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Modern Manufacturing
Plex Manufacturing Blog
Quality 4.0 and the Industrial IoT
Quality is one of the top concerns of most manufacturers. End customers demand quality products so OEMs demand quality performance all the way down their supply chains. There’s no tolerance for delivering anything but a quality product....
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Demystifying IIoT: Terms Every Manufacturer Should Know
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
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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Digitizing Continuous Improvement in the Global Automotive Supply Chain
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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How is the Canadian Manufacturing Industry Responding to Change?
The Canadian Manufacturing industry is undergoing significant change. Caused in part by new competitive pressures from globalization, an aging workforce, and aging production technologies, Canadian manufacturers are looking at new ways to innovate their key manufacturing processes to help sustain and improve their position in the global market....
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Canada APMA 2019: Survival of the Fastest—and Most Adaptive
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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Why Should You Care About Industrial IoT?
You are a manufacturing supplier that prides yourself on quality performance and on-time delivery. You’ve invested heavily in production equipment and have the best people to help your run the business. You have a manufacturing ERP system that keeps all of your departments connected to the latest information and enables them to work effectively from customers to suppliers and from the top floor…
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Manufacturers: The Future Workforce Starts with First
It’s no secret: the future of manufacturing depends on workers. And right now, manufacturers are facing an astounding worker shortage. Experts predict the skills gap may leave an estimated 2.4 million manufacturing positions unfilled between 2018 and 2028, putting manufacturers at serious risk of not being able to keep pace with customer demands. ...
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3 Ways Manufacturers Are Tackling the Skilled Worker Shortage
You’ve told us that finding and keeping a skilled workforce is one of your top challenges. And we know the gap is only going to increase with 25 percent of U.S. manufacturing employees are 55 years old or older and Baby Boomers are retiring at a rate of 10,000 people per day.[1] If that wasn’t challenging enough, you also might be missing out on additional revenue streams because you can’t hire…
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2019 PMA Leadership Conference: Forming Our Future
One thing became very clear to me attending the 2019 PMA Leadership Conference, there is no shortage of challenges facing the manufacturing industry right now. Tariffs are making raw materials so expensive it’s difficult to compete. The skilled worker shortage continues to be a thorn most manufacturers are still grappling with. And the need to innovate while driving efficiency is always critical…
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Connectivity and Visibility in the Supply Chain Critical for Global Manufacturing
Supply chain visibility helps manufacturers drive down the cost of operations and speed time-to-market. Visibility is difficult to achieve however without connectivity. Connectivity between systems enables more visibility throughout the supply chain—from demand to order to delivery and everywhere in between....
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Data Analytics Use Maturing Among Manufacturers
The face of manufacturing looks very different in 2019 than it did 10 years ago; increased competition, downward pricing pressures, tougher supply chain requirements, ageing infrastructure, and a diminishing manufacturing workforce—manufacturers have been challenged to look for ways to do more with less in order to remain competitive. ...
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Survey Says: Manufacturers, Choose Technology Wisely
There are thousands of technology innovations now available to manufacturers, from new equipment to robotics, software, business intelligence tools, wearables, and sensors. The sheer number of choices available means manufacturers must work harder than ever to find the signal in the noise....
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Spend Time with Family and Friends This Holiday Season (Instead of Counting Inventory)
It’s that time of year again. When tinsel and toys fill nearly every store window on nearly every corner of nearly every street in the U.S.A. It’s also when most manufacturers block days off on the calendar to do a physical inventory. ...
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Designing an Adaptable User Experience for Manufacturing Today (and Tomorrow)
Technology is in transition. Technology is always in transition, but today that transition is noticeably changing how we operate. One of the biggest changes we are adapting to in manufacturing is the move from desktops and workstations to handheld devices....
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