As technology continues to improve and develop rapidly across all business sectors and global regions, there is still a great deal of interest in developing the technology that will usher humanity into the next generation of space travel. This development includes the manufacturing sector, as present-day methods are coming together to produce some of the most sophisticated and advanced vehicles and spacefaring technology the world has ever seen.

Remember those days when you had to get into your car and drive to a store, then browse through aisles to find that thing you were shopping for and physically take it to the front desk to pay for it at these things called cash registers?

The manufacturing industry is no stranger to change, as materials, technologies, safety requirements, and customer demands evolve over time. Lately, the automotive sector in particular has been adapting to the new age of electric over gasoline in our very car-centric culture across North America. However, the demand for innovation in mass transit vehicles remains high on the global scale, and the sector is seeing similar evolution on the manufacturing side.

Pundits love to use the term Industry 4.0 to describe the future of manufacturing. But what does the term really mean, and how will the tenets of Industry 4.0 impact day-to-day manufacturing operations?

Stainless Piping Systems (SPS) is committed to the design, manufacturing, and installation of high-purity, intricate piping systems. SPS provides its services in applications ranging from multi-residential and commercial developments to industrial and laboratory settings. The company has built its success on a foundation of innovative engineering design, true prefabrication, and efficient installation. This results in a systemic approach to minimizing on-site interferences, which produces tremendously accurate manufacturing and the ability to meet construction schedules with expedited installation times.

When it comes to creating optimally functioning public spaces in the time of COVID-19, the entire world appears to be competing. In this feature, we look at how manufacturers can help improve safety within shared spaces.

While no one plans to get physically injured or exposed to dangerous working situations at their place of employment, getting hurt on the job is, unfortunately, a common occurrence. 2.8 million non-fatal workplace injuries were reported in 2019, as well as 888,220 nonfatal injuries and illnesses causing a private industry worker to miss at least one day of work, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Preventing these types of injuries along with time missed — in fact, making a workplace as safe as possible — is imperative for all organizations. Unfortunately, the best of intentions don’t always lead to the best results.

In the past, batteries ended up in landfills or banished to boxes in the basement and forgotten. But today, as a new awareness has revealed the environmental fallout of used batteries, recycling has become the option for battery disposal going forward.

Four and a half years ago, Ice River was featured in Manufacturing in Focus as a manufacturer of environmentally responsible bottled water. Since that time, it has grown significantly and undergone a major transformation, rebranding under the new name Ice River Sustainable Solutions (IRSS) to demonstrate its increasing commitment to improving the plastics industry.

Millions of tons of plastic are carelessly discarded annually, destined for landfills or leaked into the environment. Eight million tons of this plastic finds its way into the oceans each year. At this rate there will be more plastic in the ocean (by weight) than fish by 2050, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation reports.

With labour shortages hitting both American and Canadian manufacturing exceptionally hard, it is time to look beyond tradition toward women and minorities for solutions that will not only save manufacturing but secure economic growth across North America.

Coherix, Inc., of Ann Arbor, Michigan has been consolidating its position as a leader in the three-dimensional machine vision sector. As profiled in the February 2020 issue of Manufacturing in Focus magazine, the firm’s technological solutions allow machines to ‘see.’

N95 masks. Hand sanitizer. PPE. Respirators. Plexiglass barriers. Social distance signage. Rapid Testing Kits. Contact tracing apps. Vaccine against a previously unknown Coronavirus. In January 2020, who would have thought there was a need for manufacturers to ramp up production of any of these items? Or to deal with the grim reality that more body bags were required? But by March, the need for all these items and more was real, and manufacturers struggled to meet demands amid the growing public health crisis of a global pandemic.

Unless you strongly believe in the idea of making Mars a habitable planet, there really is no Plan B.

Industrial automation—once confined to the pages of science fiction novels—has become a reality in manufacturing plants throughout the world. Computers, machines, and information technologies can now manage tasks in place of humans to create the factory of the future.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has created insecurity and declining production in many areas of manufacturing, Next Generation Manufacturing Canada is taking the lead in forging new and creative pathways to long-term success.

Every successful business start needs a spark. When we asked Mark Zimny, P.Eng., founder of Promation, what led him to the world of automation and robotic systems, he replied “a love for machinery and automation.” It’s there for all to see.