Preparing for the Manufacturing Upswing

A recent study conducted worldwide by IBM, Hannover Messe, and Plant Engineering of more than 1,300 plant engineers found that over 60% of US plants and more than 70% of international plants do not have a maintenance strategy in place. The study also found that more than half of the global manufacturers used the recession to upgrade equipment and training.

For the companies that used the down-time to improve their processes and get better equipment, they are probably much better off coming out of the recession. Sometimes our instincts tell us to just sit tight, not to make any significant changes as we don’t know what the future will bring. But this is exactly the time to take advantage of slower schedules. The end result is what gives companies that competitive edge and allows them to hit the ground running when business starts to pick up again.

Results also indicated that the immediate future of manufacturing will focus on producing more with less. The only way to do that is by taking your processes, refining them, and making them more efficient.

There are several tools available to help with these tasks. For manufacturers of many products, quality control and assurance procedures are critical. To take this time to review the current QC processes that are in place, and ensure that the correct tools are being used, can result in greater success on the upswing. Portable coordinate measuring machines (Portable CMMs) allow manufacturers to quickly and easily perform quality checks on their parts. They allow the term “lean manufacturing” to actually become a reality.

Learn more about portable CMMs

Will the global economic recovery spur 3D laser scanning?

With such an uncertain economic future ahead of us, businesses are turning to lean manufacturing and newer technologies to become more efficient and profitable. Sustaining any kind of profit has been very difficult to achieve for most industrial and commercial companies.

The article “Will the global economy recovery spur 3D laser scanning?” describes how 3D laser scanning is a thriving geospatial technology. With the limitation on resources and labor, laser scanning allows businesses to conduct data collection and proper planning without having the enormous overhead that projects were so prone to in the past.

FARO has always provided customers with metrology devices that enhance their processes to be the best in the world. Our entire product line of Arms, Laser Trackers and Laser Scanners are designed to provide the quality that customers can stand by.

The FARO Laser Scanner Photon is no different. The FARO Photon is the most advanced and fastest phase-shift laser scanner in the industry. It allows engineers to scan large objects and environments in less time than most other laser scanners while still capturing accurate and detailed data. It is this type of advancing technology that will improve the business cycle for many companies from the recession into the next economic up -swing.

To read the full article laser scanning in a global economic recovery, click HERE.