ASME Convenes Open Research Forum on Digital Manufacturing

ASME Convenes Open Research Forum on Digital Manufacturing ASME Convenes Open Research Forum on Digital Manufacturing ASME Convenes Open Research Forum on Digital ManufacturingThe 94,000 square-foot Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute opened its doors at UI Labs in Chicago last month.On June 3, ASME conducted a virtual workshop, the Open Research Forum Workshop on Digital Manufacturing Challenges and Opportunities from the Perspective of the Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute (DMDII). Thirty-two advanced manufacturing experts from academia, government and industry participated in the online forum, which focused on how ASME could support the institute in developing digital technologies for U.S. factories.The DMDII, recently launched at the Chicago-based UI Labs, is a federally funded research and development organization that encourages factories across America to deploy digital manufacturing and plan technologies in order to become more efficient and cost-competitive. In a recent brochure, the institute outlined a summary of the needs and challenges in this area. Among the most pressing issues, according to the institute, was the need to advance the digital thread that integrates and drives modern konzept, manufacturing and product support processes can be exploited to reduce cycle time and achieve first pass success, and is the only feasible way to deal with constantly increasing complexity in products and manufacturing enterprises. The DMDII will be focused on maturing the digital thread for applications in manufacturing and design of electros include power train, propulsion and structural components, as well as control subsystems and systems. The Open Research Forums program concentrated on how ASME could best assist as DMDII manufacturers try to integrate 3D product design information with manufacturing, product usage and end-of-use processes to create the digital thread. George Barnych, director of research and devel opment at DMDII, presented an overview of the institutes activities, which was followed by a facilitated discussion led by ASME member Marriner Merrill of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. During the discussion, participants were asked to identify relevant challenges and to identify solutions in the digital thread area that could be effectively addressed by the interdisciplinary knowledge and expertise of mechanical engineers and scientists. The forum further explored how ASME could contribute to advancing these digital thread-related technologies to the global engineering community via research, education, knowledge dissemination, and the development of new codes and standards and guidelines. Participants discussed ways that ASME can help move digital manufacturing forward. Some of the ideas included developing workshops and industrial competitions developing a marketing campaign to help create a positive image for young people to pursue a manufacturing career increasing commun ication by convening groups with related interests and publishing articles or organizing sessions to inform small- and medium-sized businesses of the tools currently available in digital manufacturing. For more information on the Digital Manufacturing Challenges and Opportunities from the Perspective of the Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute workshop, visit http//dmdii.uilabs.org.