Think of Werma and you will probably imagine images of flashing lights, beacons and sirens found in so many diverse applications in industry. Always a technology leader in the development of more sophisticated signal lights, Werma has most recently been developing innovative smart systems for process control and warning systems on the factory shop-floor.
For manufacturers interested in harnessing Industry 4.0, condition monitoring is often a quick win. It can reduce downtime, extend the lifetime of equipment, and improve Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). Like Industry 4.0, however, it is also in danger of becoming another “buzzword”. David Manning-Ohren, Condition Monitoring Manager at ERIKS UK, sheds some light on how to implement condition monitoring effectively, regardless of the business or the budget.
Offshore oil rigs can be extremely dangerous places to work. Over the last few decades, several offshore explosions have led to environmental disasters and the death of workers. Regulations have so far failed to stop fatal accidents from occurring. But with developments in technology, particularly the rise of automation, we’re hoping that future accidents can be reduced.
This article shows how valuable manufacturing production line downtime in the pharmaceutical industry can be reduced by ensuring predictive maintenance of tablet making machinery using Harting’s MICA industrial computing platform.
In aircraft manufacturing, much of the milling, drilling and assembly is still done by hand because the raw components vary not only in size and design, but also in shape accuracy. Small differences are unavoidable in extremely lightweight and elastic materials, which poses a challenge for automated processing. Working with an industrial consortium, Fraunhofer researchers developed a mobile robot that is able to handle these high requirements – the only robot in the world with this capability.
With technology turning vehicles into platforms of innovation, through leveraging security, efficiency and computing power performance, it’s time for manufacturers to become ‘smarter’ when it comes to deploying the right technologies throughout the production and post-purchase lifecycle. This is where AI, machine learning and predictive analytics can enable manufacturers to gain full visibility and control of manufacturing processes.