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Manufacturers continue to be bombarded with an onslaught of technology terms, as well as different ideas on where to begin and how to proceed. This confusion has slowed the adoption of new technology. Yet a big opportunity for a huge increase in efficiency awaits.

For many years, the knowledge economy and traditional industries like manufacturing appeared to be on parallel tracks. Now those tracks are converging.

Manufacturers are always looking for ways to keep ahead of the competition. And with advancements in bonding technologies, they’ve been able to explore new ways in doing just that. Industrial-grade, double-sided acrylic foam tapes such as 3M™ VHB™ Tapes are increasingly being used in place of more traditional mechanical fasteners such as screws, rivets, bolts, and welds—in order to permanently bond components together.

Defense systems are, by design, built to defend against threats. Today, however, manufacturers of these systems are focusing on an entirely new kind of threat: security breaches targeting their automation systems.

Urschel Laboratories has come a long way since its founder William E. Urschel introduced the gooseberry snipper to Michigan canneries in 1910. Today, the company’s innovative machines are used by virtually every food processing manufacturer worldwide to slice, dice, trim, grate, and process foods that are stored in pantries and refrigerator shelves. For the record, Urschel’s gooseberry snipper machine handled the removal of a stem and thick bud appendage from the berry.

Would you roll down the driveway on a scooter without bolts, rivets, or mechanical fasteners of any kind? 3M scientists Michael Leighton and Brent Bystrom would. And they did.

Autodesk (San Rafael, CA) and Paragon D&E (Grand Rapids, MI) hosted the Smart Manufacturing Celebration, April 26-27, at the newly-expanded Paragon D&E facility in Grand Rapids, MI. Attendees heard from industry experts about disruption factors manufacturers are facing, including in the automotive and aerospace manufacturing sectors, and how manufacturers can not just survive in disruption, but thrive in it.

One theory I came up with years ago, backed by absolutely no evidence, is that automation and robotics will eventually be so extensive that none of us will have to leave our houses. We will eventually sit around all day, grow roots, and evolve back into the plant life we came from millions of years ago.

New systems, software and processes are replacing so-called islands of automation with seamless, automated manufacturing lines that boost overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) from 30 to 80% or more. Like a chess master, these systems think multiple moves ahead on the factory floor to ensure continuing production when circumstances change.

A talk with Shannon Bennett, implementation and Sales Engineer at Visual Knowledge Share Ltd.