Advanced Manufacturing Now

Cajo Technologies President Ismo Rantala talks with Candace Roulo, managing editor of Manufacturing Engineering magazine, about the company's patented technology, which is based on an innovative application of the traditional laser beam, allowing for precise and permanent marking or color patterning on almost any material without additives or pigments. The company is headquartered in Kempele, in Northern Finland, and has grown internationally with subsidiary and several offices in the United States.

Verisurf Software CEO Ernie Husted explains why there are still many legacy fixed CMMs in the market that are perceived to be obsolete due to outdated software, difficult programming interfaces and lack of trained operators--and how his metrology software firm is working to address this market truth. For example, Verisurf 2018 allows users to program, operate and collect measurement data directly from legacy CMMs, without any upgrades to controllers or software. The software offers as an instant improvement "quick, easy-to-learn, first-article inspection of your parts," he said. "We make it so it's not a bottleneck anymore." And, he added, CMMs are about 10 times more accurate than ARMs, which were adopted in recent years as CMM software grew out of date.

More manufacturers are using electronic work instructions, such as VKS, to improve productivity and streamline their operations. In this podcast, Alan Rooks, Editor in Chief of Manufacturing Engineering magazine, talks with Shannon Bennett, Implementation & Sales Engineer at Visual Knowledge Share Ltd., about the need for electronic work instructions in manufacturing, the development of VKS, the types of manufacturers that use it and the benefits those manufacturers see in their operations. To learn more about VKS, visit https://tinyurl.com/vks-podcast

So, you've inherited older and/or disjointed systems and processes (and perhaps an unhelpful company culture) but you want to gain a competitive edge. What to do? Look at how systems can be integrated with a centralized tooling database, not at each individual process as a separate entity, Dan Speidel of TDM Systems says. Make sure you digitally tie and integrate the tool crib with CAM systems and machine controller. Getting control over inventory and tools in the shop is doable, he said, giving as an example Wagstaff . "This is the industrial revolution we have all been waiting for," he said, welcoming the "digital food chain" and the move to SaaS in manufacturing.

Drawing upon his firm's work with NEC, Schlindler Elevator, Exelon and Pitney Bowes, Sergey Patsko of GE Digital advises manufacturing execs looking for value to focus on compute power and ways to process and analyze data. He also suggests a couple of ways manufacturers can begin trying out the "digital transformation" approach. One approach is theoretical. Another is to start with proofs of concept on low-hanging fruit. And he goes over the major risks of the data science approach. Listen to find out the one piece of advice Patsko would give the CEO of any manufacturing firm working on digitization.

Sharing findings from a survey of 300 automotive industry manufacturers, Jeannine Kunz, VP of Tooling U-SME, says the introduction of new technology is seen as the main contributor to the skills gap in manufacturing. "Essentially, technology is outpacing our people." Yes, the pipeline is still an issue. Yes, baby boomers leaving the market is still an issue. But the swift current of new technology is negatively impacting productivity, innovation, quality and safety. Tooling U-SME works to help companies tackle all of the problems. "All too often, we see manufacturers not necessarily tying human capital strategy to their manufacturing strategy or their business strategy." Human capital can be a competitive advantage. "All of us can buy the same equipment. And all of us can buy the same technologies. What we really can't duplicate are the human beings. Each of us is very different. So it's the 'secret weapon' of the people behind the operation that truly can create a competitive advantage," Kunz says.

Pratt & Whitney's Kimberley Hagerty, whose "year of living digitally" was featured in the May issue of Smart Manufacturing magazine, quickly reviews lessons she and her team learned, outlines three main challenges they faced and how she solved them, and describes some of the organizational changes she sees Industry 4.0 demanding of manufacturers.

Rego-Fix Corp., a manufacturer of precision tooling, has been on a deliberate, long-term growth and expansion program. Starting a few years ago in the company's home base of Switzerland, this year the program came to fruition in the US Vice President Sales and Marketing Bill Obras sat down with Manufacturing Engineering's James D. Sawyer at Eastec to discuss the program and provide details on the company's new 20,000 ft2 facility near Indianapolis.

Manufacturing Engineering's James D. Sawyer interviews Chris Pollack, East Coast regional business manager for motion control , Siemens Industry, about the growing skills gap in US manufacturing and the challenges and opportunities inherent in training new users to operate the controls of machine tools.

As the technology has matured, the manufacturing world has seen an explosion in the number of metal parts, components and products manufactured additively. Yet despite this improvement the cost of metal 3D printing has not really become more affordable. In this sponsored podcast, Markforged Applications Engineer Peter Kootstra explains to SME's Jim Sawyer how his company has developed a process that can cut the cost of metal 3D printing by as much as 80% compared to standard methods. Not only does this make metal 3D printing more affordable, but it opens the additive manufacturing door to more applications—and more manufacturers.