Smart Manufacturing Today

Tooling up to manufacture a circular economy

James Griffin leads the Sustainable Business Network’s Circular Economy Accelerator (CEA) to hasten the adoption of a circular economy in New Zealand. He says the challenges awaiting manufacturers are both significant and exciting. Circular economy thinking is already producing real world tools to change the way we make things. In the process we could remake our world. We need a fundamental transformation in design, manufacture, procurement and supply chain management. Otherwise humanity will find itself pumping waste and pollution around its economic system for aeons to come. The principles of this shift are well-established. If we are going to design the waste and pollution out of our way of life, all products need to be designed for longevity. They must incorporate the ability to repair, upgrade, reuse and disassemble them. And at the end of their life precious materials must be harvested and re-cycled in closed loops. This requires careful design thinking from the outset and throughout the manufacturing process. Otherwise we tend to lock ourselves into linear pathways and approaches. Think renewable energy. Think recycled and recycled materials. Think manufacturing for leasing and product stewardship rather than sale and disposal. The potential benefits of this approach have been clearly identified. And they are enormous. In May we released a ground-breaking economic study completed by Sapere Research Group in partnership with ATEED. We discovered that Auckland could be up to $8.8 billion better off in 2030 if the city adopted a circular economy approach. To make this happen, and reap the rewards, leading manufacturers will need to partner with system thinkers and academic institutions. This is what is driving the development of the CEA’s Institute for Innovation in Remanufacture & Reuse. Once established, this will bring together business people and academics, working together to address the many technical and systemic […]

Olympus launches new portable, powerful videoscope

The IPLEX G Lite industrial videoscope features powerful imaging capabilities and a small, rugged body. Lightweight and able to go almost anywhere, the IPLEX G Lite videoscope provides users working in challenging environments with a remote visual inspection tool that has the image quality and ease of use to get the job done. The IPLEX G Lite is the successor to the compact and lightweight IPLEX UltraLite model, and can be used to capture images inside aircraft engines, piping, and other equipment without the need for disassembly. With two times the brightness of its predecessor, the IPLEX G is also suitable for a variety of applications within the security industry and clean energy sector, including wind turbines. According to Jack Zhang, RVI Product General Manager at Olympus Asia Pacific, “Recent years have seen an increasing emphasis on safety management and quality assurance in fields such as aerospace, security and architecture. This has been accompanied by the use of industrial videoscopes for equipment inspections as these instruments can be used to conduct inspections without the need for disassembly.” The IPLEX G Lite is small and lightweight making it easy to use with one hand, while also featuring enhanced image processing. The tip of the videoscope is fitted with a very small camera and can be freely manipulated, making these instruments ideal for tasks such as periodic maintenance or inspecting a component’s quality. Ease of use has been improved in the IPLEX G with the adoption of a touch panel monitor and electrically operated scope tip bending, enabling users to complete inspections more quickly. New recording and playback functions have also been added; including constant video recording and the ability to add bookmarks to save time during video reviews and find critical moments quickly. When inspecting in oily environments, getting oil on […]

RUAG_AU_Manufacturing_EWI 20130109 117.jpg

3D printing aircraft parts using new laser technology

A team of RMIT University researchers led by Professor Milan Brandt are using laser metal deposition technology to build and repair defence aircraft parts in a two-year collaboration with RUAG Australia and the Innovative Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (IMCRC). The technology feeds metal powder into a laser beam, which when scanned across a surface adds new material in a precise, web-like formation. The metallurgical bond created has mechanical properties similar, or in some cases superior, to those of the original material. “It’s basically a very high-tech welding process where we make or rebuild metal parts layer by layer,” explains Brandt, who says the concept is proven and prospects for its successful development are extremely positive. Head of Research and Technology at RUAG Australia, Neil Matthews, says that by enabling onsite repair and production of parts, the technology could completely transform the concept of warehousing and transporting for defence and other industries. Currently, replacement parts typically need to be transported from local or overseas storage and suppliers. “Instead of waiting for spare parts to arrive from a warehouse, an effective solution will now be on-site,” says Matthews. “For defence forces this means less downtime for repairs and a dramatic increase in the availability and readiness of aircraft.” The technology will apply to existing legacy aircraft as well as the new F35 fleet. The technology is also being adopted in RUAG’s recently established robotic laser additive manufacturing cell. A move to locally printed components could mean big savings on maintenance and spare part purchasing, scrap metal management, warehousing and shipping costs. An independent review, commissioned by BAE Systems, estimated the cost of replacing damaged aircraft components to be more than $230 million a year for the Australian Air Force. CEO and Managing Director of the IMCRC, David Chuter, believes application of this […]

Improving anomaly detection and prevention: What is your data telling you?

By Ruban Phukan, Co-Founder of Progress DataRPM and VP, Product, Progress The pace of digitisation means manufacturers today are under growing pressure to deliver perfect products in increasingly shorter timeframes, and at a lower cost. They can’t afford unplanned interruptions, unforeseen failures, or unexpected breakdowns, nor can they afford to wait until the quality check stage to identify issues that could have been avoided during the production line. According to Vanson Bourne, 82% of companies have experienced at least one unplanned downtime outage over the past three years, which can cost anywhere from $US50k-$150k per hour up to $US2 million for a major outage on an industrial critical asset. Industry research shows more than a third of the manufacturers lose 1-2% of their annual sales to scrap and rework. Data to the rescue! In order to reduce downtime, improve operational efficiencies and quality, manufacturers are heavily investing in data-led technologies. The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) for example are helping automate the process of analysing a growing number of datasets to understand and prognose machine health. Yet, most industrial anomaly detection efforts fail, with research from Capgemini showing almost 60% of organisations do not have the analytics capabilities to take advantage of the data generated from IoT sources. The issue is, many anomaly detection systems end up identifying either too many anomalies (false positives) or not enough (false negatives). Identifying true anomalies involves scouting for those “unknown unknowns”, amidst a sea of changing industrial data patterns. Avoiding downtime: Illuminating the dark spots in your industrial data The key is to detect early signals of future problems, and take proactive actions to prevent them. There are a few best practices used for anomaly detection and prediction that every manufacturer should look to follow: Rule-based/supervised […]

Swisslog’s islands of automation signpost the future of automated processes

Swisslog’s logistics automation technologies look at end-to-end supply chain and how to optimise product movement through the system, while maintaining reliability and traceability. Islands of automation are offering a solution to problems bedevilling automated processes across a broad range of industries, such as pharmaceutical, warehousing, engineering, logistics, materials handling, food and beverage and transport. Global robotics and logistics automation technology leader Swisslog has found that as automation accelerates, a common concern is that if a machine goes offline, the entire system suffers. But this is becoming less and less of a problem through the use of islands of automation, explains Jamie D’Souza, Swisslog Pharmaceutical Consultant, Jamie D’Souza, who has more than 8 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical logistics industry. Mr D’Souza’s expertise focuses particularly around the megatrends driving digitalisation and industry 4.0 – such as urbanisation, ageing society, increased health focus, e-commerce, increasingly digital lives and regulations – and how industry can best utilise technology to optimise supply chains and achieve tangible benefits. Islands of automation “The concept of islands of automation means can have several automated processes working in isolation, which can be linked up with Automatic Guided Vehicles (AGVs), with end-to-end integration,” says Mr D’Souza. The major benefits of this approach include: Redundancy – if one cell goes down, there are several others accessible, or use of a temporary manual cell. Flexibility for growth with additional cells, and ability to grow in specific areas Full integration of robots and AGVs Swisslog is currently working on a major logistics automation project in Australia with a leading bio-pharmaceutical company, where islands of automation are being utilised to optimise flexibility and redundancy. This advanced solution involves Swisslog’s robotic palletising, shrouding, wrapping and labelling technologies, linked with platform AGVs on two levels to manage all pallet logistics. Crucially, there are no major […]

Accelerated computing powering world’s fastest supercomputer

Call it the most powerful scientific tool ever built. Call it a new paradigm of computing. Just don’t call it slow, because whatever number you look at, Summit — which made its debut at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory — is flat-out fast. This massive machine, powered by 27,648 of Volta Tensor Core GPUs, can perform more than three exaops, or 3 billion billion calculations per second. That’s more than 100 times faster than Titan, previously the fastest U.S. supercomputer, completed just five years ago. And 95 percent of that computing power comes from GPUs. Built for the U.S. Department of Energy, this is a machine designed to tackle the grand challenges of our time. It will accelerate the work of the world’s best scientists in high-energy physics, materials discovery, healthcare and more, with the ability to crank out 200 petaflops of computing power to high-precision scientific simulations. This is, literally, a scientific time machine. The story behind the story: The team at Oak Ridge was the first to realise — almost a decade ago — that a new kind of computing was needed. The old paradigm of piling one transistor on top of another wouldn’t deliver the efficiency they needed. They took a risk and built Titan in 2012, the world’s fastest supercomputer, with one GPU in every node. That courage paid off. Now over 550 HPC applications are accelerated with GPUs, and all of the 15 most widely used ones. Their work reshaped supercomputing. Writing Computing’s Next Chapter Summit is the next chapter. Not just for ORNL, but for all of computing. The research team has been working with the DOE for more than 11 years on advanced technologies, including the Volta GPUs and NVLink high-speed interconnect technology at the very heart of Summit. Instead of one GPU per node, Summit has six Tensor Core […]

Microplastics: Small plastics, big problem

This glimpse of the future was crafted by Paul Stephenson Almost everything we own and buy contains plastics. Look around. If it’s not the chair you’re sitting on, or that part of a pen in your drawer, that bottle in your refrigerator, it may be this thing you’re holding ‒ your smartphone, or a keyboard, or a tablet. They are everywhere. But before you blame plastic water bottles and candy wrappers solely for climate change or marine plastic pollution, think again. It turns out, as with many other relationships, sometimes it’s the small things that create the biggest impacts. And in this case, it’s the plastics that we don’t see, the microplastics, that are about to damage the world we are living in. We have to wake up, before it’s too late. It’s not just ‘small’ stuff… The United Nation’s Environmental Programme (UNEP) identified microplastics as one of the alarming issues that we should keep an eye on as plastic pollution remains the biggest threat to marine biodiversity today. But are we already many years too late? Based on current rates of plastic pollution, the World Economic Forum predicts that by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in our oceans. Microplastics, whilst tiny, pack a big punch. They have been around for more than five decades as microbeads and microfibres ranging in size from 0.5 to 5mm in length. And we have unknowingly let them into our homes and closets, as they have replaced the natural ingredients of our personal care products, and cosmetics such as toothpaste, facial and body scrubs, and have been manufactured into some of the clothes we love to wear. However, it’s not actually the products that directly harm us, but rather what happens to them after they go down the drain. These synthetic […]

Epson launches N6 compact 6-Axis robot and hollow force sensor

Epson has launched the new N6 compact 6-axis (vertically articulated) industrial robot and the SH250LH, a new force sensor with a hollow design. Epson’s N series of compact 6-axis robots perform tasks in tight spaces more efficiently than other robots because of a uniquely engineered “folding” arm. The N6 has a longer arm (1,000 mm) and can handle higher payloads (6 kg) than Epson’s previously released N2 and is ideal for loading/unloading small electronic products and automotive parts into/from test equipment. It is also perfect for shelving/unshelving medical products and much more and has a smaller installation footprint than earlier 6-axis robots and can reach a wider range of places, from the top shelf to the bottom. These features increase productivity and the efficiency with which factory space is used. N6 Features 1. The unique arm structure and arm length give the N6 a small installation footprint while allowing it to reach high places. Taking advantage of the N series’ folding arm design and a long (1,000 mm) arm, the N6 can access locations that are higher than those that can be reached by the N2 and by Epson’s 900-mm class 6-axis robots (the C4L and C8L). Users can exploit these features by laying out factory shelves and equipment vertically instead of horizontally to enable the N6 to use previously wasted vertical space. Installation space (blue section) reduced by 75% Even with an arm length of 1,000 mm, the N6 can reach objects at the same height as the C8XL, Epson’s 1,400-mm class 6-axis robot. Moreover, because the N6 can be installed closer to shelves and equipment than a 1,400-mm arm, the installation space can be reduced*2 by about 75%. In addition to installing the N6 in narrow spaces and inside equipment where robots previously would not fit, users have […]

Swisslog’s islands of automation signpost the future of automated processes

Swisslog’s logistics automation technologies look at end-to-end supply chain and how to optimise product movement through the system, while maintaining reliability and traceability. Islands of automation are offering a solution to problems bedevilling automated processes across a broad range of industries, such as pharmaceutical, warehousing, engineering, logistics, materials handling, food and beverage and transport. Global robotics and logistics automation technology leader Swisslog has found that as automation accelerates, a common concern is that if a machine goes offline, the entire system suffers. But this is becoming less and less of a problem through the use of islands of automation, explains Jamie D’Souza, Swisslog Pharmaceutical Consultant, Jamie D’Souza, who has more than 8 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical logistics industry. Mr D’Souza’s expertise focuses particularly around the megatrends driving digitalisation and industry 4.0 – such as urbanisation, ageing society, increased health focus, e-commerce, increasingly digital lives and regulations – and how industry can best utilise technology to optimise supply chains and achieve tangible benefits. Islands of automation “The concept of islands of automation means can have several automated processes working in isolation, which can be linked up with Automatic Guided Vehicles (AGVs), with end-to-end integration,” says Mr D’Souza. The major benefits of this approach include: • Redundancy – if one cell goes down, there are several others accessible, or use of a temporary manual cell. • Flexibility for growth with additional cells, and ability to grow in specific areas • Full integration of robots and AGVs Swisslog is currently working on a major logistics automation project in Australia with a leading bio-pharmaceutical company, where islands of automation are being utilised to optimise flexibility and redundancy. This advanced solution involves Swisslog’s robotic palletising, shrouding, wrapping and labelling technologies, linked with platform AGVs on two levels to manage all pallet logistics. Crucially, there […]

Internet of Manufacturing Study Tour – What can we learn from the USA?

Thirty seven representatives from twenty six New Zealand and three Australian manufacturing companies, two business organisations (The Manufacturers’ Network and the EMA) and two government funded innovation agencies (Callaghan Innovation and the Australian IMCRC) have all combined into a study group to investigate advanced manufacturing technology at the Internet of Manufacturing Conference in Chicago and through visits to a number of U.S. manufacturing companies last week. The week was an exciting opportunity to gain insight into what U.S companies are doing in the networked manufacturing and Industry 4.0 space. There is a lot New Zealand manufacturers can learn about what works and what doesn’t – however, at the end of the day, Kiwi manufacturers have to find what works for them. It starts with getting LEAN / Continuous Improvement processes in order and incrementally investing in technology which provides the greatest productivity improvements for their business. The trip included a visit to Haas, a global brand in CNC machines, and a remarkable success story of a manufacturer that has managed to grow rapidly while keeping all of its manufacturing activities in the USA. We also visited the Trumpf Smart Factory in Schaumburg, Chicago. This is a fully operational sheet metal factory that functions as a technology showcase for sales purposes and as an Industry 4.0 technology test lab at the same time, focusing on end-to-end integration of systems and processes. We were able to see an example of individually-customised products coming through the production line, from start to finish, making use of advanced manufacturing technology to make such customisation possible. We also visited two industry-good organisations that were really impressive. One was the Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute (DMDII), part of UI Labs, a collaboration between industry, government agencies and several universities, with a simple mission statement – […]

«‹ 50 51 52 53 ›»

News Ticker

Smart Manufacturing Today