June_AMP_Digital

4 / 78

4
A D V A N C E D M A T E R I A L S & P R O C E S S E S | J U N E 2 0 1 6
ASM International
9639 Kinsman Road, Materials Park, OH 44073
Tel: 440.338.5151 • Fax: 440.338.4634
Frances Richards, Editor-in-Chief
Julie Lucko, Editor
Ed Kubel and Erika Steinberg, Contributing Editors
Jim Pallotta, Creative Director
Kate Fornadel, Layout and Design
Annie Beck, Production Manager
Press Release Editor
EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
Jaimie Tiley, Chair, U.S. Air Force Research Lab
Somuri Prasad, Vice Chair, Sandia National Lab
Yu-Ping Yang, Past Chair, EWI
Ellen Cerreta, Board Liaison, Los Alamos
National Lab
Steven Claves, Alcoa Technical Center
Mario Epler, Carpenter Technology Corp.
Adam Farrow, Los Alamos National Lab
Nia Harrison, Ford Motor Co.
Yaakov Idell, NIST
John Shingledecker, EPRI
Kumar Sridharan, University of Wisconsin
ASMBOARDOF TRUSTEES
Jon D. Tirpak, President
William E. Frazier, Vice President
Sunniva R. Collins, Immediate Past President
Craig D. Clauser, Treasurer
Ellen K. Cerreta
Kathryn Dannemann
Ryan M. Deacon
Jacqueline M. Earle
John R. Keough
Zi-Kui Liu
Sudipta Seal
Tirumalai S. Sudarshan
David B. Williams
Tom Dudley, Interim Managing Director
STUDENT BOARDMEMBERS
Aaron Birt, Joseph DeGenova, Sarah Straub
Individual readers of Advanced Materials & Processes may,
without charge, make single copies of pages therefrom for per-
sonal or archival use, or may freely make such copies in such
numbers as are deemed useful for educational or research
purposes and are not for sale or resale. Permission is granted
to cite or quote fromarticles herein, provided customary
acknowledgment of the authors and source is made.
The acceptance and publication of manuscripts in Advanced
Materials & Processes does not imply that the reviewers,
editors, or publisher accept, approve, or endorse the data,
opinions, and conclusions of the authors.
Irecently returned from a whirlwind visit of Germany,
as a guest of Germany Trade and Invest, the country’s
economic development agency. The organization pro-
motes Germany as a business and technology location
and supports companies with global market information.
During the tour, we visited several companies, universi-
ties, research institutions, and finally, Hannover Messe, the
world’s largest industrial trade fair. For the first time in the
fair’s history, the U.S. was the partner country. As part of the festivities, President
Obama and German Chancellor Merkel did a special “walkaround” during the
opening morning of the exhibit. Obama’s participation at this event was the first
for a sitting U.S. President.
Hannover Messe is actually five shows in one, with separate pavilions for
industrial automation, industrial supply, digital factory, energy, and research
and technology. The overall theme was
Industry 4.0, which the U.S. often calls the
Internet of Things (IoT) or the Industrial In-
ternet. In any case, Germany is on it: The
country is investing heavily in making sure
all of its companies, universities, and re-
search organizations are on the same page
regarding what is widely being called the
fourth Industrial Revolution. As Kuka Ro-
botics’ chief technology officer said during
a panel discussion, “Data is the new oil.”
New algorithms for collecting and making
sense of data—aka big data—is the starting point. The premise is that by ana-
lyzing huge volumes of data, more intelligent manufacturing can be achieved,
among other goals.
Another key idea is decentralized control, where every part of a production
system has its own intelligence. From this type of setup, companies will be able
to nimbly move from mass production to mass customization. During our tour,
we visited a few companies doing just that. Kärcher, a manufacturer of cleaning
equipment, makes hundreds of slightly different versions of its machines with
very little changeover involved, simply by managing all of its production assets
digitally as orders arrive. Another company called Sensitec, located on a former
5000-employee IBM campus near Frankfurt, is fabricating its own wafers and
building customized sensors with just 170 employees. Some of these sensors
live on NASA’s Mars rovers including Curiosity, Spirit, and Opportunity. They are
also used on wind turbines, electric vehicles, train wheels, and robot joints. More
than 90% of these sensors are custom built, just the kind of tool able to collect
the data required by Industry 4.0.
Overall, the tour made me wonder what the materials community is doing
with regard to IoT initiatives. If a lesson can be learned from the Germans, it is
one of having a united and organized approach to moving its industry forward
into the digital future. If you have an opinion on how these ideas will impact ma-
terials science and engineering, we’d like to hear it.
THE INTERNET OF THINGS—
YES, ‘IT’S A THING’
German Chancellor Merkel and
President Obama visit with
MakerGear at Hannover Messe.