Smart Machines & Factories

Thomas Boswell, ERIKS’ reliability engineering manager, examines how digital industrialisation is transforming MRO and underpinning proactive asset management strategies.

Smart Machines & Factories spoke to Thomas Brand at Analog Devices to take a look at cyber security for industrial Ethernet.

Chris Elsworthy, CEL-UK’s MD and lead mechanical engineer, explains what it takes to stack printers effectively and how design workflows can benefit from this simple yet innovative approach to 3D printing.

Moving into the smart factory revolution, it is guaranteed to bring smarter automation into the workplace, and with this comes innovative solutions. Nevertheless, how can manufacturing efficiency be improved? First things first, it all starts with a deep dive into the data. Tim Foreman, European R&D manager, Omron, reports.

Today's plant automation systems provide transparent monitoring of system status, plus tools such as condition monitoring or predictive maintenance – all help to reduce unscheduled downtime. However, what about brownfield installations with legacy equipment? Hartmut Pütz* and Thomas Lantermann** report.

One of the world's leading automation companies Mitsubishi Electric is hosting a national event where visitors can explore the very latest technology being applied in smart manufacturing and discover how leading companies from a variety of industrial sectors are navigating their path towards digitalisation.

On 24th September TCT Show will open its doors to almost 10,000 visitors from 80 different countries, for the 3-day event. The event will showcase the latest additive manufacturing technology solutions and innovations from nearly 300 leading exhibitors from across the globe including HP, Ultimaker, Trumpf, BOC, Formlabs, Siemens and Renishaw.

At the recent B&R Innovations Day: Enabling the Adaptive Machine, held at the Williams F1 headquarters in Oxford, Sam Tinsley, managing director of Cutting Edge Services - supplier of food processing machinery, services and consumables - highlighted how the company is working with B&R to add incremental automation solutions in an under-invested and low-tech industry such as butchery, in order to raise productivity and address labour shortages for the industry. Smart Machines & Factories’ Aaron Blutstein reports.

In December 2018 eight GAMBICA Industrial Automation members gathered around a table in Leicester to discuss IT, cyber security, cloud computing and of course automation and what it all means for Smart Manufacturing. The aim of the that conversation was to cut through the marketing hype and buzzwords that surround the subject and, in this special three-part serialisation in Smart Machines & Factories create an unbiased and pragmatic guide to getting started on your smart manufacturing journey. Victoria Montag – sector head for Industrial Automation, GAMBICA, continues the special three-part GAMBICA serialisation with part two of the King Power Stadium discussions on digitisation.

2019 marks the 40th anniversary of Rittal Ltd in the UK. The company started its operations in Rotherham in July 1979, providing  distribution, sales and marketing support for its customers.

Industry 4.0 is not only revolutionising the way manufacturers operate. It is also transforming how Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems work and what we can expect from them.

Manufacturers have been urged to unlock the value in their production data and learn from the historical knowledge embedded in their organisations. Smart Machines & Factories reports.

Ford relies on Desktop 3D printing to produce a variety of assembly tools, jigs and fixtures. The large variety of filaments with specific material properties offers many options. Ultimaker's open filament system enables material producers to provide industrial-grade materials with different properties. Smart Machines & Factories reports.

Nicholas Meyer, product manager, handheld communicators at Emerson Automation Solutions, explains why the writing is on the wall for traditional pen and paper-based data collection.