Keep the Assembly Line Moving
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This week: C-Suite changes; AI transforms parts manufacturing, eliminates downtime, and manages industrial code; Capturing energy deep inside the earth; Light-speed computers; New chemical catalysts.
Exponential Industry
“A factory deserves more innovation and more engineering skill than the product itself.”
Elon Musk
For most of the last 50 years, US manufacturing productivity, the increase of production of goods with relatively fewer inputs, has increased at an exponential rate. The chart above shows this phenomenon throughout the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s. This period is commonly referred to as the Third Industrial Revolution and was marked by the adoption of transformative technologies such as general purpose computers, microelectronics (PLCs, microcontrollers, etc.), telecommunications, and robotics bringing high-level automation to industry. Following the Global Financial Crisis in 2010, manufacturing productivity has leveled off. The Bureau of Labor Statistics and many others have studied this great stagnation in comprehensive detail. The way forward is uncertain, but there is hope that emerging manufacturing technologies will return us to these exponential productivity gains that go back to the First Industrial Revolution starting in the late 1700s.
The Exponential Industry blog and newsletter covers the next wave of innovation of smart manufacturing and supply chains as part of the Fourth Industrial Revolution or Industry 4.0. The Industry 4.0 trend of automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies is well underway but many questions of what is possible still persist. This blog seeks to build community across engineers, managers, and observers innovating within industry through weekly coverage of the latest in Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI), 3D printing, cyber-physical systems, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), robotics, and more!
Recent Posts
Moon Concrete and Drunk-Free Tanks at Holiday Dinner
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Waterless concrete heads to the moon. New fermentation tech delivers full flavor in 48 hours. HENN validates assembly quality data in minutes. Capabilities to build a modern industrial data system.
Mixed Screw Assembly Floor Plan
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The best floor plan is the one where there’s a bed for the CEO. Advanced screws and fasteners hold together some of the world’s most sophisticated manufactured products, to the surprise of X laymen.
Inside the Industrial Technology Revival
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IT/OT Convergence enables remote operations offerings and industrial AI apps for machine health and chip testing. Building the first internet-scale repository of robot actions.
Spot a Cost Reduction for Operations
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This week’s digest includes autonomous mobile robots, megacasting, friction stir welding, drill bit optimization, metal 3D printers, ghost teaching robots, and FPGA process control.