Preventive & Predictive Maintenance — How Frito-Lay Built a World-Class Manufacturing Facility

Preventive & Predictive Maintenance — How Frito-Lay Built a World-Class Manufacturing Facility

High-performance machines require highly skilled professionals who use a race-car team approach to preventive and predictive maintenance and reliability at Frito-Lay’s world-class North American manufacturing facility. Recently, the snack food giant announced it will add 120 jobs in a $200 million plant expansion.

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25 Manufacturing Books That Will Boost Your Business

25 Manufacturing Books That Will Boost Your Business

Read some of the best books about manufacturing to increase your knowledge, improve your skill level, and improve your competitiveness in the industrial market. These are must-read manufacturing books for 2021 that cover lessons in leadership and lean and reveal the past, present and future of modern manufacturing.

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Augmented Reality Solutions for Manufacturing Efficiency

Augmented Reality Solutions for Manufacturing Efficiency

Connecting humans and machines through augmented reality is changing the face of industrial manufacturing and providing efficiency solutions. When digital content is overlaid on a piece of machinery, the equipment comes to life. Detailed instructions pop into focus to guide the operator, helping him/her to identify and fix any problems. Animated 3D renderings, in exact proportion, explode into view and visually show the operator how to repair and maintain the machinery through step-by-step visual aides. Like something from “The Terminator” or “Minority Report” movies, the operator can instantly see the digital content directly in front of him. This is one example of how augmented reality (AR) is revolutionizing the efficiency of industrial operations.

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Innovation, IIoT & Industry 4.0 Build the Factory of the Future

Innovation, IIoT & Industry 4.0 Build the Factory of the Future

Using 3D laser scanning and rapid prototyping, Festo created its Scharnhausen Technology Plant with Industry 4.0 and complete communication at its core, showing how innovation, the Industrial Internet of things (IIoT), and sophisticated factory automation and facility design can help build the factory of the future.

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Automation Used in Craft Beer Manufacturing Processes

Automation Used in Craft Beer Manufacturing Processes

Automation and a focus on reliable processes are at the core of a craft beer business that grew from a hobby to a full-time pursuit in less than 10 years for Jason Roeper of Rivertown Brewery & Barrel House. Read about the craft beer manufacturing process and discover how craft beer is made with the help of automation, fermentation, separation technology, and efficient equipment.

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The Future of IIoT - How Innovation Drives Industry 4.0

The Future of IIoT - How Innovation Drives Industry 4.0

It’s exciting when valves and other equipment communicate with people—sending complex data through the air to predict maintenance, prevent failure through predictive analytics, and enhance performance. But the future of the IIoT involves an even more sophisticated evolution where devices communicate with each other to solve problems and even make decisions. The 4th industrial revolution will make history with the emergence of so-called “cyber-physical systems,” which enable the evolution of artificial intelligence.

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Bionics Drive Factory Automation and Industry 4.0

Bionics Drive Factory Automation and Industry 4.0

Driving Factory Automation and Industry 4.0, Festo’s Bionic Learning Network studies the movement and behavior of animals in nature to inspire interactive, intelligent technology and machines that stretch the boundaries of factory automation and lead the charge in building the factory of the future.

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Pilot Plants Remove Risk from Full-Scale Manufacturing Projects

Pilot Plants Remove Risk from Full-Scale Manufacturing Projects

Pilot plants demonstrate the feasibility of proposed process technologies for real-world operations and help manufacturers remove the risk from full-scale projects. De-risking has always been the driving force behind pilot plants and that force is as strong, if not stronger, in today’s environment of ever-shorter product life cycles. For example, when a company’s research and development group has an idea for a new process technology, testing may be performed at a “glass scale.“

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