Advanced Manufacturing Now

Listen to this Smart Manufacturing magazine article: Pandemic makes case for more automation, robotics. Outbreak poised to prompt changes in the way manufacturers use automation.

Catalytic CEO Sean Chou explains the difference between process automation and robotic automation, as well as what it looks like to use automation to augment existing workflows. Importantly, he describes how manufacturers can use automation to do more with less—to lessen supply chain pressures that have grown because of globalization and the Covid-19 crisis. And he details which processes manufact...

Robotics have come a long way since the first industrial robot was installed at General Motors. Denise Ebenhoech, Regional Head of Advanced Robotics Applications at KUKA Robotics, sits down with Chris Mahar, Associate Editor, to discuss recent developments within mobile robots. From cleans rooms to job shops to moving entire airplane assemblies, autonomous mobile robots are helping manufacturers s...

John Deere's Eric Johnson discusses the company's additive manufacturing journey—with an eye toward helping small and medium businesses get going in AM. Learn about the early days of getting one of the first AM parts, as well as unrealistic expectations of the technology and how John Deere is creating value with the technology today. Finally, Johnson provides tips on unlocking the value of AM for...

Joe  LaRussa, director of seat industrial engineering at Brose North America, takes on one of the most challenging topics in manufacturing today: Nurturing, recruiting and retaining talent that will help advance the industry's digital transformation.

Grinding is a vital process for manufacturing and finishing precision parts, but some manufacturers overlook some of the key ways they can improve the grinding process. In this episode, Alan Rooks, editor in chief of Manufacturing Engineering magazine, talks with Doug Henke, technical specialist for DCM Tech, serving the South & Southeastern United States and Mexico, about the main reasons a manuf...

Bruce Morey, Senior Technical Editor for Manufacturing Engineering Magazine in this podcast engages in a wide ranging discussion on Digital Twin technology with Ron Beck, Marketing Strategy Director for Aspen Technology, Inc. 

David Tucker, automotive strategy and production development manager at HP 3D Printing, and Kyle Harvey, business unit manager for additive manufacturing at Extol, talk about HP's recent announcement of polypropylene as a material for AM, as well as how Extol is involved in HP's expansion of its 3D printing business.

Crean Inc. President James Crean discusses the post-pandemic future of manufacturing. His firm has been helping companies implement smart manufacturing tech so they can be more flexible and able to pivot, whenever necessary. Supply chains need to be brought back to the U.S., in part because of mass customization and "Amazon-time" demands, he says. He also prescribes ways for smaller companies to t...

In this podcast, Bruce Morey, Senior Technical Editor for Manufacturing Engineering magazine host Tom Jones and Isaiah Weiner, senior managers for Amazon's Cloud Services to Simulation & High Performance Computing and its role as one of the enablers that the Cloud provides for discrete manufacturing.

In this podcast, Bruce Morey, Senior Technical Editor for Manufacturing Engineering Magazine discusses with Vince Bovino, of the Bovino Consulting Group how four basic principles around incentive pay can improve an organization's performance and profitability.

Digital transformation has been a major topic for manufacturers, but what exactly is it, and how can manufacturers use it to their advantage? In this episode, Alan Rooks, Editor in Chief of Manufacturing Engineering Magazine talks with Mo Abuali, Ph. D., Managing Partner at IoTco, about what Industry 4.0, IIoT, AI, and machine learning mean to the North American manufacturing industry; how manufac...

As in other industries, U.S. forming and fabricating companies are experiencing a critical shortage of skilled labor. In this SME Media podcast, Alan Rooks, Editor in Chief of Manufacturing Engineering magazine, talks with Robert Tessier, National Director of Advanced Fabrication Technologies for Airgas about the skills gap in the forming and fabricating industry; changes needed in the education s...

COVID-19 has been a major challenge for manufacturers, not only in dealing with the economic fallout but also in how to keep operating while maintaining employee safety. In this episode, Alan Rooks, Editor in Chief of Manufacturing Engineering magazine, talks with Robert Tessier, National Director of Advanced Fabrication Technologies for Airgas, about how companies can become more resilient and co...

The response of the 3D printing community to the specific shortages during the Covid-19 pandemic has helped to quickly raise the level of awareness of 3D printing and created a lot of buzz, but the realistic, scalable response has been somewhat different than what has been in the headlines. Matt Koons/Director of Business Development for Forecast 3D discusses this in this podcast, hosted by Bruce...

Russell Waddell, managing director at the MTConnect Institute, dives into why so many standards exist, what manufacturers can gain from a digital factory project, and how they can cut through the hype—to at least achieve shop floor monitoring. MTConnect, a standard with more than 10 years of history, frees up manufacturers to focus on value-add functions instead of normalizing data. And it has bee...

Finishing operations have traditionally been manual, but automation and robotics are making major inroads in this key manufacturing process. In this podcast, Alan Rooks, Editor in Chief of Manufacturing Engineering magazine talks with Normand Stoycheff, Business Development Manager for AV&R, and Giovanni Bevilacqua, Business Development Manager also with AV&R about emerging trends in automation/ro...

Bruce Morey, Senior Technical Editor for Manufacturing Engineering Magazine discusses with Tom Jones, Principal Solutions Architect at Amazon Web Services on how manufacturers can work more efficiently and speed time to market with cloud based digital services.

Manufacturers and businesses around the globe are facing an entirely new environment for operating and selling due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. But it's not just global pandemics than can test an organization's ability to succeed. Associate Editor Chris Mahar speaks with Ankit Shah, Senior Manager, Product Marketing at Quick Base, about how low-code platforms can help businesses become...

Craig Zoberis and Davin Erickson detail how Fusion OEM discovered and implemented collaborative robots, or cobots. The company is now investing in future expert machinists by using cobots—and making headway in closing the manufacturing industry skills gap. They explain the phases of training for cobots, as well as how cobots "talk" with other machines—and how machines perform "handshakes" (and are...

Auto collisions have long been a fact of life but taking care of the damage has become a more complicated task for auto body shops in recent years. In this episode, Alan Rooks, Editor in Chief of Manufacturing Engineering magazine, talks with Shawn Moody, owner of Moody's Collision Shops, based in Gorham, Maine, about how automotive products have evolved over the past four decades; how abrasive pr...

Diego Tamburini, principal industry lead for manufacturing in the cloud + AI division of Microsoft, reviews the impact of the COVID-19 crisis in manufacturing. He shares his thoughts about how the industry should respond—and lists the attributes of manufacturers best positioned to survive the crisis. Finally, he outlines new opportunities for developers of smart manufacturing software solutions un...

With the general trend towards offering a number of products as a service, this podcast discusses the idea of Manufacturing-as-a-Service with Greg Paulsen/Director of Application Engineering for Xometry, hosted by Bruce Morey, Senior Technical Editor for Manufacturing Engineering Magazine.

New vibro-acoustic technologies are creating new opportunities, particularly in space engineering. In this podcast, Alan Rooks, Editor in Chief of Manufacturing Engineering Magazine, talks with Bryce Gardner, Lead Acoustic Scientist—Vibro-Acoustics, and Ignatius Vaz, Senior Technical Development Manager, both with ESI Group, about how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the vibro-acoustic engineeri...

Deburring can sometimes be overlooked in production planning, but it is a critical part of forming and fabricating processes. In this podcast, part one of two, Alan Rooks, Editor in Chief of Manufacturing Engineering magazine, talks with Dr. LaRoux Gillespie, a researcher, engineer, manager, consultant, and writer with an extensive knowledge base on deburring and finishing gained from decades of b...