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ADVANCED MANUFACTURING NOW Sascha Fischer


The World is Flatter, But Look to the Horizon Still a I


n his book, The World Is Flat, Thomas Friedman detailed the ten “fl atteners” that would eventually trend toward the “level playing fi eld” that’s synonymous with his work’s title. Workfl ow software, outsourcing and supply chain, all


pretty radical ideas at the time, have all come to pass, along with other forces in manufacturing. Today, America has an aging workforce and fewer job positions in the “traditional” OEM sector. Further challenging this scenario is the disap- pearance of “tribal knowledge” in favor of more informational and technological solutions housed in everything from a machine controller to a smartphone. As a result, unskilled labor is simply becoming un- necessary in an age of robotics and intelligent machines. Meanwhile, the job shop setup experts and machine maintenance personnel, so vital in bygone days, are now tasked to set up and service a new generation of ma- chines and manufacturing cells. Even more challenging, the emergence of the digital factory, with its blending of the virtual and the real, has taken hold of large sectors in the American economy, including automotive, aerospace and medical part manufacturing.


Where does this landscape fi nd room for the worker of the future? I would propose three ideas here.


First, the absolute need for education is the most criti- cal driver for remaining competitive. And, just so there’s no doubt, I’m referring to big production departments and small shop fl oors alike. To remain competitive, every link in the supply chain will be called upon to hire better, smarter and more fl exible workers at every level of their companies. This includes the product lifecycle managers who look at the entire lifespan of the item being created, to the design engineers who live in the virtual link between the concept and created product, to the manufacturing and production engineers who must constantly evaluate the scope and scale of their facilities, to all the procurement and logistics professionals who will be needed to maintain the proper material fl ow through the fac-


12 AdvancedManufacturing.org | September 2016


tory for maximum production and economic viability. This will be as true for the fastener company and mold-and-die shop as it already is for the aircraft builder, the automaker and the orthopedic device maker.


Collaboration among the players in a market will be the next key to success. Our company is a key member of the Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute (DMDII; Chicago), where companies of all types are joining to conceptualize and implement that digital factory where, for our purposes in the machine tool business, the fusion of CAD/CAM/CNC and quality control will be overlaid with the PLM outlook to produce the most cost-effective, effi cient manufacturing process for quality products in the market. Friedman’s level playing fi eld factors here, as the acceleration of robotics for both machining and material handling acts as a counterbalance to the labor-intensive but very low-cost players on the planet.


The absolute need for education is our most critical driver for remaining competitive.


Finally, a keen awareness of new technologies will be


vital. As additive manufacturing alone, in all its seven (currently available) forms, continues rapidly to change the look of American manufacturing, companies must be in line with that development and others such as the hybrid machine, which fuses conventional chip-cutting with per- haps laser sintering or other additive methods, to produce a fi nished part. Finally, I suggest you begin to see the Industry 4.0 concept as something more than a nice catch phrase. It is already impacting your business. Just be sure you see it fi rst in your factory, not your competitor’s. One quick suggestion is to visit a trade show in your market along with a second show, unrelated to your market. It might make you see your horizon line on that fl at Earth from a whole new perspective.


Business Segment Manager Motion Control Business / Machine Tool Systems Siemens Industry Inc.


MODERN MANUFACTURING PROCESSES, SOLUTIONS & STRATEGIES


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