Factory activity expanded in June at the fastest clip in more than a year, an encouraging sign that American manufacturers are gaining traction. The Institute for Supply Management’s index increased to 53.2 last month, the highest since February 2015 and exceeding the most optimistic projection in a Bloomberg survey of economists, from 51.3 in May, data from the Tempe, Arizona-based group showed Friday.

If you fly over the Midwest, you may miss out on the excitement of a Big Ten college football game or catching trophy walleye in Lake Erie. You may also miss out on one of the most exciting technological advances in the country – happening smack dab in the middle of Troy, Michigan.

AGMA
The third part in the AGMA Gearbox Field Inspection webinar series, Condition Monitoring, will take place at 1:00 pm Eastern time on July 21. This 3-part series is free to AGMA members, and $159 for non-members. The first two webinars are available to take in prior to watching this one at the end of the month. Complete information is available on the AGMA website.:

As 3D printing continues to play a more important role in the development of products, scientific research and low-volume manufacturing there has been higher demand for well-funded educational programs and facilities. For many young people who will join the workforce of the future, being able to be competitive is going to require them to be fully educated in the principles of modern manufacturing technology. Not only has the government started to financially support these new efforts to modernize, but local businesses are also investing in what it hopes to be a well-trained new workforce.

Technavio analysts forecast the global bill of materials (BOM) software market to grow at a CAGR of more than 8% during the forecast period, according to their latest report.

Every manufacturer has the potential to integrate machine learning into their operations and become more competitive by gaining predictive insights into production. Machine learning’s core technologies align well with the complex problems manufacturers face daily. From striving to keep supply chains operating efficiently to producing customised, built- to-order products on time, machine learning algorithms have the potential to bring greater predictive accuracy to every phase of production. 

Manufacturers across Minnesota and the Midwest saw growth slow dramatically in June amid lackluster orders, production, employment and exports. Creighton University's widely watched Mid-America Business Conditions report, released Friday, showed that the region did not keep pace with the gains seen by the nation as a whole.

American factories in June were well on the way to recovery from the deleterious effects of a stronger dollar and plunge in oil prices. Then came Brexit. The latest survey of purchasing managers by the Institute for Supply Management showed manufacturers were continuing to receive more orders and boost production last month after slumping for much of last year. 

Financial inequality became even wider in the United States last year, with average income for the top 1 percent of households surging 7.7 percent to $1.36 million. Income for the richest sliver rose twice as fast as it did for the remaining 99 percent of households, according to an updated analysis of tax data by Emmanuel Saez, an economics professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

Where would we be without technology? It plays a key role in today’s business world, but with everything from viruses and bot attacks to hackers and scammers poised to bring computer systems to their knees, it’s essential to protect the technological infrastructure of your company in any way possible. This might mean researching managed dedicated servers that offer protection against malicious activities, or it might mean updating your disaster recovery plan!

If you’ve ever imagined a time when shipping containers across seas would be as exciting as sitting on the deck of Star Trek’s Enterprise flagship, then you’ll want to see what Rolls-Royce has in store. This month, the company unveiled its vision of autonomous and remote controlled shipping, and it is something to behold. In the company’s vision, remote operators would become command center operatives interacting with holograms and interfaces to check in with ships and take action when necessary.

Manufacturing quality and process optimization software company, InfinityQS, has stated that the automotive manufacturing industry must embrace smaller technology developments in order to make the biggest savings. 

As Americans prepared for Independence Day, manufacturers joined as one to celebrate our nation and our freedom. It is that commitment to freedom and free enterprise that is essential to the success of our families and American business, particularly small businesses. 

Selling connected devices to the public continues to be hit or miss, but General Electric and Hitachi have no qualms about going all-in for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). According to Application Resource Center (ARC), the technology leviathans Hitachi and GE are betting big on IIoT, a market which GE recently estimated could be worth $225 billion in four years. By 2030 GE Digital predicts total investment in IIoT will reach a mind-boggling $60 trillion.

Students learn the fundamentals of gear manufacturing in this classroom and hands-on course. In the classroom this course offers training in gearing and nomenclature, principles of inspection, gear manufacturing methods, and hobbing and shaping. In the hands-on gear lab, using manual machines, students can see the interaction between the cutting tool and the workpiece. They understand the process and the physics of making a gear and can apply this knowledge in working with CNC equipment commonly in use.

Honeywell Process Solutions (HPS) today introduced Uniformance Suite, a new platform that includes fully integrated system of process software solutions which turn plant data into actionable information allowing smart operations. The new platform uses a common asset model and efficiently collects and stores all types of data for easy retrieval and analysis; Predicts and detects events based on underlying patterns and correlations; Links process metrics with business KPIs for better decision making and enables IIoT, mobility, cloud, big data, and predictive and enterprise analytics.

Japan’s manufacturing PMI (purchasing managers’ index) stood at 48.1 in June 2016 compared to 47.7 in May. This final reading was above the flash reading of 47.8. A level of above 50 indicates expansion in industrial activity, while a level of below 50 indicates contraction in industrial activity.

The IT peripherals-to-mobile phones company Intex Technologies is now using robot-assisted technology for almost everything at its manufacturing unit in Noida, with an aim to provide best products to its customers, a top executive of the domestic company said. 

An unfortunate byproduct of the Great Recession—and one that often goes unmentioned—is its lingering impact on the small-business communities across the country. Not only have small enterprises and their owners had to rebuild in an uncertain economic climate, but they have attempted to do so while battling a growing mountain of federal regulations, many of which are overly complex, costly and outdated.

U.S. auto sales may be slowing, but they still set a record in the first six months of this year. Sales through June were up 1.5 percent to 8.65 million, eclipsing last year's record of 8.5 million, according Autodata Corp.