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A conversation between Smart Manufacturing Editor in Chief Brett Brune and Sridhar Kota, professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan and Executive Director of MForesight. 

Manufacturing job expansion resumed in September after pausing in August. The sector added 18,000 jobs last month, with 17,000 of the gain taking place in durable goods, according to a breakdown by industry issued today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Materials science has opened new possibilities for designers of cars, planes and other products. Metal alloys are now as precisely engineered as they are machined. The result is longer lasting, stronger parts. But with a wider selection of materials comes risk—how can you be sure that one piece of gray metal stock is different than another? Careful warehousing procedures and paperwork only go so far.

Within manufacturing, a shift has begun to extend big data analytics and condition monitoring beyond the factory door to both ends of the supply chain—to customers, other end users and to second-and third-tier suppliers.

Additive manufacturing (AM) refers to processes used to make a three-dimension object layer-by-layer. The shape of each layer can be dynamically controlled by computer-aided design (CAD).

Several years ago, a global commercial vehicle maker asked my firm to develop a remote fleet management, health and performance portal that would open a new revenue stream.

The latest mobile robots are designed to accomplish tasks in manufacturing plants without requiring major factory modifications. This emerging robot generation also meets workers where they are, functioning more like independent team members as opposed to complicated, difficult-to-use hardware.

As the momentum to go green continues to build across the globe, the number of environmental regulations for reducing hazardous substances keeps growing. At the same time, more and more customers are now setting their own environmental requirements, adding more complexity to the mix.

When considering a new robotic automation system, one of the biggest concerns can be the weight of the initial costs. While such a large capital expense may be hard to swallow at first, it’s industry-proven that manufacturers see an average ROI of 24 months from robots.

The US Department of Defense (DoD) is keen on exploring the implementation of additive equipment in the battlefield and shipboard for quick-turn part fabrication.