AI factories could be the next step for smart manufacturing.

Joined-up thinking is a concept that can deliver a multitude of benefits. Where there are many differing interests to satisfy, bringing together ideas and coordinating actions in a holistic approach can lead to a better outcome for all. Not the least, it can reduce duplication of efforts and resources, making processes more streamlined and cost-effective.

In practice, joined-up thinking is often difficult to achieve. Institutional barriers, differing priorities among stakeholders, and the sheer number and diversity of variables to evaluate and manage can conspire to thwart the best intentions.

Manufacturing is a complex sequence of events that demands substantial joined-up thinking simply to make it happen and see a result coming off the production line. Increasingly, however, this is not enough in the modern world. Numerous related factors must be considered, especially the environmental impact of our activities. Smart manufacturing has enabled us to address some of these issues, connecting the factory and IT domains and bringing manufacturing data into enterprise systems to enhance planning and historical analysis for continuous improvement. This is joined-up thinking 2.0, if you like.

Another changeover task gets an Industry 4.0 makeover.

“Work smarter, not harder” is a phrase that – perhaps surprisingly to some – originated in the 1930s. For nearly a century, this well-known mantra has challenged workers to manage tasks with intelligence and available resources to deliver more effective results. Today, we have significant technological advances and software capability to thank for helping analyze and automate processes for maximum efficiency. For the stencil printing operation, one of the most output-limiting tasks is product or stencil changeover. Changeover is necessary, but there is still room for efficiency improvement to minimize downtime.

It’s true that for many stencil printing changeover activities, engineering solutions have already been developed. There are more mechanically complex remedies, such as universal automatic board support tooling innovations, which have significantly reduced downtime. Software-controlled mechanics have also transformed procedures like stencil loading into the correct position, automatic rail width adjustments, alignment routines, and many other previously manual tasks. One action that hasn’t been successfully tackled, however, is material exchange. So, our company decided to take it on.

They may be a hassle, but audits can provide valuable insights and ideas for your company.

During the fourth quarter of this year, it seems that everyone and their brother have scheduled audits at my company. Some are for certifications such as ISO 9001 and AS9100. Others are customer-driven, as the cloud of Covid has at least partially lifted and after a three-year hiatus customers are able to travel to meet their suppliers. I have always hated audits; however, I also have learned that they can be a powerful tool when incorporated into the business planning process.

First, a disclaimer: I truly hate audits, for three basic reasons.

First, those conducting the audit – especially certification audits – have no clue what you make, the manufacturing challenges faced in producing the product, or industry-specific acceptability standards related to the product that you must meet. These auditors just follow a flat checklist and try to jam the proverbial square peg (your facility) into a round hole (their certification program).

"Non-standard" head shapes mean flex circuits are a given.

We've come a long way in the AR/VR space. It seems like we're going to have this stuff whether we want it at the moment or not. It's kind of like the Northwest Passage through the ice cap. It's new. We're not sure what the result looks like, but we're charging ahead with a virtual and/or augmented future.

Set the wayback machine to 1939, when both my father and the View-Master stereoscope entered the room. This wasn't long after Kodachrome was invented, so it was cutting-edge at the time. We put circular cards into the slot and could browse seven different views that somehow tricked the eye into seeing depth from isolating each eye on two similar slides (Figure 1).

Back in "real" reality, this technology still has a lot of room to grow. It was about a decade ago when virtual reality started to bubble up into the lexicon at Google. We knew that a new industry was coming into existence and wanted to at least provide a gateway to the content. A group adjacent to the Chrome team developed a product called "Cardboard" that reminded me of the View-Master.