Smart Machines & Factories

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.

Victoria Montag – sector head for Industrial Automation, GAMBICA, begins the special three-part GAMBICA serialisation of the King Power Stadium discussions on digitisation.

A recent demonstration showing 5G Digital Twin technology by Ericsson and Comau at Hannover Messe, underlines the importance of 5G in industrial automation use. Smart Machines & Factories reports.

Ypsomed and Harting haved collaborated on the development of Industry 4.0 digital control systems for retrofitting to plastic injection moulding machines. Smart Machines & Factories reports.

Paul Croft, director of 3DGBIRE and Ultimaker GB and founder of CREATE Education Project explains, 2019 will be the year organisations of every size begin to drive new value from 3D printing.

Tim Bednall, sales & marketing manager for Wood Automation & Control’s Systems Division, highlights the depth of expertise and talent that UK manufacturers can draw upon to ease the path to automation and, in turn, greater productivity.

A series of major cyber-attacks on manufacturing enterprises has highlighted the extreme and growing risks that such attacks pose. Contributing editor Tony Sacks has been reading a new report that looks at how the interconnected nature of smart factories makes them particularly vulnerable – especially because many manufacturers still rely on outdated versions of Windows, which are no longer receiving security updates.

With more than five years' experience in the introduction of Industry 4.0 – gained both through its own operations and in supporting other companies – Bosch Rexroth shares some advice on adopting a digitalisation strategy by discussing the top five stumbling blocks in the introduction of Industry 4.0.

With the UK facing a skills crisis, the importance of encouraging the next generation of engineers from a young age has never been more acute.

In December 2018 eight GAMBICA Industrial Automation members gathered around a table at the King Power Stadium in Leicester to be recorded discussing IT, cyber security, cloud computing and of course automation and what it all means for Smart Manufacturing. In a special three part serialisation in Smart Machines & Factories, Victoria Montag – sector head for Industrial Automation, GAMBICA, will be looking at the output of the discussion that took place and covers a pragmatic guide to getting started on your smart manufacturing journey.

Festo Member of the Management Board Dr Frank Melzer has taken over as head of the Industry 4.0 platform steering committee for the digitisation of business in Germany. Smart Machines & Factories’ Aaron Blutstein caught up with him in Holland to find out which direction Industry 4.0 is heading.

Paresh Kansara, Rittal’s product manager for Industrial & Outdoor Enclosures, looks at some tips to help companies implement fast-deploying and secure IT for production environments.