The manufacturing industry is constantly changing in line with new technologies, business models, and physical processes. Tracking the trends in modern manufacturing can be a little dizzying. Here are some of the most prominent new trends.
Equipment As A Service
More and more manufacturing businesses are buying into the Equipment As A Service Model. Instead of purchasing machines and other types of equipment, a business can lease their equipment according to their projected level of need. This means that the costs of updating old equipment types is placed on the shoulders of the equipment provider as opposed to the manufacturing business. On the downside, smaller businesses may suffer from price fluctuations if they do not actually own their equipment.
Robotic Automation
The first robots were introduced into the manufacturing industry in the 1950s, but they could only complete very simple tasks. The Internet Of Things, increased use of data, and improved sensors make today’s robotic manufacturing solutions extremely potent. Almost all of the welding and assembly in the automobile industry is now completed by robotic arms that need minimal human interventions in order to do a good job.
Robotic automation relies heavily upon the use of a good conveyor system. Companies like fluentconveyors.com sell hinged steel conveyor belt systems that are far more stable than traditional rubber or roller systems. This allows robotic manufacturing arms to accurately find each component that they are working on without the need for complex sensor arrangements.
Robotics is essential in the creation of extremely complex and small electronic devices, vehicles, aerospace parts, and many other products.
Increased Data Analysis
Data is crucial to the constant improvement of manufacturing operations. As in many other sectors, the manufacturing sector is increasingly making use of large and varied datasets to improve profitability and safety. Data is continuously collected by machine sensors, human workforce members, sales personnel, and wider participants in the market. All of this data is analyzed by algorithms that can make complex datasets easy to visualize.
Internet Of Things
Unless you happen to have had your head in the sand or have been lucky enough to live in paradise, the chances are high that you will have at least heard of the Internet Of Things. The Internet Of Things is a buzz term used to describe an exponential increase in the interconnectivity of objects. In an Internet Of Things, each object can communicate and share data with every other object without human interference. This has obvious applications in the world of manufacturing.
Individual machines can collect and share data. In turn, this can influence the more efficient interconnected operation of an entire factory. Networked machines can prevent small errors from becoming huge, costly pile-ups on the shop floor by instantly sharing error data and deviances. It is no wonder that manufacturing bosses are salivating at the idea of the Internet Of Things being implemented throughout industry. IOT technology will be fairly standard in manufacturing within the next decade so I fyou want to get ahead of this trend, now is the time to do so.
