Workshop at MSEC: Gamechanging Ideas for Cost-Effective Low-Volume Manufacturing
Upcoming Event
June 5, 2017
2:00 PM — 5:15 PM
124 Seely G. Mudd Building
MForesight is excited to host the ASME-MSEC Workshop on Gamechanging Ideas for Cost-Effective Low-Volume Manufacturing at the ASME-MSEC Conference taking place next week at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA. At the workshop, participants will explore opportunities and challenges for manufacturing products in volumes too high to “print” or “machine” one at a time, yet too low to justify tooling investment. Low-volume manufacturing of innovative and specialized products at economical pricing is needed in nearly every industry, yet mature manufacturing technologies capable of economically producing such products are limited.
The purpose of this interactive workshop is to listen to experts, share ideas and build partnerships to broaden technical capabilities and access to low-volume manufacturing.
The workshop will explore potential low-volume manufacturing technologies, including:
- Technology for reconfigurable dies and molds (zero tooling cost)
- Technology to substantially lower die and mold production cost
- Technology to enable fully automated setup of manufacturing equipment or production lines
- Reconfigurable manufacturing equipment (e.g., LEGO-like building blocks)
- Novel molding, casting, or forming technologies that excel at small-lot quantities
- Low cost and scalable manufacturing technology for emerging areas (e.g. nano-manufacturing)
After a keynote speaker and invited researchers briefly explore the current state of the technologies, attendees will participate in breakout sessions to identify critical areas for further R&D and federal funding. The recommendations of each session will be reported out to the group and consolidated into a published whitepaper available on MForesight’s website.
Speakers:
- Rich Baker, Chief Technology Officer, Proto Labs
- Jian Cao, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Director of Northwestern Initiative for Manufacturing Science and Innovation, and an Associate Vice President for Research (AVPR), Northwestern University
- Glenn Daehn, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, The Ohio State University
- Hitomi Yamaguchi Greenslet, Associate Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Florida
- David E. Hardt, Professor of Mechanical Engineering in the Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity, MIT
- Tony Schmitz, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science, University of North Carolina
- Jose Ulloa, Senior Manager of Process Development and Tooling Design, Boston Scientific
- Daniel F. Walczyk, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Director of the Center of Automation Technologies and Systems, RPI
Please join us on Monday afternoon if you will be attending the MSEC/NAMRC conference, or send us your comments on the topic.
