According to MasterControl’s 2022 Digital Quality Maturity Study conducted by Cicero research, the majority of quality organizations are going digital, have plans to go digital within the next five years, or believe this is where they need to go to achieve compliance and remain competitive.

Consumer products have been transformed by the Internet of Things (IoT), the ability of smart connected devices to communicate and share information with each other. Now, IoT technology is expanding to NDT maintenance inspections and manufacturing QA/QC. 

Where rule-based machine vision has not been attempted or has reached its limits, there is a high potential for deep learning algorithms to support employees and drive forward automation.

Though buzzier than ever in 2019, 3D printing has existed for at least 35 years, beginning with the invention of stereolithography in 1984 and accelerating with the development of fused deposition modeling in 1988. More recently, however, additive manufacturing for series production, paired with an uptick in lower-cost metal 3D printers, has elevated the industrial 3D printing industry to previously unreachable heights.

Manufacturers are grappling with multiple challenges—global competition, evolving quality standards, regulatory compliance, and profitability—not to mention a demanding, informed consumer. With no room for inefficiency in managing operations, companies have to rely on internal business processes to effectively support the enterprise.

The convergence of the widespread availability of low-cost sensors, cloud and greater computing power has brought together a multitude of connected devices which can deliver information on manufacturing operations like never before. 

Many manufacturers are struggling with quality issues due to outdated or fragmented systems. These systems don’t provide the efficiency & visibility needed to manage quality events. 

Today’s software systems are advancing faster than any other time in history. Each is going in different directions. The competition is not necessarily with the software company that creates and sells a specific software such as a calibration or quality management solution—the real differences are the platforms behind the scenes. 

The process of reverse engineering using 3D scanning can yield many outputs and there is certainly some confusion between them. I hope this brief explanation of options can help set you down the correct path for your needs.

In the early 2000 era, companies were happy just to have a website. Then the emergence of cloud-based applications driven by web browser technologies brought about SAAS (software as a service), and the business environment underwent a paradigm shift toward digital infrastructure—one that could improve production and increase profit.