Is your business ready for industry 4.0? Automation and the need for an exchange and flow of data to create meaningful insights is growing, and with it is the need for businesses to prepare themselves for Industry 4.0. Cognitive manufacturing can help prepare manufacturers with Industry 4.0, as it can be used to bring insight across the entire value chain by connecting data points across systems, equipments and processes. It can help businesses “gain the visibility, flexibility and agility to grow, evolve and succeed in the digital age.” Cognitive manufacturing allows leaders to see the greater picture developed by data collected in real-time. Decision makers can then make choices based on the facts and data presented to them in a timely manner, find areas of weaknesses and opportunities to improve in the supply chain. Learn how Cognitive Manufacturing can help your business get ready for Industry 4.0 in IBM’s ebook: ibm.biz/BeReadyeBook!
Read More →KONE Improves “People Flow” in 1.1 Million Elevators with IBM Watson IoT
KONE Corp, a leading elevator and escalator manufacturer and service provider, identified an opportunity for improvement in “people flow”— a term KONE defines as the pressure to keep people moving smoothly. Every day, billions of people use elevators and escalators, and it takes just one malfunction for a user to be inconvenienced and for business to be lost as a result of an obstacle in “people flow.” To mitigate these malfunctions and to deal with unanticipated breakdowns and service interruptions, KONE has decided to go digital. KONE chose IBM Watson IoT, running on the IBM Cloud, to optimize connectivity and real-time data. The platform can connect, remotely monitor and optimize the management of over a million elevators and escalators worldwide. KONE’s decision to use IBM Watson IoT resulted in 1.1 million elevators connected to a cloud-based system that predicts maintenance needs Improves equipment availability through reduced downtime, fewer faults, and more detailed performance information Foster third-party innovation through application development to improve customer service and user experience By going digital and connecting to the cloud, the system can use sensor data from its equipment to help identify and predict issues, minimize downtime and personalize and improve the user experience. Learn more about how IBM Watson IoT improved KONE’s “people flow” and optimized their processes in their case study, http://ibm.biz/BdjMHS.
Read More →iBASEt: Following the Digital Thread Into the Future
What is the digital thread? The digital thread links systems used to execute and track design, engineering, manufacturing and MRO (maintenance, repair, and overhaul), establishing a seamless flow of information from product conception to delivery and beyond. The concept of the digital thread was spearheaded by the military aircraft industry, from its desire to improve the performance of future programs by applying lessons learned. Why is it important? With the emergence of the Industrial Internet of Things, smart manufacturing, and automation, it is integral to create a communication framework that connects data flow from initial design to development. “The digital thread brings customers, vendors, and suppliers close, tying them into holistic feedback and evaluation loops. To learn more about the Digital Thread, read Tom Hennessey’s (Vice President of Marketing at iBASEt) article on Following the Digital Thread Into the Future.
Read More →Memex: Measuring Manufacturing Excellence
“MEMEX is a globally recognized industry leader. Its smart manufacturing tool-kit makes data-driven manufacturing happen every day for customers intent on realizing the promise of IIoT and Industry 4.0. MERLIN Tempus software is the foundation of that tool-kit. MERLIN delivers a 10%-50% average productivity increase and achieves payback in less than four months with an Internal Rate of Return greater than 300%. Memex has been recognized as a global leader in the manufacturing M2M (machine-to-machine) field and is continuously improving its products to better suit the needs of the manufacturing world. Its flagship product, MERLIN, is the premier industrial Internet platform solution for manufacturing. It is a hardware and software machine monitoring solution, a Manufacturing Execution System (MES), and is an industrial Internet communications platform that connects the last meter to the machine. Memex maintains an active R & D department where it is able to manufacture its products, provide technical support, develop software and provide training.”
Read More →Siemen’s White paper: Accelerating Aircraft Systems Development with Model-based Engineering
Technology has revolutionized the commercial and military aviation industry rapidly. Though drastic development has been made, major challenges still exist. Current development concepts have nearly reached their limit, and in order to keep up with tomorrow’s air traffic demand, new technologies and concepts will be needed. Challenges include the limited availability of energy resources while reducing carbon footprint, managing climate change and congestion, which will require an increase in safety and security requirements. In order to achieve success and security, the aviation industry as a whole must work together to implement a major shift and reinvent itself. Accelerating aircraft systems development with model-based engineering is the first place to start in the process of creating a paradigm shift in the industry. To read more on using model-based engineering to envision new design concepts and technologies in the aviation industry, read Siemen’s white paper, here.
Read More →Ahead of the Curve: Disruptive Technologies in the Medical Device Market
Technia Transcat believes the medical device industry is continually evolving. Disruptive technologies are causing a paradigm shift in the development of new devices, influencing which businesses will enter this segment of Life Sciences, and who they will market their innovative devices to. In addition, what is also critical to the medical device industry is addressing the “Soft Business” disruptive modernizations. Organizations must implement internal processes and organizational behavioral changes in order to sustain a competitive advantage and continue to grow through organic means in an industry challenged with reducing costs associated with risks of regulatory compliance and certification of supply chain solidity. Technia Transcat and Generis have teamed up to create an ebook that explores how technology is changing the medical device industry and how to harness and embrace this technological change. To access the ebook, click here.
Read More →Common Obstacles to Receiving Product Approvals for Global Markets – An Ebook by CSA Group
As social, economic, technological and environmental factors changes at a rapid rate, so are medical devices and healthcare equipment. The consistent changes are bringing complex challenges that require manufacturers to keep up with the rapid pace of innovations, while still maintaining safety for both professionals and inexperienced home users. Many companies only have experience with single-country access and therefore may lack understanding and expertise of regulatory or technical requirements in other countries. With such a wide array of regulations from country to country, companies can struggle with how to begin the process of meeting the required conformity for their target markets. This issue can be compounded by a lack of internal resources dedicated to compliance issues. In this constantly changing environment of safety, conformity, and market access requirements, it is even more important to not only respond to the regulatory needs of today but anticipate those of tomorrow. CSA Group’s Ebook, Common Obstacles to Receiving Product Approvals for Global Markets, explores the common challenges and misconceptions in product approvals, the key stakeholders involved in the approval process, the geographical differences in the approval process, the role of a third-party testing agency, and clearing common hurdles to product approvals. To access the ebook, click here.
Read More →Recent Developments in the Use of Flexible Printed Circuit Boards in Implantable Devices – An Ebook
Over the past 50 years, life expectancy has been steadily increasing. The aging population, therefore, has steadily increased both in number and mean age. There are many neurological and cardiovascular diseases that can be best managed using implantable devices, reducing the need for medications. The key challenges for implantable medical devices are how to support low energy consumption, stable performance, and continued miniaturization. Implantable devices are not new. The pacemaker, as an example, has been around for more than 50 years. The early devices were cumbersome, with short battery life, so when the battery was low, the device had to be removed and replaced, putting a burden not only on the patient but also on medical services and the managed care system. Today these same devices are less than 3% of the size and weigh only a fraction of the former weight. The real revolution in the technology is not the size reduction, but the fact that today’s tiny implantable devices can be wirelessly monitored reducing check-up frequencies. Eltek has teamed up with Generis to create an ebook that looks at the history of implantable devices, the miniaturization of the devices, their wireless communications capabilities and their future. For more information on Eltek and to access the ebook, click here.
Read More →Averna’s Q&A Ebook: How the Internet of Things is Transforming the Medical Device Industry
The ‘Internet of Things’ is transforming the medical world, allowing more patients to be looked after using real time data. Combining Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities with current technology is allowing for a faster, more resourceful and satisfying experience for both patients and employees. With the Internet of Things(IoT) reinventing the technological landscape so rapidly, companies are struggling to keep up with the latest innovations. Companies must now test the wireless capabilities of all their medical devices to ensure their products feature seamless connectivity. With more tests being conducted and the rise of IoT, competing companies have introduced robots to automate processes in order to reduce costs. Robotic-driven production has become more economical, as robots can perform routine tasks without fatigue at a faster pace. So, how can OEMs in the medical world stay ahead of their competition with all this technological development? One way is to work with a company that excels at Design for Test (DFT) and design for manufacturing (DFM). Companies can also capture and analyze up-to-date test data. For more ways to stay ahead of the competition despite the constant changes in technology and for a deeper understanding of IoT and its impact on the medical device industry, read Averna’s Q&A Ebook here. Averna is a worldwide Test & Quality leader. Their talented team includes hundreds of engineers, system architects, developers, project managers and other professionals, as well as a network of partners such as National Instruments, Keysight Technologies …
Read More →Qt QML vs HTML5
The Qt Company‘s latest whitepaper “Qt QML vs HTML5,” explores the results of a test where “one man takes 160 hours to create a demo application of an embedded system using Qt & QML and the same number of hours to create the very equivalent application using HTML5. Discover how he compares the two technologies and shared the findings during the evaluation in terms of – Development comparison between HTML5 vs Qt – Development experience – Performance results – Software management and sustainability.” Download the white paper here. ›
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