Advanced Manufacturing Now

Steve Immel, head of Americas Business Development for Materialise, explains why a traditional manufacturing company may want to get into additive manufacturing, the main considerations for manufacturers looking to add capabilities in additive manufacturing, and explores the “triangle of materials, hardware and software.”  

Dr. Jeffery Ahrstrom, President and COO of BLM Group USA, explores how a tube laser system can help manufacturers replace the physical processes of punching, sawing and milling with lasing in order to reduce work-in-progress, improve upon existing manufacturing processes, and create new ones.  

John Thompson, National Technical Sales Manager for PFERD Inc., offers his predictions on the future of metal finishing, examines new solutions that can help improve productivity and reduce risk in hand-held applications, and discusses how systems are changing to adapt to the growing use of composite materials.  

Diego Tamburini, Senior Design and Manufacturing Industry Strategist for Autodesk, explores the main forces shaping the future of the fabricating industry; key strategies manufacturers can use to remain competitive; promising technologies Autodesk is currently developing; and the opportunity of the IoT for manufacturers.  

Bonnie Martens, Marketing Communications Manager for Dimplex Thermal Solutions, examines key trends in process cooling; how chillers can be designed for energy efficiency; solutions that increase system uptime; and how the Internet of Things is changing how chillers operate.

John Galich, marketing manager for Mate Precision Tooling, discusses trends in the CNC punch press tooling and press brake tooling market; challenges facing the industry; and the evolving mission of Mate Precision Tooling.    

John Heuring, Regional Sales Manager for Dallas Industries, explores the challenges fabricators face when their feed line operators process advanced, high-strength steels. He also outlines the special considerations that stampers should consider for feed lines being paired with servo presses.    

Frank Arteaga, Head of Product Marketing for Bystronic, explains why Industry 4.0 isn’t just for big companies and why small to medium-sized job shops should learn about and adopt it. He also explains how job shops can implement Industry 4.0 without making major changes to equipment and software.  

Mark Scherler, General Manager of Materials Joining for FANUC America, explores how the Internet of Things is changing robotic manufacturing, laser processes that are being used with robotics, and how changes in the manufacturing labor force are affecting the need for robotics.  

Craig Tomita (left), Area Sales Manager for Universal Robots, and David Jackson (right), President of CleanLogix (an OEM partner of Universal Robots) discuss the use of collaborative robot (cobots) in manufacturing. Cobots can be used without safety guarding on production and assembly lines, and CleanLogix has incorporated a UR cobot in one of its CO2 cleaning applications.        

Will Healy (below), Strategic Marketing Manager, and Dave Bird (right), Key Account Manager, Metal Forming and Robotic Welding for Balluff Inc., discuss how press shops can dramatically improve uptime, tackle the biggest problems with sensors and networking in robotic welding, and surmount the challenges to implementing Industrial Internet of Things. They also explain how machine builders can increase the value they deliver to manufacturers.      

Sandra L. Bouckley, FSME, 2017 President for SME, discusses the current state of the manufacturing workforce, what this means for the future, how companies can help bridge the skills gap and the role of new technology in resolving workforce challenges.        

Charlie Miller, Director of Sales for the Eastern Region of the U.S. for the Robot and Applications Group at ABB, examines emerging trends in robotic welding, how the Industrial Internet of Things is driving changes in the sector, and the biggest challenges users need to address–including the shortage of skilled workers.

Detlef Zühlke, Scientific Director for Innovative Factory Systems at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence and Executive Chairman of SmartFactory-KL in Germany, discusses what it was like to be a founding father of Industrie 4.0, obstacles to smart manufacturing and ways the transition can be made smoother. Detlef Zühlke

Manufacturing Engineering Editor-in-Chief James D. Sawyer talks to Dr. Bruce Cameron, MIT faculty director, about the online professional certificate program. Online Education at MIT:  Models and Methods to Manage Complex Systems MIT Professional Education’s new four-course online professional certificate program, Architecture and Systems Engineering: Models and Methods to Manage Complex Systems is intended to provide a state-of-the-practice view on model-based systems engineering for technical professionals and engineers. This first-of-its-kind professional certificate was developed by leading MIT faculty and incorporates case studies, practitioner guest lectures and examples from a wide variety of industries and companies.

Guest: Met-L-Flow President Carl Dekker. Interviewed by Smart Manufacturing magazine Editor In Chief Brett Brune. How can we get around better? SME’s 2017 Digital Manufacturing Challenge invites college and high school students around the world who are in STEM fields to answer the question—by creating forward-thinking, mobility innovation solutions. Contest submissions are due before March 13.

Smart Manufacturing magazine Editor in Chief Brett Brune discusses The Digital Transformation full-day seminar with John Deere’s Craig Sutton. Sutton is the chair of the Nov. 9 event. The Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute (DMDII) is hosting it in Chicago.

Guest: Mike Molnar, Director – Advanced Manufacturing National Program Office, US Dept of Commerce. Interviewed by Smart Manufacturing magazine Editor in Chief Brett Brune. SME’s Advanced Manufacturing Now talks with the US Dept of Commerce’s Mike Molnar about Manufacturing USA, the new public named for the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation. Formally established in 2014, Manufacturing USA brings together industry, academia and federal partners within a growing network of advanced manufacturing institutes to increase US manufacturing competitiveness and promote a robust and sustainable national manufacturing R&D infrastructure. Hear the elevator pitch, and more.

Guest: David Morfas, Product Expert at the Plex Systems. Interviewed by  Manufacturing Engineering Magazine Editor in Chief Jim Sawyer. SME’s Advanced Manufacturing Now talks to David Morfas, who discuss how Smart Manufacturing is the convergence of several technology trends resulting in improved manufacturing productivity. It empowers manufacturers to be more competitive.  This development promises to bring about a true revolution, with cloud technology enabling greater connectivity to people, machines and processes on the production floor and accessibility to actionable data like never before.

Guest: John Moavenzadeh, member of the Executive Committee at the World Economic Forum. Interviewed by Smart Manufacturing magazine Editor in Chief Brett Brune. SME’s Advanced Manufacturing Now talks to the John Moavenzadeh, who from his office in New York heads the Forum’s initiative on the Future of Manufacturing. The Forum just launched an initiative to stimulate public-private collaboration on how to drive innovative, sustainable and job-creating manufacturing and production systems globally.  INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION: http://tinyurl.com/j2fzbtt