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From drones and 3D printing to assistance from cryptocurrency and the IoT, here are the hottest trends making waves in the manufacturing industry this year. 1.  AN INTERNATIONAL RISE IN DRONE AND ROBOT SPENDING According to analyst firm IDC, spending on drones and robotics systems is slated to total a whopping $115.7 billion in 2019, which constitutes a 17.6% rise from last year. “Industrial robotics continues to top the technology investment priorities of manufacturing organizations across all major markets surveyed by IDC in 2018,” says research director at worldwide Robotics, Dr. Jing Bing Zhang. Research director for Commercial Service Robotics, John Santagate, agrees. “The …

As the New Year gets underway, we’ll start to see new trends in the industry. Here are a few exciting topics to keep a watch out for: Senior Housing Communities Facility Updates There is a potential new pipeline of senior housing construction work focused on retooling employee spaces at existing senior communities to be on par with those in new-construction developments. While they are often mostly cosmetic in nature, these projects pose unique challenges in that they involve working in and around an operating facility. New potential to fill existing retail vacancies Retail news was pretty negative in 2018, with …

With 2019, we can expect the manufacturing industry to see revolutionary advancements and reach new heights progressing further into the industry 4.0. While these modern trends are going to open multiple doors of opportunities for the manufacturing businesses, it is needless to say that businesses will have to step up their strategic game to keep up with the on-going advancements. In 2019, it is crucial for manufacturing industries to equip themselves with advanced tools and modern systems, setting themselves up for accurately identifying potential risks and threats and getting actionable insights. Gathering essential data the right way at the right …

There is little doubt that “clean energy in manufacturing” is a hot topic of conversation both nationally and internationally. Manufacturers strive to create and maintain the best energy usage without adding pollution to the environment. In fact, without clean energy advances, American manufacturers may risk losing their competitive edge over foreign competition. For this reason, brainstorming sessions have occurred, and the latest reports indicate five pathways to reduce the industry’s greenhouse gas emissions and energy waste: Implementing currently under-utilized co-generation systems, also known as combined heat and power (CHP), which generate electric power and thermal energy from a single fuel …

Building Information Modeling, or BIM, is a way of representing buildings, roads, and utilities. Architects and engineers can use the models to show how building materials will hold up over time. Owners can create maintenance schedules with BIM models. However, BIM is more than just drawings and models. BIM as a process brings all the stakeholders together to communicate around the model. With the model as the center point of a project, BIM benefits contractors by facilitating a more collaborative building process. Preconstruction The optimal use of BIM during preconstruction is for the contractor to work alongside the designer to …

In an increasingly global and technical marketplace, it’s more important than ever for businesses to utilize the best process to thrive and grow. Manufacturers must examine how to make their work process leaner. Lean is about driving a customer-focused culture across businesses, operations and people, to deliver products that meet customer requirements on time, on budget, and with high quality. Lean Manufacturing is a series of applied practices that eliminate wasteful activities from the production process to improve efficiency and profitability. By examining the following five lean manufacturing principles, businesses can learn how to begin promoting lean manufacturing. 1) Value: …

Timing is everything when it comes to maintaining an efficient heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system. Making smart decisions about your HVAC system can affect utility bills and comfort significantly. As a business owner or owner of a rental building, comfort plays a huge role in keeping your clients content. To maintain an efficient HVAC system, or when you should pay extra attention to your HVAC system, consider the following: When rooms feel too hot or too cold, inadequate air sealing or insufficient insulation could be the cause. No matter how efficient your heating and cooling system is, if …

Flexible manufacturing is an integrated system of computer-controlled machines, transportation, and handling systems under the control of a larger computer. Flexibility is attained by having an overall system of control that directs the functions of both the computer-controlled equipment and handling systems. These computer systems are designed to be programmed or grouped easily with other devices to allow fast and economical changes in the manufacturing process. This ability aids in enabling quick responses to market changes and enabling mass customization of products. The following information discusses what makes a system flexible and the make-up an entire flexible manufacturing system.  Flexibility …

Replacing the roof of your commercial building is a substantial investment. For that reason, you need to know when to replace it. Obviously, you want to get as much life out of your current roof as you can. But waiting too long to replace your roof can be costly. If water gets in through a leaky roof, you’ll end up paying for a new roof plus interior and exterior repairs. One of the biggest mistakes many owners make is to wait until their roof starts leaking to replace it. Without a solid roof, water can get in and cause all …

What is Flexible Manufacturing? Since the 1970s, flexible manufacturing systems have helped companies to create products quickly and more efficiently. It is designed to react and adapt to changes, unexpected issues, or problems with the production process. Today, Flexible manufacturing systems still work to improve the production process and offer two types of flexibility: machine and routing flexibility. Machine flexibility refers to how much a system can change to create new product types. It also describes how a system can change the order of operations on a specific part. Routing flexibility is the ability of a system to use many …