Peter Wachira

3 Ways Technology is Used in Material Processing Equipment The manufacturing sector has seen tremendous technological advances at an unprecedented pace in the recent past. With globalization comes heightened customer demands and increased product complexity, thus companies are implementing advanced technologies to keep up with the pace. Material handling technologies have made their way into warehouses and distribution centers, making them an epicenter of business innovation. Supply chains have to adapt to the changes occurring in the market to lower costs and increase the predictability and speed of product movement. With new technology comes complexity, thus there is a need for managers and their employees to keep up with the ever-changing trends. New technologies like Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, Big Data, and advanced robotics are increasingly being used in the manufacturing sector. When it comes to material handling warehouse management systems (WMS), mobile computers and handheld scanners are used to fulfill a wide variety of needs. Some of the trends that have the biggest impact on material processing equipment are discussed below. 1. Big Data and Analytics The use of big data and analytics in the context of warehousing involves capturing data that is not presently being captured, consolidating it with other existing data, and analyzing it for use to achieve specific objectives. The warehouse management needs to clean, aggregate, transform, inspect, and model the data to discover useful information that can be used to suggest conclusions and support decision-making. Big data analytics is not an easy task, but when integrated into daily management processes it can be useful. Employees require special training to ensure that they can maximize opportunities of making data-driven decisions. 2. The Internet of Things The Internet of Things (IoT) is connected to the input of sensors into physical objects such as finished products, warehouse stations, or shipping containers for data communication. These sensors enable tracking, coordination, and control of merchandise and communicate information that delivers insights via the internet or other data networks. The process enables machine-to-machine coordination and communication, where the data collected is used in big data and analytics. In warehouses, this technology supports coordination and communication across conveyors, retrieval systems, automated storage, forklifts, and other systems, thus providing new levels of automation and visibility. 3. 3D Printing/Additive Manufacturing Additive manufacturing or 3D printing has been in existence since the early 1980s but has gained significant interest in the past few years since it is more affordable today. It involves the processes used in printing 3D products through cold spraying. In this process, metallic particles are blown at high speed through a nozzle to form shapes by binding the particles. With the help of a computer, a part is formed by building materials one layer at a time. The process ensures less waste of materials during production and saves costs to produce a high precision replica of the original design. There are many other ways that technology is being used in material processing equipment besides the three mentioned here. Robots, cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), and Nanotechnology are just a few of them. As a manufacturer, it is important to think forward and adapt to technology.