WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation

A detailed study of machine intelligence in industrial and manufacturing operations reveals the surprisingly different paths companies can take. But a group of leaders shares similar characteristics.

Every Western institution was unprepared for the coronavirus pandemic, despite many prior warnings. This monumental failure of institutional effectiveness will reverberate for the rest of the decade, but it's not too early to ask why, and what we need to do about it... Our nation and our civilization were built on production, on building. We built roads and trains, farms and factories, then the computer, the microchip, the smartphone, and uncounted thousands of other things that we now take for granted, that are all around us, that define our lives and provide for our well-being. There is only one way to create the future we want for our own children and grandchildren, and that's to build.

The coronavirus outbreak will continue to propel funding, acquisitions, partnerships, and experimentation by brands and retailers as they are forced to grapple with global supply challenges posed by our increasingly interdependent world.

Regardless of the coronavirus’s impact on the global economy, we will surely face a similar situation in the future; brands, retailers, and their supply chains will need to be prepared.

TrainAR features include:

• Create, edit and deploy training modules quickly and easily
• Included templates implement best practices for world-class AR content creation
• Create modules for overviews, step-by-step lessons, and certification testing
• Set up new trainees, issue and manage digital certifications
• Real time data viewer tracks and displays key training metrics on the monitor
• Collect and retain detailed records of training experiences

We present the first computational approach that can transform 3D meshes, created by traditional modeling programs, directly into instructions for a computer-controlled knitting machine. Knitting machines are able to robustly and repeatably form knitted 3D surfaces from yarn, but have many constraints on what they can fabricate. Given user-defined starting and ending points on an input mesh, our system incrementally builds a helix-free, quad-dominant mesh with uniform edge lengths, runs a tracing procedure over this mesh to generate a knitting path, and schedules the knitting instructions for this path in a way that is compatible with machine constraints. We demonstrate our approach on a wide range of 3D meshes.

Light Guide Systems, an augmented reality tool that is transforming manual assembly and manufacturing processes for companies worldwide, is working with HP Inc., to launch a new technology tool—Light Guide Systems PRO. Utilizing the immersive computing platform Sprout PRO by HP, Light Guide Systems PRO modernizes manual assembly processes in commercial and education applications.

Introducing the Light Guide PRO™

Light Guide Systems helps reduce errors and radically improves manufacturing assembly processes by projecting directly onto a predefined and established operating “canvas” designed for small parts while providing audio and visual prompts, guidance, pacing and direction. Light Guide Systems PRO™ takes the tool to the next level by incorporating its proprietary software into the powerful yet compact Sprout PRO PC platform to deliver a clean and compact package that is portable, flexible and affordable.

As digital technology erodes profit and revenue growth, why aren’t companies responding with bold strategies?

Each of these items gives us clues to what the future of manufacturing might look like.

What AI can — and cannot — do for your organization.

The robots are indeed already here. I work at a university where my job is teaching students and doing research and robotics and so I really what I want to convey to you today is the trends that I see robotics research going that will ultimately turn into actual products and directions that you might be able to take advantage of in the future.

A new type of audit system that digitizes the process is transforming on-site facility inspection programs. This advanced system increases the effectiveness of factory audits as a risk management tool, and provides new insights into the efficiency of remote manufacturing operations. By linking risk and product quality to inspection outcomes, digitized audits also can deliver cost savings and process improvements.

Predix, GE's cloud-based platform (PaaS) for Industrial Internet applications, combines people, machines, big data and analytics. Discover Predix today.

Crafting with CNC mills, routers and other power tools isn't all that easy, especially if you're new to it. You'll frequently want a template, and it's all too easy to mess up a cut if you haven't developed a steady hand. Shaper doesn't think it has to be daunting, though: it's launching Origin, an augmented reality power cutter.