Smart(er) Shop offers solutions for cybersecurity, rented robots, connected shops

What can you do about cybersecurity when you are both the shop staff and the IT staff? Could a rented robot solve inspection challenges? Are sticky notes your idea of shop communication? Take 10 minutes and find out how to address these issues and more by watching Season 2 of “Smart(er) Shop,” an IMTS+ Original Series, brought to you by Autodesk, premiering Oct. 26 on IMTS.com. 

Smart(er) Shop" co-host Ryan Kelly (second from right) lists four benefits of a connected shop: It is more secure, less risky, more efficient, and allows you to take advantage of data in new ways.

“Smart(er) Shop” features Ryan Kelly, the general manager for AMT’s San Francisco Tech Lab, and Adam Allard, senior manager of technical environments at Autodesk, who oversees Autodesk Technology Centers across North America. Kelly and Allard offer up three budget-friendly, easy-to-implement ideas for small and medium-sized shops. They focus on technology, but you don’t need to be an IT wizard or automation expert to take advantage of the “byte-sized” solutions featured in Season 2.

Cybersecurity Tips From MxD

Recent research shows that manufacturing is the target for nearly one-quarter of ransomware attacks. To address this, the season premiere of “Smart(er) Shops” features Chicago-based MxD, the national digital manufacturing and cybersecurity institute. The MxD team highlights six security practices from its free cybersecurity playbook that anyone can implement. Learn how to deal with tailgaters (someone riding your tail to enter a facility on your security badge), use encrypted USBs, set up allow-listing software, and more. For shops pursuing Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC 2.0) to obtain defense contracts, this two-part episode is a must-watch. 

Connected Solutions

Filmed at the Autodesk Technology Center at Pier 9 in San Francisco, the second episode focuses on the benefits of a connected shop. The Autodesk team demonstrates the productivity and quality benefits possible with CAD-CAM software featuring built-in (and free!) drivers for Haas, Mazak, and other CNCs. In an era where too many shops write post-processor information on a sticky note and pray for good outcomes after pressing the cycle-start button, this episode drives home the benefits of a modern digital workflow. It also features a malicious penguin and channels “Young Frankenstein” to convey key points – you’ll just have to watch to appreciate the context.

Rental Robots for Quality Control

Episode 3 takes the team to Topcon Position Systems, a leading global manufacturer of positioning systems for construction and agricultural equipment. Kelly and Allard learn that while human brains are great at recognizing patterns, they are lousy at concentrating on repetitive details, which creates a vexing inspection problem. Using a robots-as-a-service solution from Rapid Robotics paired with an AI-driven vision system from Elementary, Topcon has eliminated a quality control issue that plagues many manufacturers. The best part: The solution hits the company’s operating budget for about the daily cost of a lunch for two.

About AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology

AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology represents U.S.-based providers of manufacturing technology – the advanced machinery, devices, and digital equipment that U.S. manufacturing relies on to be productive, innovative, and competitive. Located in McLean, Virginia, near the nation’s capital, AMT acts as the industry’s voice to speed the pace of innovation, increase global competitiveness, and develop manufacturing’s advanced workforce of tomorrow. With extensive expertise in industry data and intelligence, as well as a full complement of international business operations, AMT offers its members an unparalleled level of support. AMT also produces IMTS – The International Manufacturing Technology Show, the premier manufacturing technology event in North America. www.AMTonline.org