Search

The article provides a recap of the Automate 2024 trade show, highlighting the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in robotics and control solutions. Vendors showcased generative AI tools for various applications, such as predictive monitoring, object inspection, and robot perception. The article also discusses Siemens' generative AI-powered assistant, the Siemens Industrial Copilot, which enhances engineering tasks by reducing workloads and improving productivity. Additionally, the article mentions collaborations between companies like Siemens, Universal Robots, and Zivid to streamline warehouse automation and improve intra-logistics fulfillment tasks. The article concludes by mentioning advancements in cobot capabilities through AI-driven software and the introduction of new vision solutions and CAD-powered AI training by Apera AI. [Extracted from the article]

Lectra presented its digital platform Valia at an exclusive furniture event in Atlanta, Georgia. The Valia platform is a production preparation and planning solution for upholstered furniture that connects all components in the cutting room and facilitates the processing of order and production data. Guests at the event were also able to witness cutting demonstrations on the single-layer VIRGA and low and high layer Vector fabric lines. In addition, attendees had the opportunity to visit the Porsche Experience Center in Atlanta and learn about the Smart Factory concepts developed during Porsche's transformation. [Extracted from the article]

Yaskawa showcased a vision system at Automate 2024 that enables fast and accurate robotic bin picking and robotic parcel induction work. The vision system, paired with AI-powered induction software, allows a robot to handle a wide variety of packages in real time without losing speed. The system can produce a pick for most items, but in rare cases, it alerts a trained employee or off-site monitoring service for assistance. This automated solution is particularly beneficial for parcel carriers, logistics companies, and e-commerce fulfillment centers, as it achieves high pick rates and requires minimal floor space. Additionally, Yaskawa demonstrated a fast and accurate robotic bin picking system that uses a 3D vision system and a predefined CAD model of the parts. The robot can distinguish between objects with small differences and place them in specific orientations. While the cycle time is slower than the AI-powered induction system, this solution offers ease of use and the ability to pick deep into the bin until it is completely empty. [Extracted from the article]

A recent study conducted by career development and outplacement firm Intoo, in partnership with research firm Workplace Intelligence, found that many Gen Z employees trust AI chatbots like ChatGPT for career advice over their managers. Around 47% of Gen Z workers surveyed said they received better advice from a chatbot than from their manager. The survey also revealed that toxic work environments and a lack of career advancement are contributing to employee dissatisfaction. Additionally, the study highlighted that many workers are actively seeking employment elsewhere due to poor treatment and a lack of support for career development. [Extracted from the article]

The article describes the importance of advanced position controllers for control valves in the process industry in order to introduce sustainable processes and reduce environmental impact. Pneumatic actuators are popular due to their affordability and flexibility, but they cause high costs and CO2 emissions due to high compressed air consumption. The position controllers Sipart PS100 and PS2 from Siemens offer a solution to significantly reduce compressed air consumption while ensuring precise valve control. They have extensive diagnostic functions that enable improved plant performance. The position controllers can be used worldwide and contribute to the achievement of global sustainability goals. [Extracted from the article]

The fluid technology industry is experiencing impressive growth, but supply chain problems are making order processing difficult. There are massive delivery problems with various components such as electric motors, frequency converters, and microcontrollers. Prices for raw materials, purchased parts, transportation, and energy continue to rise. Despite the boom in the industry, supply problems are a major challenge. Companies are trying to establish alternative supply sources in Europe and America, but remain dependent on Asia in some areas in the medium term. The VDMA Fluid Technology Association reports an increase in sales for 2021 and significant growth in pneumatics and hydraulics. The VDMA expects market conditions to relax at the earliest in the second quarter of 2022. [Extracted from the article]

The article offers perspectives on ownership of industrial assets. For the manufacturing industry, emerging trends in digitization can be considered with companies relying on outsourced expertise for implementation and ongoing maintenance. In the oil and gas sector, a preferred option is renting equipment with the consideration of maintaining them to achieve maximum performance and profitability. For system integrators, the need to choose great tools and investing in software are vital.

The article focuses on the Barcelona-based Scaled Robotics' Husky unmanned ground vehicle can roam a construction site and capture critical information via multiple sensors. It mentions that drone use in construction has arguably seen the largest application in the robot space. It also mentions that in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the construction industry is expected to invest considerably in robotics and drones in the coming years.

Key capabilities to look for in a content services platform There are a number of features organizations should look for when they're selecting a content services platform. Today, we use "content services" or "content services platform" pretty much to be synonymous with what we would traditionally call enterprise content management." How to pick the best content services platform for your business: Modern content services platforms take a flexible, service-driven approach to managing enterprise content. Gartner dubbed the new approach content services and called the vendors' products content services platforms. [Extracted from the article]

The article focuses on robotic arms has stumbled when they tried to pick unsorted metal parts from a large bin. Topics include the slow robots and under-powered vision systems are a thing of the past, the vision systems are by and large autonomous which has been takes hundreds of lines of code to accurately place and orient a part in a machine, and puts the robotic bin picking beyond the means of many manufacturers.

Focuses on the effective order fulfillment or order management which is emerging as a key link in supply chain. Its benefits; How order fulfillment maximizes customer services; Effect of order fulfillment to a company's return on assets. INSETS: Boston Edison saving electronically.;GE supply increases capacity..

The article reports that linear motion technology solutions in the coming years would allow manufacturers to capture data, optimize processes, and predict wear in better ways. According to author, automated ordering and delivery processes can allow providers to dispatch orders while wasting less amount of time.

The article discusses the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system for business operations. It says that James M. Pleasants (JMP) Co. Inc. has discovered Microsoft Dynamics AX and Bottomline Technologies software for its ERP needs. Meanwhile, senior applications developer Tony Clark of the National Office Furniture has found the Esker DeliveryWare which provided the best alternative for its order processing system.

This article focuses on the proactive approach EBSCO Subscription Services has taken in the 1980s in dealing with magazine fulfillment centers to help alleviate many problems. In the early 1980s, acknowledging the growth of fulfillment centers and recognizing them to be a necessary evil, EBSCO decided to learn as much about them as possible and to learn to work with them as closely as possible. Managers from both International Headquarters and Regional Offices began visiting the processing offices of major U.S. fulfillment centers to see their operations, to learn their language, to communicate through face-to-face discussion the concerns regarding the services to publishers. The route to decreasing the problems with orders, renewals and claims processed through fulfillment centers was providing orders on magnetic tape rather than hard copy and capturing and utilizing the unique match code for each subscription which was created by their computer during initial order processing. To address the problem of claiming through fulfillment centers, EBSCO developed the Blue Card method which utilizes a simple two-part postcard and the mailing label or address section of the magazine.

The article offers various information related to ophthalmology in the U.S. Carl Zeiss Meditec launched the online coherence tomography resource Eye On OCT. Haag-Streit USA released the Lenstar LS 900 optical biometer which has a precision of Optical Low-Coherence Reflectometry. Abbott Medical Optics Inc. introduced its online ordering service called AMOeasy site for cataract customers.

The article discusses the automation trends in the aggregate industry based on the 2007 Critical Trends in the U.S. Aggregate Industry survey. Four percent of respondents cite billing and order processing as the type of automation they are investing in. There was a decline in the percentage of business that reported investing in plant control. The survey showed an increase in investing in all types of technology from 39% to 55%.

Provides information on the Quickbase system used by Patriots' Trail Girl Scout Council in Boston, Massachusetts in 2004, to oversee cookie order, shipment and inventory management. Number of boxes sold by the girl scouts when they walked door-to-door across communities in 2004; Problems associated with a hand-written ordering system; Reason for selecting QuickBase.

The article reports that TD Waterhouse USA has launched TD Waterhouse TradeCentral, a new active trader platform that enables traders to create custom workstations within minutes of opening an account. TradeCentral is the cornerstone of the firm's efforts to continue to cater directly to the active trader. With this new platform, low pricing and exceptional customer service, TD Waterhouse is committed to providing active traders with the tools, customization and ease of use. TradeCentral gives active traders full command over how data is presented and how trades are executed. With TradeCentral, active retail traders can design and save multiple personalized views of the tools they need to identify market opportunities. Tools such as streaming, real-time quotes and information, point-and-click order entry, intra-day account profit/loss data, Nasdaq Level II, and direct access to market makers can be arranged in any fashion the user desires and modified to quickly address changes in the user's portfolio or the market.

This article reports that Hewlett-Packard Co. engaged in damage control at HP World last week, telling users it is working in "war room" fashion to fix the order-processing problems that have affected its shipments of servers and storage devices. HP also said its weak third-quarter results are not a harbinger of any changes in its technology road map. The company expects its server and storage supply chain to be just about fully recovered by the end of August. HP officials have said that the supply chain problems stemmed from a poorly executed migration to a new order-processing system based on SAP AG's ERP applications.

Reports the decline in the 1999 fourth-quarter profits of Thomas & Betts Corp. due to the problems with an Internet-based order management system. Lawsuits faced by Thomas & Betts from its shareholders; Financial losses caused by the Thomas & Betts Order Processing System (TOPS); Background of TOPS.

Reports on Westbury, New York-based 1-800-Flowers Inc.'s development of BloomLink, an Internet-based means of sending flower orders to local florists around the country. Benefits of the move to local florists; Use VeriSign digital certificates and custom-made JavaScripts program language.

Reports on the introduction of cart autoloaders that protect newspaper bundles from damage during the truck ride to distribution centers. Replacement for systems that load bundles into pallets; Features of Kansa Corp.'s Quadracart product; Other companies that have introduced their versions of the cart autoloader system.

Reports that toy maker Beanie has reduced by two-thirds the amount of time it had planned to spend on implementing changes to its order entry system. Decisions to use Design data Systems Inc.'s order entry system; Increasing volume of orders for the company's products; Features of the system. INSET: Customer frenzy overloads phones..

Examines the business opportunity sought by Hewlett-Packard Co. in selling its HP 3000 minicomputer to mail-order companies as an order- fulfillment system. HP's own undertaking of overhaul in order-fulfillment processes; Uptime capability of HP 3000; Sturdiness of operation; Hardware characteristics desired by mail-order users.

The article reports on the deployment of a software program by AutoTrader.com LLC, which is designed to accelerate the electronic sales ordering experience for its dealer and manufacturer customers.

The article presents suggestions to ensure that the right patient receives the right medication. It cites the need to conduct a double-check of the order entry when a prescription is put on hold and the importance for the prescription to undergo the same verification process against the original prescription. It recommends the consistent use of a second identifier at the point of sale to prevent wrong-patient errors. Patients are also required to verify that each medication is correct.

The article presents the results of the survey on the preference of customers when ordering food in restaurants in the U.S. The results reveal that taste is the topmost priority of customers in selecting foods to eat which is followed by healthy foods. This has led to the suggestion that healthy foods and taste must be offered in menu.

The article reports that ASE Eyecare Plans will launch an automated system to enable electronic ordering of VDU occupational lenses via its preferred supplier Rodenstock in Great Britain. According to managing director Jonathan Kent, thousands of independent optical practices could benefit from an estimated seven million VDU users. He also mentioned that corporateeyecare.com has unveiled an intranet site for all its clients through banking security software.

The article reports on the announcement made by Singapore Exchange Ltd. concerning its decision to replace its aging Securities Order Processing System with a new trading system from Paris-based GL Trade SA. It has been noted that the announcement came after a system outage left many traders not able to access the 17-year-old order-processing system for more than an hour. Singapore Exchange states that the slowdown did not prevent trades from being completed, but traders were affected due to inaccessiblity to order information. Moreover, the installment of the system is possible by the end of 2007. However, the terms of the agreement with GL Trade and technical details of the new system were not disclosed.

The article focuses on the effort of the Bayerische Motoren Werke AG to cut the lead time on its build-to-order process as the same time as sourcing parts from Mexico. The company is working on ways to get the time between the order-freeze and the start of production to four days. It has decided to shift its sourcing to Mexico to reduce assembly costs and to use radio frequency identification tags.

The article reports on the creation by OcucoRelcon of a secure Web portal for prescription laboratories to provide customers with up-to-the-minute order tracking information. In partnership with Tant Laboratories, which piloted the scheme, OcucoRelcon lab-specialist subsidiary DRS Computing can provide online access to the full list of orders sent by opticians for processing.

The article provides information on sales force automation (SFA) in businesses. SFA is technology implemented in sales processes in organization and companies. Robert DeSisto of Gartner said that automation will depend on the culture of sales organization. Order processing and e-mails are some ideals in which automation can take place.

The article provides information on the Winter '07 release of Salesforce.com's software. During the DreamForce conference in San Francisco, California in October 2006, the company introduced its Winter '07 release, which includes the new version of Salesforce PRM for the applications of customers. The release will benefit companies with their order processing, sales processes and other custom business information.

The article reports on the launch of an electronic ordering system from optical software company Ocuco-Relcon. The system creates a link between opticians and lens suppliers to provide a fast, efficient and accurate validated order. The online system was developed by Ocuco-Relcon's lab software division DRS Computing. Independent lens supplier The Wholesale Lens Company processes orders automatically from its stock to customers throughout Great Britain and Ireland.

The article offers information about online ordering of books. A 20 percent discount on the retail price awaits to customers who order any book published by Elsevier from the "Nursing Standards'" online book club at www.nursing-standard.co.uk/discounts/club3.asp. All other titles can be ordered on the at www.nursing-standard.co.uk/professionaldevelopment/whsmith.asp.

The article focuses on the implementation of a voice-directed picking technology by grocery group Metcash Trading Ltd. to remedy ordering mistakes. CEO for logistics and corporate development Ken Bean found that customers occasionally receive different product from what they ordered, a fault that was attributed to picking errors at the warehouse level. After identifying the problem, the firm decided to acquire a license for the solution. The tool put Metcash at the forefront of real-time operated warehouses.

The article focuses on the development of a business-to-business portal by Kichler Lighting Co. The company has acquire the services of Brulant Inc. to help design the creative aspects of the site. According to Brulant, the biggest job was defining the processes rather than setting up the technology. Brulant created a system that enabled Kichler's distributors to enter their own orders. Moreover, Kichler releases new version of its system twice a year. The initial release included the order entry, order status and product availability.

This article presents information related to maintaining homegrown applications in Crutchfield Corp. This company is a Charlottesville-based catalog and online merchant of consumer electronics and has a staff of 500 people, with some 550 desktops and 100 servers to manage. And the IT organization wrote 85% of the code that runs inside the company, according to Chief Information Officer Steve Weiskircher. His staff maintains 300 applications that run on Windows servers. Those applications include the Web site, warehouse management, point-of-sale, general ledger and order entry systems. The order entry system alone has more than 1 million lines of code. With that many applications to manage, it's not surprising that Crutchfield has a relatively large IT staff for its size, including 18 full-time developers. The advantage of owning the code is that the IT staff can make changes quickly instead of waiting on vendors' revision schedules and priorities. Crutchfield has weighed the pros and cons of going with a complete ERP system from a vendor such as SAP AG, but it rejected the idea.

Focuses on the concept of engineering-to-order (ETO). Emphasis of ETO on manufacturing; Focus of engineers on order-related tasks; Responsibility of engineers for quality assurance and regulatory compliance.

Focuses on the benefits of ordering seeds by the hectare. Views of Gareth Baird of Scott Country Potatoes group on the concept; Factors to be considered by growers when customers order seeds by hectare; Advantages of the replantable hectare approach being used by Greenseed International.

A brighter outlook for construction this year is suppressing equipment dealers' worries after nearly three consecutive years of declining orders. The slight increase predicted for construction activity this year and anticipation that Congress will agree on a new surface transportation bill has North American dealers and manufacturers talking positive for the first time since fleet owners started putting spending on ice in the second half of 2000. Prices are rising as much as 6% for hot products like excavators, dozers and loader backhoes, though dealers are uncertain that they will stick.

Presents an update on information technology as of September 15, 2003. Complaint of a customer on business-to-business order entry system; Installation of a cooling system for a server; Software for government-regulated online casino.

Focuses on the Web-based locate-to-order systems and pilots of Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. Benefit offered by locate-to-order systems; Sales of Ford Motor from its Web car-shopping sites; Dealer inventory costs that can be cut by the system.

Announces the successful deployment of Covad Communications' automated system for ordering digital subscriber line service from Pacific Bell. Covad's reason for delaying Bell Atlantic's entry into the long-distance market; Reduction of the time to get a firm order confirmation; Options for connecting to the xLink solution. INSET: Briefly.

Reports on the completion of ADP Brokerage Services Group's first phase of a multitiered effort to upgrade its order-processing system. Percentage of Wall Street firms' spending on global processing systems in 1999 that went to ADP; Information on the technology upgrade; Challenges faced by the company.