Smart Manufacturing Blog

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Demystifying IIoT: Terms Every Manufacturer Should Know

Anurag Garg August 27, 2019

By now, you’ve heard a lot about the industrial Internet of things (IIoT). It’s a network of always-connected things and systems that produce a steady stream of data, which can generate compelling synergistic analytics that could be used to increase the overall efficiency of a manufacturing operation among other things. ...

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Making Sense of MES and MOM

Stu Johnson August 20, 2019

If you’re serious about improving your manufacturing operations and have shopped around for systems to help you achieve your goals, you’ve probably run into two commonly used terms: manufacturing execution system (MES), and manufacturing operations management (MOM). Just when you learned what MES meant, you probably discovered that MOM means basically the same thing....

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Manufacturers in Mexico Take on Industry 4.0 and IIoT

David Lara August 15, 2019

Mexico has traditionally been a desirable location for U.S. manufacturers to expand their facilities because of the low cost of labor. But the country has positioned itself as a viable competitor within the manufacturing industry. Mexico’s number one export is manufactured products and it is the seventh largest auto manufacturer—recently surpassing Japan as the second-largest U.S. auto parts…

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Digitizing Continuous Improvement in the Global Automotive Supply Chain

Dave Morfas August 13, 2019

As an automotive supplier, there is a lot you need to manage and deliver in a complex global supply chain. First and foremost, your customers demand that you demonstrate the ability to meet their requirements or you lose their business....

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Industrial IoT and the Pragmatic Manufacturer: Lessons Learned from Prime Day 2019

Anurag Garg July 25, 2019

There is quite a lot of hype surrounding the Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) within the manufacturing industry. Large-scale Industrial IoT pilots driven by enterprise-focused technology companies paint pictures of fully-connected and automated plants, complete with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) that promise ROI but require large early investments of time and capital…

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Cloud Manufacturing Software: Understanding SaaS Solution Availability

Todd Weeks July 18, 2019

Cloud-based software is all around us. From the social networks you use to connect with family, to the app that you use to pay your friend back for lunch, the cloud enables the technology that we rely upon to process incredible amounts of data....

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Canada APMA 2019: Survival of the Fastest—and Most Adaptive

Mike Hart July 9, 2019

I recently had the privilege of speaking at Canada’s Automotive Parts Manufacturer’s Association (APMA) Annual Conference and Exhibition in Windsor, Ontario and what struck me was the amount of change happening within this industry. One example of this is for the first, time conference organizers added an entire day to the schedule dedicated to technology....

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3 Things About ERP Implementations Most Manufacturers Don’t Know

Dave Morfas June 28, 2019

A recent survey conducted by Mint Jutras and commissioned by Ultra Consultants looked at ERP implementations—whether they are doomed to fail or whether ROI expectations are high enough. For small- to mid-sized manufacturers, ERP is an endeavor that becomes necessary as the business grows since managing a complex operation with spreadsheets is unsustainable....

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Toyotetsu America, Inc. Leads Industry with Lean Supply Chain Visibility and Connected Manufacturing

Lori Zoellner June 25, 2019

As a top ten supplier for Toyota, Toyotetsu America, Inc. (TTAI) saw an opportunity to influence and improve supplier communication and collaboration within its global supply chain by digitizing its operations. TTAI makes body parts, functional parts, and chassis parts for Toyota, Nissan, GM, Tesla, and Subaru. ...

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6 Myths About an Industrial IoT Implementation

Stu Johnson June 18, 2019

As more manufacturers take a serious look at the benefits of Industrial IoT, understanding what an implementation will involve becomes important. But before we get into the list of myths about an Industrial IoT implementation, I’d like to reiterate what I’ve said about Industrial IoT before:...

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