The mere mention of robots taking over manufacturing sends apocalyptic terror throughout the factory.Tales of an army of zombie robots replacing workers may sell news stories, but it is far from the truth.There are many key differences between robots and zombies.
STEM and Manufacturing Careers
There has been a great deal of attention paid to the skills gap facing American manufacturers.The primary mission of last month's Manufacturing Day was to "addresses common misperceptions about manufacturing by giving manufacturers an opportunity to open their doors and show, in a coordinated effort, what manufacturing is — and what it isn't."
We all know that many young people shy away from STEM education and they have a distorted, grimy, perception of manufacturing employment and careers.
This article fromDesign Newsoriginally appeared on the Design News blog on August 7, 2015
Robots have long been a source of fear and fascination, and Hollywood has always swung from one extreme to the other.Movies such as "I, Robot" portend a terrible future in which robots strip humans of their own free will, while "Chappie" praises robots as humanity's final hope to avoid extinction.Robots in film have straddled the line between saviors and villains for years, leaving us to wonder what a world filled with robots would actually be like.
Important questions remain regarding the future of robots.Just how beneficial are they to society?Concerns have materialized as robots threaten the job security of humans everywhere.An Oxford University study predicts that 47% of US jobs could be automated within the next 20 years.
As frightening as that sounds, robotic automation is happening — fast.An estimated $1.5 billion market for consumer and business robots will emerge by 2019, growing seven times faster than the market for manufacturing robots.Like it or not, robots will continue to play an increasingly important role in our daily lives.
Increasing use of thermoplastics in manufacturing took place during the middle of the past century, coming on especially strong during the war years, 1940-45, where many applications substituted the use of plastics for metal. Even in the sixties it was a booming and yet still infant, emerging technology. The 1967 movie, "The Graduate," starringDustinHoffmanand AnneBancroft, made a powerful reference to the promise that plastics held in the American economy when, upon college graduation, the character BenjaminBraddockreceived a one-word piece of advice from a family friend. "Plastics," he was told, as if this material was destined to be the next great breakthrough, which it was.
STEM and Manufacturing Careers
In the heyday of manufacturing in America, internships and apprenticeships were highly sought out job experiences.Students knew the skills they gained during an internship could help shape their future success.
Since the mid-1960's, however, the industry and the employment picture has taken some big hits. It has only been in the past five years, that we have seen manufacturing output and jobs begin to grow again.
High schools and colleges throughout the country pay tribute to Rube Goldberg's legacy every year thoughThe Rube Goldberg Machine Contest. According to the contest website "The Rube Goldberg Machine Contests bring Goldberg's cartoons to life as a way of helping students transcend traditional ways of looking at problems, taking them into the intuitive chaotic realm of imagination.The resulting inventions are collections of bits and pieces, parts of now useless machines, cobbled together to achieve an innovative imaginative, yet somehow logical contraption to meet the annual contest challenge."
Advances in the development of new and improved polymers have led many engineers and product designers to re-think their use of more traditional materials in the manufacturing process.Parts once thought of as impossible to create using plastic, are now being designed with polymers at a higher rate than ever before.
Plastics have historically offered many advantages over other materials, particularly metal.Plastic parts are lighter and afford more design flexibility.They tend to be less expensive than metals and need little if any finishing or additional assembly.And today's innovative polymers are developed with the environment in mind.Usingbio-based solutionsand easily compostable materials, the goal is to leave as little impact on the planet as possible.
Our eBook "An Introduction to Plastic Injection Molding" will give you everything you need to know to get started. We developed this eBook with designers, engineers and purchasing specialists in mind. It is written to provide a basic understanding of plastic injection molding presses, processes and costs. Our goal is to make our customers and readers more knowledgeable about what goes into making a plastic part.You candownload your copy of the free PDF here.
There is no better time than the Fourth of July to begin a "Buy American-made" tradition.It's starts by checking the labels.Nutrition labels on food tell you what contents are in a product.Country of origin labeling tells you where the contents came from and where they were assembled.With a few exceptions, thegovernmentdoes not require this labeling!however companies are typically proud to display their "Made in the USA" origin.More than ever, American consumers want to purchase products made here and support jobs throughout our country.
