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Articles by Sam Russem
How to Craft a Smart Manufacturing Business Case
The implementation of smart manufacturing, manufacturing execution systems and Industry 4.0 projects all require compelling business cases that effectively communicate the value of their investment, especially as projects move out of the pilot phase and into rollouts at scale.
Automation helps combat labor shortages
Research suggests many are filling the growing manufacturing skills gap with automation and controls. Control Engineering research, “Purchasing Considerations for Automation Systems & Control Systems” shows an increase in spending for the next 12 months in most categories. Survey respondents were given a list of 15 product categories in automation processes; of those, respondents expected to increase in spending in 14 categories in the next 12 months.
Semiconductor degrees program launched
In the next five years, a minimum of 50,000 trained semiconductor engineers will be needed in the United States to meet the overwhelming and rapidly growing demand. In response, Purdue University has launched a comprehensive set of innovative, interdisciplinary degrees and credentials in semiconductors and microelectronics.
Five tips for women who want to succeed in engineering
Being fearless has helped Dr. Lorena Caires Moreira forge a career in the male-dominated world of engineering – now the Coventry University researcher says it is one of her five top tips for future female engineers.
What’s needed to get started for an automation career
It’s a great time get started on a career in automation. After all, demand for robots has never been stronger as more industries look to automation to increase productivity and alleviate ongoing labor shortages. Association for Advancing Automation (A3) statistics show that the number of robots sold in 2021 rose 28% over 2020, making 2021 the strongest year ever. Market- and customer-based research consultancy Forrester expects increased demand to continue.
Preparing for career changes as an engineer Original
Learning Objectives Manufacturing is constantly changing due to technology and cultural changes. Engineers can stay ahead of the curve by being versatile. Volunteer for new roles and challenges as much as possible. Manufacturing operations are constantly changing. The uncertainty around COVID-19, supply chain issues and corporate restructuring and consolidation in the industry has exasperated that change.
Remote intelligence enables many-to-many solutions
Significant and permanent changes to the workforce are requiring companies to accelerate adoption of remote access technologies in general and improved remote intelligence in particular. Traditional remote solutions were adopted out of necessity due to geographically distributed industrial assets, but today the workforce is increasingly geographically dispersed due to the social and business impacts of COVID-19.
Improve plant efficiency through remote monitoring and diagnostics
In hydrocarbon processing, refineries and tank farms suffer from inefficiencies that result in serious losses. These losses often take the form of fugitive emissions and downtime due to failure or maintenance. The unplanned shutdowns caused by component failure and unnecessary maintenance decrease a plant’s output, while fugitive emissions contribute to a facility’s carbon footprint.
How augmented reality, Industry 4.0 can improve worker safety, productivity
A technician retires from a chemical facility. Shortly after the farewell party, something goes wrong with a piece of equipment. Nobody on the job can quite figure out what the problem is so they bring the technician back out of retirement. He walks around and listens to the machines for about 30 minutes before settling on one where he moves a single knob 20 degrees to the left. He says, “All set. That’ll be $10,000.” His old colleagues balk at the high price for such a short job.
Four benefits from aligning IT, OT
As the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and other data-centric concepts are realized in businesses and on factory floors all over the world, the practice of aligning operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) is becoming more and more necessary.
Ensure industrial control system networks reliability and security
Courtesy: Virtual Training Week from CFE Media and Technology and Wago Corp. A seasoned and professional speaker, Mark Immordino, will in a session on the third day of CFE Media’s 2021 Fall Virtual Training Week, October 20, share his presentation on best practices for industrial control system networks. Immordino is a field product training engineer for Wago Corp.
The organizational implications of digital transformation
To better manage the convergence of operational technologies (OT) and information technologies (IT) in manufacturing and other industrial companies, Prouty advocates the formation of digital engineering groups reporting to the company’s chief operating officer (COO). As Prouty says in the abstract for his presentation: Everyone talks about digital transformation and the application of technology to enable new or modified business processes.
Social distancing and real-time locating systems
It’s been a turbulent time during the COVID-19 pandemic. One bad piece of news seemingly follows another. While we’re very lucky to be able to keep operations running from our home office, for many of our customers this is not possible. We naturally have been following the developments in society, politics and the economy with highest interest. Exchanging ideas and thoughts on a daily basis on how to adapt to the constantly changing circumstances.
IIoT networking framework published
The Industry IoT Consortium (IIC) announced the Industrial Internet of Things Networking Framework (IINF) publication. The framework guides Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) stakeholders on designing and developing the appropriate networking solutions to enable IIoT applications and stimulate industrial digital transformation.
IIoT trustworthiness for cyber-physical systems defined
The Industry IoT Consortium (IIC) published IIoT Trustworthiness Framework Foundations. This foundational document explains the key concepts and benefits of trustworthiness in context, relating it to the real-world supply chain and offering model approaches. Trustworthiness is essential to government and commercial organizations with cyber-physical systems impacting the safety and well-being of people and the environment.
Top 5 Plant Engineering articles Sept. 6-12, 2021
The top 5 most read articles online, from Sept. 6-12, 2021, for Plant Engineering covered the engineering leaders under 40, how to vitalize digital transformation, building secure energy and power grids for the future, and more. Links to each article below. 1. Engineering Leaders Under 40, Class of 2021 Meet the engineers who are exceeding expectations and improving operations as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. 2.
Great smart manufacturing initiatives deserve great funding Original
Learning Objectives Calculating return on investment (ROI) is critical for a smart manufacturing project. Benefits include increased revenue, reduced risk and more. Cost sources include staff support, planning and project development. After a long search, you have the project that will turn the company around.
Six steps for supporting an automation system
Learning Objectives Like coding, troubleshooting is a unique and special set of skills, and each person may have a slightly different approach to resolving issues. A well-built system will provide evidence of what is happening in the event something is not working properly. Usually, it’s not going to be possible to restart servers in a manufacturing system without taking down other, still functional parts.
Address strategic flow control concerns
How will U.S. industry restructure to support the reshoring of productive capacity from overseas? One challenge will be finding the skilled workers to fill those repatriated positions. While automation and the growing scope and scale of software applications may eliminate repetitive, unsafe or manual work, computerization itself calls for a skilled workforce.
What is a digital thread?
Learning Objectives Eliminating data silos with digital thread. Contextualizing data to make way for useable information. Improving data agility and quality, decreasing errors. Modern manufacturing creates an enormous amount of data for every product that leaves the factory. From product design files, to quality test results, to supply chain logistics, to consumer feedback: we are reliant on the accuracy and availability of data throughout the product lifecycle.
Why Does Industry 4.0 Depend on Data?
By Sam Russem Data is the raw material from which we make decisions. With the proper context, data becomes information, and when faced with a problem, we use this information to make the best decision we can to solve it. As we adopted more computer- and PLC-based controls for Industry 3.0, there was a movement to automate the collection of data to make it faster, more accurate, and more comprehensive than what manual collection methods could support.
Advice for a manufacturing pandemic response plan Original
By David N. Erby December 13, 2020 The year 2020 started like most years, but by the time March ended, it was clear the challenges and issues our society faced were unprecedented. The country went into a lockdown state by state and travel was restricted to essential activities. Most of our manufacturing customers were deemed essential operations and so production needed to continue.
How to build a business case Original
Problems are the driving force behind projects that demand business solutions. Company leadership recognizes this need and relies heavily on cross-functional teams to study feasibility and determine if a business case can be developed (see Figure 1). Management uses a business case to quantitatively and qualitatively determine the economic feasibility of an effort currently lacking in definition.
How power and wireless limitations thwart IIoT potential
By Dr. David Wentzloff December 12, 2020 The ultimate promise of the industrial internet of things (IIoT) is an explosion of digital data from the physical world that, used properly can improve the efficiency and quality of our lives across a range of settings, from our homes and cities to our factories and offices and everything in between. According to the World Economic Forum, humanity will have generated roughly 44 zettabytes of data by the end of 2020.
Implementing secure remote access and MES Original
The COVID-19 global pandemic is impacting every individual, every community and every company across the globe. The uncertainty of this pandemic altered production and operations for North American manufactures across all sectors. Some sectors saw orders and demand increase during this time, while other sectors suffered.
How air casters integrate CNC machining and business operations Original
CNC machines present a conundrum for many manufacturing operations, but a solution is available. Automated and highly accurate, computer numerical control (CNC) tools are used by manufacturers who produce complex parts at high volume. Getting these and similar machines into the manufacturing facility, however, can be a major challenge.
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