Opportunities and Challenges of the OEE Numbers Game September 1, 2016 The issues around OEE are not its utility but the ease and credibility of the data used to calculate it
Putting Safety First in Robotic Automation August 31, 2016 New ISO safety specification helps automation developers design safer robots for close encounters on the factory floor
With Machine Monitoring, Instant ROI is Possible August 18, 2016 There have been many process improvement trends in manufacturing over the decades, and none have had more significant ROI than machine monitoring. The increase in machine monitoring is owed in large part to the rise in popularity of the open and royalty-free interconnectivity standard MTConnect.
Sandvik’s New Connectivity Solutions for Manufacturing July 14, 2016 Sandvik Coromant will reveal for the first time at IMTS 2016 new connectivity-based solutions designed to help manufacturers optimize their machining and decision making process. The new solutions have been developed to improve every aspect of it, from design, production planning and through machining to post-process analysis and intelligence.
Data-Driven Predictive Analytics Can Transform Plant Engineering June 15, 2016 Q&A with Chad Stoecker, leader at Managed Services GE Digital, IPRC in Lisle, Illinois.
Quality Inspection and the CAD Connection January 6, 2016 Modern manufacturing is rapidly adopting model-based definition (MBD). When employing an MBD strategy, the CAD model becomes more than the nominal to which all parts are measured and inspected against. MBD keeps the all-important digital thread intact—from design to manufacturing to inspection and quality reporting.
Robotic Welding Fills Skills Gap with Quality Production October 1, 2015 The decision to adopt robotic automation for welding cells is getting easier every day. There are any number of manufacturing considerations influencing that decision, including quality, productivity, and consistency of the weld. Today, however, the key driver is the lack of skilled welders available to fill the requirements of shops both large and small.
Why Manufacturing Needs Real-Time Data Collection October 1, 2015 Real-time machine tool data collection isn’t just about helping manufacturers improve productivity and profitability, although that’s certainly a promised outcome.
Metrology Gets Connected September 1, 2015 “Metrology and its relationship to manufacturing is rapidly evolving,” Ken Woodbine, president, Wilcox Associates, a brand of Hexagon Metrology (North Kingstown, RI), recently observed. “We are seeing larger quantities and faster speeds of measurement data collection. The next challenge is what to do with all that data.”
The CAD/CAM Challenge: Keeping the Complex Simple March 1, 2015 To stay ahead in the game, manufacturers constantly seek an edge over the competition. With today’s CAD/CAM software, the builders of aircraft, automobiles and other complicated systems get the innovative programming tools needed to coax the most performance from complex, expensive machine tools.
