The Thomas Blog

3D-Printed, Soft-Legged Robot Can Walk On Rough Terrains

Most soft robots can only shuffle or crawl due to their squishy bodies. This makes them great for getting into tight spaces but completely unreliable when navigating rough terrains. However, according to Endgaget, engineers from the University of San Diego have flipped the script, creating the very first soft robot that can walk on rough surfaces, climb over obstacles and wiggle into confined spaces.

Video: Tesla Is Shaking Up Its Manufacturing Process

Tesla's latest move on the shop floor is causing quite a stir in the industry. To adhere to their lofty production goals, the company is skipping the soft tooling stage and jumping straight into the production tooling stage for their Model 3 automobiles.

Building Product Manufacturers: Don't Miss The Building Content Summit

The commercial building industry has been undergoing immense change over the past 5-10 years largely driven by the adoption of BIM. 

BCS brings Architects, Engineers and Contractors together with Building Product Manufacturers (BPM’s) and Solution Providers to discuss changes in the way content is developed, distributed, selected and specified within the global BIM workflow. The needs of Design professionals are constantly evolving toward richer, data driven, multi-format product information.

THOMASNET.com Version 3 Is Now Live!

Business never shuts off — a supplier evaluation is performed every 2 seconds on THOMASNET.com! We are constantly developing new ways for engineers, procurement managers, and MROs to better access data on the platform. That's why we just launched THOMASNET.com Version 3.

The following is an overview of the improvements included in this release:

3 Causes Of Supply Chain Complexity (And How To Manage It)

The concept of "less is more" does not so easily apply to supply chain management. As organizations look to increase revenues by expanding their product portfolios, they're also introducing complexity and risk into their supply chains. While it might seem like a good idea to just reduce your portfolio overall, that's not always an option. 

Where Industrial Marketers Are Increasing Spending In 2017

As marketers, we know that the shift to digital is nothing new.

For years there has been a steady march from print media — brochures, newsletters, and direct mail pieces — to online assets like emails, eBooks, and blog posts. According to ENGINEERING.com’s annual survey of engineering marketers’ plans for the 2017 calendar year, the fruits of our digital content labors have been confirmed.

Cobots Are Taking Over The Shop Floor

Collaborative robots, also known as cobots, are computer-controlled robotic devices designed to assist people in manufacturng facilities. They are hitting the shop floor at exponential rates. In fact, recent studies show that the number of cobots used in just the automotive industry is expected to grow by more than 40% each year over the next five years. 

Manufacturing Industry Jobs Update: April 2017

At THOMASNET.com, we are big champions of American manufacturing and reshoring. In fact, we work with suppliers who produce amazing products made in America every day, and we play an instrumental role in helping small- and medium-sized suppliers grow.

But how can we measure growth for the industry overall? A good barometer is the state of the manufacturing workforce. That’s why we will be regularly diving deep into the latest information from the Bureau Of Labor Statistics to take the pulse of hiring in the industry and to highlight sectors that are growing.

Here is our Manufacturing Industry Jobs Update for April 2017 (scroll down for previous releases):

Industry 4.0: Six Steps Manufacturers Need To Take Now

In 2009, there were 2.5 billion devices with unique IP addresses connected to the internet — most of these were cell phones and computers. By 2020, there will be up to 30 billion connected devices with unique IP addresses, and many of these will be industrial products. Driven by new digital technologies, cloud computing and the Internet of Everything, this new industrial connectivity is driving what’s referred to by some analysts as “Industry 4.0.”