Toyota and Hyundai are no longer describing themselves as car companies. Instead, they’re in the business of mobility. The state of Arkansas is also leaning into mobility. The governor, the University of Arkansas, and a consortium of business leaders (including some of the same people who made sure Northwest Arkansas got an airport) are planning… Read more »
The entire world is concerned for the people of Ukraine in the wake of the Russian invasion. Nonetheless, manufacturers also have to be proactive about potential supply chain disruption stemming from world events, and this is no exception. Gas prices Before considering any other possible supply chain effects, we have to acknowledge that gas prices… Read more »
Manufacturing production got back up to 101 in January, back where it was in October of 2018…and in 2015, and in 2017, when it peaked at 105.We hadn’t hit those heights before, and haven’t climbed back up to that top point since the Great Recession brought numbers back down. The lesser plunge during the pandemic… Read more »
Back in the 20th century, Taco Bell had a robot that made tacos…but not very successfully. The machine was able to make 900 tacos an hour, churning out a taco every ten seconds. The tacos weren’t up to snuff. Pizza-making robots debuted in 2016. Flippy has been flipping burgers since 2018, and now next-gen Flippy… Read more »
OSHA has updated the Industrial Robot Systems and Industrial Robot System Safety manual, in cooperation with the Association for Advancing Automation. One motivation for the update was simply the increasing use of robots in workplaces. 2021 was a banner year for robot adoption, and more workers than ever are now working alongside robots. The increasing… Read more »
Everyone talks about the skills gap, but Rexroth is doing something about it. Their Bosch Rexroth Regional Training Centre, in cooperation with Singapore Polytechnic, is in the middle of a five-year plan to train 1,500 people from 300 companies in industry 4.0 practices. Just as Rexroth motion control systems use modular design to create flexible… Read more »
Supply chain issues continue to be big news for grocers, as they cope with out of stocks that threaten their bottom lines. Consumer responses to an empty spot on the shelves of their local grocery store fall into three groups. Some shoppers will choose a different brand or a different item. Some will head to… Read more »
Last year, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) issued an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) telling private companies with 100 or more workers that their employees had to be vaccinated against COVID-19,or tested on a weekly basis for the disease. The Supreme Court blocked that ruling. They allowed a similar rule for healthcare workers to… Read more »
We’ve complained before about Boston Dynamics ads. They give people unrealistic ideas about robot functionality, we’ve pointed out. They make it seem as though robots can dance the way human beings do, rather than just demonstrating impressive programming skills and great videography. They encourage anthropomorphization of robots, which is already kind of a problem for… Read more »
Automation is green for quite a few reasons. We’ve written before that automation means less waste, which is always better for the environment. Automated systems can also run cleaner and use less energy than comparable manual systems. But the past couple of years have seen a rise in environmental awareness in tandem with a rise… Read more »
