East meets west. It’s a common idiom that has been around for so long that it has evolved to both express agreement and collaboration as well as to describe polar opposites, and just about everything in between.

At its simplest, automation means to make something automatic. In manufacturing, whether describing a single device or an entire system or process, automation refers to performing one or many tasks autonomously with minimal or even no human interaction in a manufacturing or production environment.

By definition, the words simple and complex are antonyms. Complex is complicated, simple is not complicated—literally exact opposites. And as the old saying goes, opposites attract, and the list of subject matter in which simple and complex are joined at the hip is quite substantial.

With the help of microscopy and imaging technologies, as well as automation, manufacturing is making great strides toward more advanced and efficient processes for building bigger and better things.

The English language is complex, often logical and illogical, and, as with many languages, can be further confounded by culture, dialect, and its passing from generation to generation. 

Returning often to the fundamentals is essential to a host of endeavors, from athletics to arithmetic to business. Basketball players shoot endless free throws, mathematicians remain grounded in the logic and laws of mathematics, and businesses keep vigilant focus on their P&Ls.

It all started with the wheel. Moving things, and ourselves, across distances became easier and more efficient with the wheel. Over the centuries, we progressed from carts we pushed ourselves to wagons pulled by animals we domesticated and trained.

The first thing we can do to understand revolution versus evolution is to turn to the pure definition of these two words. The word evolution˜refers to the gradual development or changes in something over a period. 

The fundamental goal of automation is to reduce reliance on manpower. Whether for traditional manufacturing or additive manufacturing, it is important to understand the capabilities of supporting post-process manufacturing and metrology for validating that process.

Quality control of products with metal-based materials can be challenging, from working with recycled metals to the rise of additive manufacturing (AM).