Advanced Manufacturing Now

What can manufacturers expect from the Smart Manufacturing Experience at IMTS 2026? In this episode of Advanced Manufacturing Now, Steve Plumb is joined by Carl Mitroff, SME's conference manager, to preview one of IMTS's premier educational destinations.

Carl shares what attendees can expect from more than 30 presentations designed to help manufacturers turn emerging technologies into practical business results.

FAI creation is an essential element of quality control programs but can consume a significant amount of time. In this webinar, we will discuss a tool that consolidates all requirements into an accountability checklist, keeping drawing and inspection sheets in sync. Automatically capture sheet and zone and identify Bill of Materials (BOM) and specifications for a complete and accurate report. This software exports a professional ballooned print as a PDF and can output to your customized Excel spreadsheet.

In this session, we'll go over how to reduce quality escapes that occur from overlooking requirements. Failing results are flagged in real-time and any missing required FAIR AS9102 data is also flagged for compliance to the standard. Easily renumber balloon sequencing and change between Imperial and Metric units as required by your customers. Learn how to seamlessly import your CMM data to validate each result and easily flag non-conformances. Use any CMM in your shop to create result data and automatically populate the Designed Tooling.

The tool we discuss will assist you in keeping up with the growing prevalence of 3D modeling in manufacturing. Using the Product Manufacturing Information (PMI) of the model, this software extracts the geometry and notes from the model to create views with ballooned data and exports to the inspection sheet.

In this webinar, you will learn how to:

• Error-proof each FAI for accuracy and customer approval.
• Eliminate the need for manual data entry.
• Use your CMM output to populate FAI actuals.
• Address your customer's requirement for MBD.

PRESENTER:

Jeffrey C. Davis Account Manager DISCUS Software

Presented by DISCUS

Visit https://advancedmanufacturing.org/webinars for more webinars and an interactive experience with visuals.

Teacher. TV host. Digital content creator. Ian Johnson has done all that and more. On the latest Advanced Manufacturing Live, Johnson traces his manufacturing career journey and the role social media has played in it. He also explains why social media is a must for manufacturers that don't want to get left behind.

This episode is a recording of the latest episode of Advanced Manufacturing Live. Previous episodes of Advanced Manufacturing Live are available on advancedmanufacturing.org/live. Follow SME Media on Facebook, LinkedIn, X and YouTube to join us live every other Thursday at 1 p.m. Eastern Time.

Tech consultant and contributing editor Meaghan Ziemba spoke with industry experts about how to improve CNC operations via a holistic approach. She previews the result for her latest article in Manufacturing Engineering & Technology with Editor-in-Chief Steve Plumb.

What happens when the brightest minds in manufacturing research, industry and government come together to shape the future of advanced manufacturing?

In this episode of Advanced Manufacturing Now, host Steve Plumb is joined by SME Chief Manufacturing Officer Brett Conner and Director of Technology Innovation and Strategy Tim Wilson to reflect on key takeaways from NAMRC 54.

It's no longer a question of whether to adopt digital technology. The question is how to do it. Those are among the findings in Rockwell Automation's 11th annual "State of Smart Manufacturing" report. Andy Stump, Rockwell director of technical enablement, discusses where the digital transformation process is now, how it got here and where it might be headed in the future.

This episode is a recording of the latest episode of Advanced Manufacturing Live. Previous episodes of Advanced Manufacturing Live are available on advancedmanufacturing.org/live. Follow SME Media on Facebook, LinkedIn, X and YouTube to join us live every other Thursday at 1 p.m. Eastern Time.

Today, we're revisiting a conversation from the Advanced Manufacturing Now archives. In this episode, host Bruce Morey speaks with Chuck Somerville of Ceratizit about the six keys to successful milling applications. Their discussion covers material selection, part geometry, workholding, machine capabilities and the importance of aligning tooling and machining strategies to maximize productivity and part quality.

Join Sundeep Ahluwalia, Chief Product Officer at TDK SensEI, as he explores the future of industrial manufacturing and computer vision.

In this webinar, Sundeep introduces edgeRX Vision—a powerful combination of computer vision and edge AI designed to deliver fast, accurate quality control directly on the production line. Currently deployed in TDK manufacturing facilities worldwide, edgeRX Vision can inspect up to 2,000 parts per minute, detecting defects in components as small as 1 mm × 0.5 mm.

Discover how edgeRX Vision enables manufacturers to achieve:

• Enhanced AOI capabilities
• Higher production throughput
• Real-time visual feedback
• Precision driven by AI
• Reduced human error

PRESENTER:

Sundeep Ahluwalia Chief Product Officer

Presented by TDK SensEI

Visit https://advancedmanufacturing.org/webinars for more webinars and an interactive experience with visuals.

Steve Bauer, Digital Content Producer for SME Media, joins Editor-in-Chief Steve Plumb to share his experiences and insights from his visit to the Automate show in Chicago. The conversation highlights the latest advancements in robotics, vision systems, grippers, and integrated automation solutions.

We're joined by Heidi Balestrieri, engineering director at Sentry Equipment. Balestrieri discusses what led her to a manufacturing career and why she's so passionate about encouraging other women to pursue industry careers.

This episode is a recording of the latest episode of Advanced Manufacturing Live. Previous episodes of Advanced Manufacturing Live are available on advancedmanufacturing.org/live. Follow SME Media on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X or LinkedIn to join us live every other Thursday at 1 p.m. Eastern Time.