Additive manufacturing (AM) technologies continuously blaze the trail of what’s possible for part design. As such, reliably and accurately inspecting the latest parts has become increasingly complex.

The U.S. manufacturing industry’s skilled labor shortage has been widely reported in the past decade. Millions of jobs became vacant due to the retirement of baby boomers and economic expansion.

Industry 4.0 represents the fourth and newest phase of the Industrial Revolution, one that is centered around interconnectivity, automation, machine learning, and real-time data. 

Gage management provides manufacturers with data to ascertain the quality of their parts.

As baby boomer engineers retire from manufacturing, younger generations aren’t rushing in to fill their shoes. Rapidly changing technology has created greater demand for new skills among shrinking pools of talent, just as reshoring efforts promise to make domestic manufacturing even more robust.
This is why the field’s well-documented skills gap will only widen.

Thickness measurement is the gauging of coatings or films on surfaces—such as paint on metal parts. Manufacturers are increasingly using thinner and higher-performance coatings these days, with tighter applied thickness tolerances and an increasing need for more accurate and precise tools.

Nondestructive testing (NDT) encompasses a variety of test and inspection procedures that are used to find defects or inconsistencies in test samples without compromising the integrity of the parts.

As developments in machine learning and the Internet of Things (IoT) impact how manufacturers run their businesses, automation can support these changes and boost productivity.

Manufacturing is becoming automated on a broad scale. The technology enables manufacturers to affordably boost their throughput, improve quality and become nimbler as they respond to customer demands. Ultimately, this helps them become more efficient.

Medical devices can present unique challenges for manufacturers. Consequences for malfunctioning equipment can be dire. Because of this, medical device manufacturers must work hard to ensure that their products never fail.