Smart manufacturing is the information driven, event driven, efficient and collaborative orchestration of business, physical and digital processes within plants, factories and across the entire value chain.
Smart Manufacturing Technologies and Skill Sets
The Texas Defense Aerospace Manufacturing Community (TDAMC) targets the following smart manufacturing technologies and skill sets:
- 5G wireless networks (industrial Internet of Things)
- Smart sensors
- Edge computing
- Cloud data/computing
- Digital twins
- Artificial intelligence
- Machine learning
- Cybersecurity
- Advanced human-machine interfaces
- Virtual reality/augmented reality
- Additive manufacturing (for rapid prototyping and production)
Benefits to Manufacturers
The benefits of smart manufacturing to manufacturers include:
Cost/profitability – Automation reduces cycle time, labor time and quality errors. Continuously monitored resources and artificial intelligence-driven insights alert on unusual patterns and suggest improvements.
Asset reliability – Asset performance monitoring leads to higher levels of use, and predictive insights lead to higher reliability.
Quality – Monitor quality aspects of products in real-time to reduce process variability, eliminate undetected errors and catch issues as early as possible.
Energy productivity – Energy costs are directly saved as processes are optimized based on energy usage insights. They are indirectly saved as the waste of resources is decreased by reducing defects, scraps and overproduction of inventory.
Successful implementation of smart manufacturing technologies, workforce training, and assistance to small and medium-sized manufacturers through our program can strengthen Texas to be the dominant ecosystem and location for defense aerospace manufacturing in the U.S. It can also continue to widen the gap between Texas and other locations.
