Dean L. Bartles, PhD, FSME
2016 SME President SME Member Since 2002
SME SPEAKS PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Manufacturing Marches Toward Digital Future D
igital manufacturing. The Internet of Things (IoT). Industry 4.0. Factory of the future. Smart manufac- turing. We’ve all heard the buzz words, and many of
us are excited about the direction manufacturing is headed. Fortunately for me, in my role as the chief manufacturing offi cer for UI LABS and the executive director of the Digital Manufacturing & Design Innovation Institute in Chicago, I get to experience many of these exciting trends and technologi- cal advancements fi rsthand. Luckily, I’ve always been fascinated by manufactur- ing and its infi nite possibilities, particularly since I grew up around manufacturing (my father owned a small weld- ing and machining company in Maryland where he made iron railings and installed trailer hitches). In that era, the manufacturing environment was very hands-on, but now, the global manufacturing world is marching toward a digital factory of the future, in which parts are created and tested in virtual environments. Digital fi les are then sent to a factory where parts and products are made in a nearly done-in-one setup. Production can run almost around the clock, often unattended by people, who can receive off-site digital notifi cations when they’re needed for fi xes, analyses or programming. With all of these advancements, I often ask myself if we’re going to be able to keep up. Will the factory of the future have a workforce that is knowledgeable about the technolo- gies used to operate the factory? What else can we do to ensure manufacturing has what it needs to be successful? These thoughts often bring me back to SME and what we
offer the industry as a whole. SME serves the manufacturing industry as a nonprofi t by promoting advanced manufactur- ing technology and developing a skilled workforce. We work closely with manufacturers to share knowledge and resourc- es that generate solutions to meet industry demands.
There are many ways in which we do this, and I could fi ll up several pages with a list of SME’s benefi ts and services, but for me, my preference typically leans toward education and its overall importance. I’ve never tired of learning, which is one of the reasons I’m
a big proponent of Tooling U-SME and often steer people in its direction when they talk about their workforce struggles. With over two million manufacturing jobs possibly going unfi lled by 2025 as our Baby Boomer generation retires, we can’t shy away from the possibility that our workforce isn’t strong enough to support the rapidly changing world we live in—we have to do something about it. If your current workforce is struggling to keep up or you know someone who’s on the fence about a career in manufacturing and what it has to offer, steer them Tooling U-SME’s way. Have them take a course and see what they think—we’d love another happy customer! Not only am I a big proponent of education, I’m also a true believer in research and development. I want to learn all I can about cutting-edge technologies that can make the lives of small, medium and large manufacturers easier, more productive and profi table. Through SME, I’ve been able to participate in its North American Manufacturing Research In- stitution (NAMRI) and annual North American Manufacturing Research Conference (NAMRC). NAMRC is now in its 44th year, which means the technical innovations and concepts highlighted at the conference and published in its proceed- ings have eventually made their way into commercial applica- tions, benefi tting all of us. This year’s conference will be taking place June 27–July
1 at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA. If you want to know what’s next on the horizon, I strongly encourage you to attend NAMRC 44. We all have a lot to look forward to this year, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve as SME’s president as
January 2016 |
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