Micron's memory chip fabrication plant leverages thousands of microphones as part of an artificial intelligence system that creates a visual display of the sound of the parts in the machinery, which enables engineers to detect faults in the manufacturing process before they become a stoppage problem. The audio system can also detect and find air and water leaks.
GE Healthcare Service Shop's website now has more product inventory and improved search to make hospital supply ordering more "Amazon-like," says Tim Erickson of GE Healthcare. The site will also offer more than GE products, including Siemens, Philips and Toshiba health care products.
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With raw material costs rising, companies are reluctant to raise prices for fear of alienating customers, but experts at McKinsey say being proactive is the solution. "[W]hen companies do act, it's frequently when bottom-line pressures have reached a breaking point, at which time they're forced to rush through hikes with inadequate preparation and a skeptical sales force," write Alex Abdelnour, Christopher Angevine and Jeremy Seeley in a look at how to navigate cost inflation.
Companies are migrating to omnichannel retail supply chains, where moving product from the plant to distribution center to the retailer requires coordination, writes Andrea Nottestad of reusable packaging manufacturer ORBIS Corp. Using reusable carts and wheeled pallets "can reduce product damage, require less repacking or downstacking, increase the number of turns, and reduce costs per trip," she writes.
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The industrial internet of things will require manufacturing systems to use machines that integrate different systems to support a unified view of products from design to manufacturing, according to a study from McKinsey. The study found that current inconsistencies between company levels are slowing innovation.
Procter & Gamble is in the middle of its Ambition 2030 project, which will eventually use 100% recyclable or reusable packaging for major brands, cut greenhouse-gas emissions in manufacturing in half, and use "circular sources" for its water. "P&G's new ethos puts environmental stewardship among its top priorities," writes Dale Buss.
Camps offered by the Summer Manufacturing Institute seek to teach girls about STEM subjects related to careers in manufacturing. In Ohio, the institute teamed up with a local YWCA chapter and OH WOW! The Roger and Gloria Jones Children's Center for Science and Technology to offer camps with a transportation theme.
In the second quarter of 2019, about four out of five manufacturing respondents said that they were either somewhat or very optimistic about their own company's outlook. While that was down from nearly 90% who said the same thing in the first quarter, it continues to reflect a mostly optimistic sentiment in the sector. In the nearly 21-year history of the survey, the average is 75.0% positive. Interestingly, small manufacturers were more optimistic about their own company's outlook than their larger counterparts. Read more.
