New Findings Reported from A. Deshpande and Co-Authors Describe Advances in Manufacturing

Defense & Aerospace

URL: http://defense-and-aerospace.verticalnews.com/articles/9148398.html  

2013 APR 16 (VerticalNews) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Journal of Technology -- New research on Manufacturing is the subject of a report. According to news originating from Cincinnati, Ohio, by VerticalNews editors, the research stated, "Purchasing the correct machine tool can have strategic implications for manufacturers, because incorrect selection will eventually lead to quality and productivity losses. Prior research has concentrated on developing an analytical decision support system to select and compare machine tools based on machine functionality-not capability."

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research, "Machine tool selection decision analyses concentrate on machine specifications and characteristics, which disregard the actual machine accuracy and dynamic performance. In this paper, the need to include machine accuracy and performance in terms of cycle time, tool wear, and surface finish is described with a case study of manufacturing a typical aerospace component using three different production methodologies on three computer numeric controller milling machines. Even though the three selected machine tools have similar technical specifications, which are adequate to manufacture the sample aerospace part, the machine accuracy and dynamic machining performance of the machines is significantly different."

According to the news editors, the research concluded: "We conclude that it is necessary to include machine tool performance and production readiness attributes and not solely rely on the specifications when considering machine tool selection and purchasing."

For more information on this research see: An empirical study to evaluate machine tool production readiness and performance. International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 2013;64(9-12):1285-1296. International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology can be contacted at: Springer London Ltd, 236 Grays Inn Rd, 6TH Floor, London WC1X 8HL, England. (Springer - www.springer.com; International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology - www.springerlink.com/content/0268-3768/)

The news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained from A. Deshpande, TechSolve Inc, Adv Machining Grp, Cincinnati, OH 45237, United States.

Keywords for this news article include: Ohio, Aerospace, Cincinnati, United States, Manufacturing, North and Central America

Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world. Copyright 2013, NewsRx LLC. Reference: http://defense-and-aerospace.verticalnews.com/articles/9148398.html  

Economics of Cloud Computing and Open Protocol on the Manufacturing Long Tail

Manufacturers are in relentless pursuit of continuous improvement in decreasing lead times, reducing costs and exploring new opportunities. Offering services along with products for additional revenue streams is becoming a commonplace. Additionally, long supply chains and fluctuating demands create a need to be agile and responsive to meet customer requirements. Effectively managing complex manufacturing operations requires accurate, granular, and real time data to make fact-based decisions. The manufacturing industry is unfortunately marred with closed architecture, highly customized and proprietary systems making it difficult to access data for analytics, business intelligence, and data mining. Even though large manufacturers might have resources for such technology, small and medium manufacturers (SMM), which account for 40% of US production output and 60% of employment, often don’t have the access and cannot justify the business case to implement manufacturing intelligence systems. Software application providers have traditionally concentrated on the larger firms which offer greater opportunity and scope. Ironically, SMMs have a great need for such manufacturing intelligence as they focus on higher-end, higher-margin products where cutting-edge technologies, responsive service, and lead times are very important. The recent advent of open source communication protocols like MTConnect and cloud-based applications has changed the business models for offering manufacturing intelligence technology solutions to SMMs. There is huge economic opportunity to serve this “long” manufacturing tail which comprise of more than 296K+ firms, employing more than 8M+ skilled labor and representing 99% of nations manufacturers. 

MTConnect is an open, royalty-free standard intended to foster greater interoperability between controls, devices and software applications by publishing data over networks using the Internet Protocol. Benefits include real time production dashboard, alerts, equipment availability and usage, overall equipment effectiveness, production reporting/tracking, visualization of maintenance tracking, problem resolution and planning, energy conservation, quality, statistical process control, data mining, genealogy and security. Additional benefits can be achieved by integrating functions such as purchase order management, master scheduling, material requirement planning and shop floor control with other business functions such as accounting, sales, maintenance and shipping. 

The cloud computing pay-per-use model is cost effective, secure, and efficient. The end-user does not have to purchase all of the required hardware, software, manage networks, software licenses, and maintain IT support staff which is very advantageous for SMMs as they often have limited human and financial resources. Additionally, while SMMs can use this data for better operations management, they can also predict and adjust to changes in the economy, technology, customer behavior, and the global marketplace. 

This paper will discuss the impact of open protocols and cloud computing for providing manufacturing intelligence applications for SMMs. A case study describing the economics of using MTConnect compliant cloud based ShopViz application at a gear manufacturing factory will be described along with benefits, limitations, return-on-investment, and future work. 

Reference: Economics of Cloud Computing and Open Protocol on the Manufacturing Long Tail; Amit Deshpande, 2014 Conference of the Society for Machinery Failure Prevention Technology (MFPT); May 20-22, 2014; Virginia Beach, VA [ SUBMITTED].