HOW INTELLIGENT AUTOMATION DRIVES CUSTOMER-CENTRICITY IN MANUFACTURING

whitePaper | June 10, 2022

Manufacturing continues to move further into the digital age, but for many small and medium-sized shops, the concept of Industry 4.0 still seems out of reach. Many of these manufacturers understand that they need to take advantage of digitization to remain competitive, but they are not sure where to begin or what technologies they can integrate For the highest return on investment (ROI). Fortunately, relatively inexpensive turnkey digital solutions have simplified this process – and made it possible for manufacturers of all sizes to realize the benefits of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) with access to tool identification, inventory management and machine monitoring

whitePaper | January 9, 2023

Modern manufacturing theory, tools, and best practices are focused on how to make thousands or millions of identical parts or products at a low cost per unit. Custom and low volume production pose unique challenges that require manufacturers to adapt from typical mass production models. Thanks to the rapid development of technologies and materials over the last decade, additive manufacturing has grown more capable as a true manufacturing tool and can now enable the fabrication of these custom and low volume end-use parts rapidly and cost-efficiently. This white paper presents Formlabs 3D printing hardware and material solutions for end-use part production. It documents various users' case studies and includes stress testing results to verify the suitability of 3D printing materials for end-use applications.

whitePaper | August 29, 2022

With the evolution of Industry 4.0 and the focus placed on lean manufacturing, the contemporary smart factory is expected to have made the transition to a fully connected, flexible, transparent, and maximally automated system. The realm of legacy industrial machines and industrial automation systems is becoming increasingly obsolete as companies are consolidating knowledge and insight and integrating legacy devices into novel IoT infrastructures.

whitePaper | August 1, 2020

Today’s manufacturers are under pressure to be more flexible, reduce downtime and costs and increase efficiencies. In addition to making new investments in production and technology, data-driven manufacturing companies are responding to these pressures by leveraging the capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI), the industrial internet of things, (IIoT), cloud computing technologies and innovations in smart measurement and quality data management systems—resulting in greater visibility into their operations. Read our whitepaper, “Smart Measuring Systems for the Smart Factory,” to learn how Mitutoyo is helping advance factory intelligence.

whitePaper | November 4, 2022

For manufacturers, the challenge of ensuring that production efficiency is improved to the point that’s right first time, every time, is critical towards the ultimate goal of achieving zero defect manufacturing and all of the associated cost and sustainability benefits.

whitePaper | September 4, 2022

It’s the clarion call of today’s marketplace and the prime directive for executives in any business that designs or produces physical goods, no matter how simple or sophisticated. Fortunately, every product can be improved and made at less cost. But how quickly a company can satisfy such demands – before, say, its competitors do, or the market moves on to something new – is largely a function of the product-development cycle. Shorten that cycle, and you can improve the numbers across the board, from customer satisfaction to market share to profitability. However, one seemingly intractable barrier to faster product development lies within the traditional design process. That process starts with identifying a need in the market or within one’s organization; it ends with the manufacture of a finished product, whether a massive, complex assembly or one tiny part. In between are multiple iterations of designs and tests: engineers sketch out a solution, prototype and test it (or run a computerized simulation), and then go back to the design to address any shortcomings. But trade-offs complicate matters each time the cycle repeats: make a part lighter and it’s likely to become weaker, make it stronger and it will probably cost more, and so on. A workable, if not optimal, solution can usually be found. However, finding it often takes longer than the product-development timeline or budget will allow.