• Advanced Manufacturing

5 Questions Surrounding Manufacturing Processes for Economies of Customization

  • Advanced Manufacturing
Humans have been manufacturing goods for centuries. What began as people making tools for personal survival has turned into highly automated processes producing consumer goods on a global scale. Now that we’ve become efficient in manufacturing at scale, the market is demanding customized products. This changes the way we think about processes throughout the manufacturing facility and leads to tremendous innovations in manufacturing technology. Here are some questions and answers surrounding the advantages of such technologies.

Which cutting technology is the most suited to your plant?

  • Nesting
Thirty years ago, the global distribution of sheet metal cutting machine-tools was dominated by the oxycut variety (large thicknesses) and, to a lesser extent, the plasma variety (small thicknesses). There was a niche for punching machines along with water jet and laser machines. The latter were aimed at thicknesses less than 5mm and were expensive. Since then, the trend has shifted, shrugging oxycut in favor of other technologies according to thicknesses.

What else can a MES do for you? Lantek MES, the competitive advantage of Smart Factories

  • Advanced Manufacturing
The changes in the sheet metal sector start from the plant itself, connecting all the machines and areas in real time to make it more productive, thanks to the capacity of anticipation, prevention and prescription that the data emanating from the factory allow when visualised together. This optimisation is only achieved using advanced software, the Manufacturing Execution System, known by the acronym MES. A program that models all processes and machines and has the capacity and technology to communicate with them according to each machine.