these goals. By easing access to information, coupled with being able to use best in class AI applications, companies will be empowered to achieve their goals to change the culture in their business by extracting value from process data previously unavailable.”

Sometimes the most difficult thing about AI is simply knowing where to start. Identifying potentially impactful use cases is one of the most cited roadblocks for organizations seeking to leverage AI in their business. To complicate things further, best practices dictate that you should have a portfolio of use cases ready to experiment with. If finding one is a challenge, developing a whole portfolio of use cases may prove to be very difficult. Luckily, RapidMiner has you covered. We’ve compiled 50 high-impact use cases from our customers that you can choose from. This library cuts across all industries, and even explains how you can draw inspiration from use cases that are outside of your industry or domain.

Manufacturing Operations Transformation is a journey taken in steps and aligned with shifting business transformation needs. This whitepaper discusses the drivers of digital transformation in manufacturing, and how multi-site enterprises can ensure consistent processes, reporting and analysis that ultimately unlock the true value of their business.

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.