“Winona” was facing a unique problem. She has been working as the Director of Sales and Operations of a local retail chain. They just launched their e-commerce site and because orders are flowing in, they have acquired two new fulfillment centers in the suburbs. Workers were divided into three shifts: preparing, packaging, and delivering customer orders from 6AM – 12AM. With the pandemic and resulting lockdowns, Winona had a dwindling workforce, but still saw a steep rise in online orders. Additionally, she was now faced with the task of implementing new safety measure protocols.

Robots have been a fascination in our society, dominating pop culture through TV and movies for decades. But it’s likely that the general population is only vaguely aware of industrial robots and the global brands that manufacture them. 

The majority would be surprised to find out that the top industrial robots are dominated by four major brands: FANUC, KUKA, ABB, and Yaskawa Electric. All of these companies have been in operation for at least 40 years and have distinct advantages over the other.

Looking for new training opportunities but you aren’t sure which type of education would suit your needs best? Confused about the different types of education that are being offered and not sure what their differences are? Depending on whether you are looking to get into a new area of study or whether you want to advance your career by adding other credentials, all four options below can be useful. Check out the infographic below to see the differences between a Certification, a Certificate, a Diploma and an Associate’s Degree.

Robots have been growing in use in the industrial world since the early 1970s. They’re continuing to be deployed and utilized within the industrial sector, but also increasingly in other sectors as 2021 continues. The crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with the increasing need to reduce overall carbon footprints, has pushed robotics even further beyond traditional uses within manufacturing environments.

1. Fourth Industrial Revolution or Industry 4.0

The Fourth Industrial Revolution, or often referred to as Industry 4.0, is currently underway in all aspects of the global economy. Industry 4.0 represents the ongoing automation of both the traditional manufacturing processes and other industrial practices across non-manufacturing sectors of the economy.

In recent years, we’ve grown accustomed to the integration of smart technologies into our everyday lives. For manufacturing and industrial practices, this ongoing automation using modern smart technologies is referred to as the Fourth Industrial Revolution aka. Industry 4.0.

Keeping up with the technology changes in the manufacturing/industrial industry is important to stay relevant in your job/career. With the world changing so quickly, it’s always a good idea to stay in the loop and know what the current and future trends are, and take advantage of opportunities to grow. But how can one keep up with the industry?

Below are 4 ways to stay up to date:

​Autonomous vehicles, once relegated to works of science fiction and, more recently, among the technologies that “weren’t quite there yet”, are actually becoming a much more common sight – and not just on the test tracks used by large auto manufacturers. Autonomous, self-driving vehicles are quickly making themselves a fixture of the smart factory floor in a way that is revolutionizing operations.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution, or Industry 4.0, is constantly and rapidly evolving. New technological advancements in industrial smart factories seem to be happening all the time. This article will take a look at some of the biggest current tech trends in industrial manufacturing.

To the general public, the concept of artificial intelligence (AI) is an aspect of science that lives on the periphery of our understanding. For most of us, what little we do know of it was learned through the lens of a Hollywood director; so it might surprise you to learn that the idea behind AI is not a new one – in fact, the ancient Greeks and Egyptians are among the earliest societies that postulated on the subjects of robots and automatons. Of course, these largely remained myths until the mid-twentieth century when science was finally able to breathe “life” into AI.