Manufacturing technologies are changing rapidly. But are Ontario’s manufacturers ready to change?  In the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing’s latest report, Catching the Wave: Lessons from Ontario’s Digital Manufacturing Early Adopters, David Zhang, Paul Boothe, and Alister Smith explore how five Ontario firms adopted or developed some of the digital technologies and processes (DTPs) commonly …

Are Ontario Manufacturers Ready for Industry 4.0? Read More »

by Omar Imambaccus The digital manufacturing revolution or Industry 4.0 (I4.0) is the latest in a long line of major disruptions in the manufacturing sector. In the past, we called these major disruptions “industrial revolutions”. With each revolution came skepticism and resistance. Yet, as firms began embracing disruptive technologies – steam power, electricity, computers — …

Getting Left Behind by Digital Manufacturing? Read More »

by Jonathan Soriano Augmented reality (AR) has recently emerged as a technology with the potential to greatly improve manufacturing processes. However, there is a common misconception that augmented reality and automation are competing technologies. The reality is these two technologies are complementary and can both be utilized to help firms improve productivity. Augmented reality enables …

Augmented Reality Read More »

by Jonathan Soriano Companies have been using basic data analytics long before the term “big data” existed. As far back as the 1950s, firms would discover insights and trends by manually examining numbers in a spreadsheet. Until now, firms could gather information, run analytics, and use the information discovered to assist with future decisions. Today, …

Part 1: Big Data Analytics and its Benefits Read More »

by Kevin Madden Much of the discussion surrounding artificial intelligence and robotics, especially when it comes to Ontario manufacturing, pushes the narrative that humans are losing their jobs to machines. As Trillium’s Managing Director, Paul Boothe, writes in an op-ed for Maclean’s magazine published last December, the focus should not be on the jobs that …

Advanced Manufacturing in the Augmented Age Read More »

by Jonathan Soriano Enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications are common business tools that appeared during the 1990s, evolving from simple applications to customizable software systems. However, with the recent emergence of Industry 4.0 and the increased connectivity required across a business to optimize end-to-end production processes, standard ERP systems are becoming obsolete. At its core, …

i-ERP: Intelligent Enterprise Resource Planning Read More »

By Jonathan Soriano According to a joint study by Deloitte and The Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation (MAPI), “Cyber Risk in Advanced Manufacturing,” there are six critical themes that manufacturing firms must consider when addressing cyber security threats: Executive and board-level engagement Talent and human capital Intellectual property (IP) Industrial control systems (ICS) Connected …

Cyber Security Part 2: How Firms Can Begin to Address Cyber Risk Read More »

By Jonathan Soriano The Fourth Industrial Revolution (also known as “Industry 4.0”) is characterized by the use of the Internet of Things, big data analytics, digital supply chains, and a number of other technological advancements to improve the efficiency of production processes. Although the benefits of adopting Industry 4.0 technologies cannot be denied, manufacturing firms …

Cyber Security Part 1: Six Critical Themes for Addressing Cyber Risk in Advanced Manufacturing Read More »

Video by Arconic by Jonathan Soriano One of the new and innovative technologies that is contributing to the transformation of advanced manufacturing is additive manufacturing (AM). AM refers to the process of constructing a product, layer by layer, to manufacture an object from three-dimensional (3D) data. Previously, products had to be manufactured using traditional molding or …

Additive Manufacturing Read More »

by Kevin Madden A key characteristic that sets the Fourth Industrial Revolution apart from the first three is the rapid pace of change in today’s business environment. While the first three events unfolded at an ever-increasing pace, industrial innovation is now exploding exponentially across a wide range of technologies. One factor contributing to this exponential …

The Digital Thread in Advanced Manufacturing Read More »