Jim and Jason are live from IMTS2018 Day 5 with guests Jim King, Andrew Benson, and Meghan West to discuss industry 4.0 and its impact on the metal-working nation. How does a machine tool manufacturer, tooling manufacturer and a CAD/CAM company work together to elevate a manufacturing business? What is industry 4.0? Listen to this episode to hear the panelists discuss their perspective on Industry 4.0 and how collaboration is driving innovation.
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One of the benefits of Industry 4.0 for manufacturers is the ability to collect data and increase both speed and efficiency in their shop. Jim King says that Industry 4.0 means collecting data and then analyzing it to improve the quality of manufacturing. Ultimately, data collection can help business owners make good decisions. Jim also shares the benefit of interfacing with the end user to understand their needs so that his company can build better tools.
For Meghan West, President at CNC Software, Industry 4.0 is about connectivity and integration. Without a machine tool, the software that her company creates is useless. However, pairing the software with the tool allows users to optimize their experience. Throughout the panel discussion, the theme of collaboration emerges as everyone discusses the benefit of integration and shared information.
Andrew Benson says that Industry 4.0 is allowing Iscar Metals to eliminate variability through digitization. Using indexable tools has increased the precision and predictability so that the quality of the work coming from a manufacturing floor is better. He shares the value of repeatability and how reconditioned tools might become obsolete because of the unwanted variability they introduce. Just like the other panelists, Andrew Benson sees collaboration as an important component of manufacturing. He says, “to support the factory of the future, a company can’t be an island unto itself.”
In the past, companies were very secretive about the machines they were building. Rather than working together, they considered competitors to be threats to their success. However, there has been a shift in the manufacturing world that now encourages collaboration. Companies are working together, sharing data and solving problems together to push innovation forward. Industry 4.0 is leading to more collaboration that is propelling the manufacturing industry.
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