ITAMCO discusses Industrial Internet of Things

Joel Neidig, the business development and technology manager at Indiana Technology and Manufacturing Companies (ITAMCO), Plymouth, Ind., was among several guest speakers selected to present at the third innovation forum of "Building Tomorrow's World," which was part of Autodesk University 2015 in Las Vegas.

Neidig addressed the Industrial Internet of Things, specifically ITAMCO's MTConnect Glassware App that uses MTConnect and Google Glass to provide the wearer with a virtual computer screen to enhance the factory floor experience. Excerpted from Autodesk University's innovation forum video, Neidig's presentation (above) includes a short demonstration of how Google Glass provides an augmented reality on the ITAMCO shop floor.

"And we've partnered with UI Labs, DMDII (Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute) , and GE Aviation to build pilot programs that they can use to do workflows and connect with their machine tools," Neidig told the audience.  Neidig also noted that ITAMCO's MTConnect Glassware App is open-sourced and is free to download from the ITAMCO website.

Neidig recently received the 2016 Next Generation Award from the American Gear Manufacturers Association (AGMA). The award, presented May 13 at AGMA’s Centennial Annual Meeting in Amelia Island, Fla., recognizes innovative work by an individual responsible for one or more significant achievements that enhanced or strengthened the gear industry and/or AGMA.

The latest in a series of milestones for Neidig and ITAMCO, the award acknowledges their efforts to transform their precision machining facilities into "smart factories." ITAMCO is part of a research group that recently received an Applied Research and Development award from the Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute. The group is developing a platform that will integrate every piece of software, hardware and equipment from its accounting program to its machine tools. ITAMCO was chosen as the implementation site because many of their machine tools are already connected to the Internet and each other through MTConnect^®.

"We are only 12 to 15 months away from a totally integrated shop floor," Neidig said. "A job will be entered into our ERP system and then every piece of the job, from allocating materials, to manufacturing, to shipping and invoicing, will be routed through the entire facility. Machines will be chosen based on the type of work and availability. And the platform is dynamic—if a machine goes down, the job will be automatically rerouted."

ITAMCO is also part of a team awarded a Research and Development fund by America Makes, a division of the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute. The team is working on a project that will improve the building of support structures with Direct Metal Laser Sintering, an additive manufacturing technique. In addition, the technology team at ITAMCO, led by Neidig, is implementing the "Strategic Technology Initiative for Additive Manufacturing."

They have released over 65 apps for mobile devices; designed iBlue, the first industrial Bluetooth transmitter; and developed an award-winning Google Glass application.