Radwell International’s Blog

In today’s fast-paced and supply chain-challenged world, manufacturers are trying to create efficiencies in their processes wherever possible. One way of creating more efficiency is by digitally transforming supply chains. During USA Manufacturing Hour Twitter Chat, hosts Jon Freeman, Strategic Partnerships Manager and Justin Dickson, Chief Revenue Officer at FreightPOP in California, led a discussion about this timely and important topic for manufacturers worldwide.

Automation is constantly progressing in many industries and especially in the manufacturing industry. Adopting automation has changed the way the world works by making difficult or repetitive tasks easier and more efficient. Many agree that it has changed the world for the better. However, automation sometimes gets a bad reputation. There is a prevailing school of thought that believes automation will eventually take away employment within the manufacturing industry. It’s a layered concept to consider and it isn't a simple issue. In fact there are actually many aspects to the concept of automation taking away jobs. Let's explore some aspects of automation in manufacturing.

Machine vision is making major contributions to the manufacturing sector, primarily by providing automated inspection capabilities as part of quality control procedures. Formerly viewed as barcode readers, these systems now use automated cameras and software to monitor products, collect data, check for inconsistencies, scan labels and perform other functions at high-speeds and without the need for worker intervention.

According to the Automated Imaging Association, machine vision encompasses all industrial and non-industrial applications in which a combination of hardware and software provide operational guidance to devices in the execution of their functions based on the capture and processing of images.

A type of robot growing in popularity in the industrial manufacturing industry is called a cobot, otherwise known as a collaborative robot. The reason for the growing popularity of cobots is their ability to work side by side with human operators to accomplish a task. With ever expanding technology, many fear it will make human workers obsolete. Robots are one of the top concerns. However, when it comes to cobots, they have one great difference from traditional industrial robots. Their design purpose is to work productively alongside humans. This will obviously have the benefit of human labor still required and an advanced form of technology assisting in the job process. Nobody wants to see human labor become obsolete. This is why more and more manufacturing operations are making use of cobots, as they integrate automation systems.

Edge controllers can provide advantages in many applications where traditional industrial controllers have been used. For commercial and industrial computing products, software and hardware development progress proceeds in tandem, with the lead alternating. Sometimes the software complexity and features increase in a way that bumps into processing limitations; then there are times when hardware advances unleash newfound capacity for more sophisticated software.
It is easy to look at today’s traditional operations technology (OT) industrial controller options, represented most often by traditional programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and process automation controllers (PACs), and see them as mature technologies with capable software and fast hardware. The challenge is identifying what comes next.

A few industry trends are pointing the way. Modern consumer and commercial computing experiences are ripe for merging into industrial products. Internet of Things (IoT) devices are becoming commonplace and many are looking at incorporating Industrial IoT (IIoT) devices into automation systems. Digital transformation requires connecting with many data sources, collecting and storing the data, visualizing and analyzing it, enabling optimized operations.

In today’s world, technology is always changing. As a result, there are many innovative technologies that have an impact on the manufacturing industry. Three of the innovative technologies currently trending in the manufacturing industry include nano manufacturing, sustainable manufacturing and additive manufacturing. Let’s look at a brief overview of what these are and what kind of role they play in manufacturing.

Nanomanufacturing

The term nanomanufacturing has emerged as the manufacturing industry adopts nanotechnology. Nanomanufacturing refers to the methods the manufacturing industry is using to make the advanced materials and devices enabled by nanotechnology. Nanomanufacturing is both the production of nanoscaled materials and the manufacturing of parts

This article was originally published at Epicor's The Shop Floor. View original post here 

The end of 2019 was big for the beloved Star Wars universe. The introduction to the new fan favorite character baby Yoda started it off while  Throughout this massive universe in a galaxy far, far away everything seemed farfetched from our own technological capabilities. However, in looking beyond the surface, it is becoming evident that the technology seen in Star Wars has become a lot more plausible in recent years.

With the exception to glowing swords that deflect laser beams and humans who can move things with their minds, there is definite similarities between the galaxy far, far away and the modern world. Although current technology isn’t nearly as complex (yet), the similarities are undeniable.

Technology roadmaps are a great organizational tool for any company to map out technology developments and to determine how those developments are going to change the way a company operates.

What?

A technology roadmap is defined as a planning technique to create strategic long-term and flexible plans for technology developments, adjustments and technology initiatives over time.

Basically, a technology roadmap focuses on a company’s short-term and long-term technology goals. There are three main uses for a roadmap: to reach an agreement about a company’s technology needs, to provide a forecast for technology developments and to create a framework for planning and coordinating technological advancements.

Product lifecycle management, or PLM, is the process of managing the entire lifecycle of a product from inception through end-stage disposal. It is sometimes considered one of four information technology cornerstones for a manufacturer, alongside customer relationship management (CRM), supply chain management (SCM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP).

The PLM concept began in the mid-1980s when American Motors Corporation (AMC), intent on establishing a competitive advantage over the auto industry giants of the time, put its focus on using technology to speed the product development process. Although AMC was ultimately acquired by one of those giants, its innovations were integrated into modern manufacturing tech and have played an invaluable role there ever since.