Smart Manufacturing Today

Robots’ capacity for autonomous movement and their ability to perform an expanding set of tasks have captured writers’ imaginations for almost a century. Recently robots have emerged from the pages of science fiction novels into the real world, and discussions of their possible economic effects have become ubiquitous (see e.g. The Economist 2014, Brynjolfsson and McAfee 2014). But a serious problem inhibits these discussions – there has so far been no systematic empirical analysis of the effects that robots are already having. Industrial robots increase labour productivity, total factor productivity, and wages. At the same time, while industrial robots had no significant effect on total hours worked, there is some evidence that they reduced the employment of low skilled workers, and to a lesser extent also middle skilled worker. A first glance What exactly are industrial robots? A machine is an industrial robot if it can be programmed to perform physical, production-related tasks without the need of a human controller. (The technical definition refers to a “manipulating industrial robot as defined by ISO 8373: An automatically controlled, reprogrammable, multipurpose manipulator programmable in three or more axes, which may be either fixed in place or mobile for use in industrial automation applications”.) Typical applications of industrial robots include assembling, dispensing, handling, processing (for instance, cutting), and welding – all of which are prevalent in manufacturing industries – as well as harvesting (in agriculture) and inspecting of equipment and structures (common in power plants). From 1993-2007, the ratio of the number of robots to hours worked increased on average by about 150%. The industries that increased robot use most rapidly were the producers of transportation equipment, chemical industries, and metal industries. Addressing reverse causality Could it be that higher productivity growth causes a larger increase in robot use, rather than the other […]

Generative design enables the design of lighter, cheaper components while maintaining strength and solidity, ultimately creating a higher quality product. For that reason, the adoption of generative design software is taking off in aerospace and  defence, automotive, footwear and clothing, furniture, industrial machines, and oil and gas industries and leading to an uptick in engineering throughput in each of them, finds ABI Research, a market-foresight advisory firm providing strategic guidance on the most compelling transformative technologies. “The rise of the sharing economy and additive manufacturing will drive both demand for and the ability to produce higher-quality goods,” explained Pierce Owen, Principal Analyst at ABI Research. “Generative design expands design possibilities by creating shapes different from those that humans would create. It idealizes the design by creating something that best fits the constraints to optimise the products for various requirements.” For several years now, industrial companies have used geometric topology optimisation – eroding the geometric shape of a product given a set of constraints to improve performance – and are using it more as the use cases for additive manufacturing have increased. Generative design takes that another step by creating, or generating, the geometric shapes from an engineer’s requirements rather than changing existing shapes. Also, unlike topology optimisation, generative design creates many iterations, variations and/or alternatives for engineers to compare, rather than simply removing unnecessary pieces or particles. Additive will drive both generative design and topology optimisation as it provides greater build freedom to fulfill a wider variety of designs. Traditional Computer-Aided Design (CAD) vendors such as Dassault Systèmes, Siemens and recently, PTC, already have or will have embedded generative design capabilities within their CAD environments as plug-ins or kernels. PTC acquired Frustum in November 2018 to do exactly that within Creo. Several of Siemens products, including NX, NX Nastran, HEEDS, […]

Design Joint Venture (DJV), a collaboration between engineering consultants, Beca and Tonkin + Taylor has highlighted the power of Seequent’s Leapfrog Works 3D geological modelling software in the design of a motorway extension from New Zealand’s Pūhoi to Warkworth. With an estimated cost of more than NZ $700m (including maintenance over 25 years), the 18km Pūhoi to Warkworth motorway extension includes a road corridor that cuts through steep hills and valleys, and the creation of seven bridges including three viaducts. Combine this with the cutting of 7 million cubic metres of earth (and the filling of 5 million), and the challenge of soft alluvial sediments – and it’s easy to see why a project wide ground model is essential as a basis for geotechnical design, and to mitigate project risk Meeting population demands As the population of Auckland reaches over 1.5 million, and the demand on the Northland area increases, the region of Warkworth is classed as a growth centre. The number of cars travelling the route daily is set to rise from 19,700 in 2012 to 31,300 in 2026 – the extension will provide a better connection with all of the associated safety and traffic flow benefits. The design work was subcontracted to Design Joint Venture (DJV) a collaboration between engineering consultants, Beca and Tonkin + Taylor. Seequent’s Leapfrog Works, which is specifically designed for the Civil Engineering and Environmental industries, was used as the 3D geological modelling software to more accurately define the geology. Chris Monk, Engineering Geologist, Tonkin & Taylor, says, “There were three areas of focus. North, which showed low-lying topography; Central, which has significant cut and fill embankments and; South, which contained two viaduct structures. It was important we could use a modelling tool that worked flexibly around the different geology and surface types to […]

From accepting and programming any CAD file to Dynamic roughing and precision finishing, Mastercam 2019 Lathe provides a variety of techniques to turn all of your parts exactly as you need them. Mastercam 2019 Lathe features a new Tool Designer, Mill-Turn Environments, Multiple Plunge, and so much more. 3D Tool Support Build tools from 3D STEP models using the new Tool Designer. The Tool Designer is a function panel with tab-style navigation, providing a structured workflow that is similar to using a wizard. You can define tools, assign them to operations, and view them when running Classic Backplot and Mastercam Simulator. Mill-Turn Environments Mastercam 2019 allows Lathe users to run select Mill-Turn machine environments, giving users the productivity benefits of Mastercam’s Mill-Turn programming environment. Experience automated job setup and part transfer, full machine simulation, and simplified programming of C/Y axis toolpaths. Multiple Plunge The Lathe Groove toolpath includes a Multiple Plunge option which allows you to rough out a groove with rib cuts. This is beneficial when you are concerned about tool deflection. Consistent tool pressure can result in better chip control, and more even tool wear. Multiple Plunge gives you the option to machine the ribs with a more aggressive feed rate than the initial plunges. Also available in the Mastercam 2019 Lathe is: Improved support for cross-centerline turning. Support for Swiss machines. Swiss users with active Lathe and Mill/Mill 3D licenses can now take advantage of familiar Lathe and Mill toolpaths (available in the United States). Full integration of the PrimeTurning toolpath. Mastercam 2019 features improved tool libraries, including 3D tool libraries and the introduction of 3D tool support.    

Ask any business owner or board-level executive involved in manufacturing about the demands of growing a business, and they would probably readily agree that it’s tough. Apart from juggling various elements to keep the business on a growth trajectory, there are the endless administration tasks. Regularly producing reports, quotes, estimates, proposals, plans and invoices can be daunting, and may even negatively impact on productivity. However, the challenge no longer needs to be overwhelming thanks to technology. Speech recognition is now more accurate, more powerful, and more usable than ever before, and it can help facilitate the growth of a business. Adopting a desktop speech recognition solution – like Nuance Dragon Professional Individual for the PC – can improve a business’s everyday performance and productivity. Save time producing documents Dragon does the typing for you as you speak and, as we talk three times faster than we can type, the productivity implications are considerable. Dragon quickly and accurately turns your spoken words into text. It lets you put your voice to work to easily dictate and edit documents, proposals, reports and more. With Dragon you spend less time producing documents, and more time on activities that boost the bottom line. Plus, as Dragon works with all Microsoft Office applications, you can also create spreadsheets and presentations by simply using your voice. The solution also lets you speak to send emails, and as it’s compatible with popular web browsers, you can also deploy Dragon to search the web and use social media with unparalleled speed, ease and comfort. Dragon rewards the user by helping you gain precious time. Work that may have taken hours – typing a large document or clearing your inbox – can now be achieved faster and without the need to type, and the time saved can be allocated […]