In this episode of the Smart Metals podcast, we (Denis Gontcharov and Luke Van Enkhuizen) had the pleasure of hosting Wim Dijkgraaf, founder and CEO of Quotation Factory. We discussed the challenges and solutions in high mix, low volume manufacturing, focusing on the impact of Event-Driven Architectures (EDA) and Unified Namespace (UNS) in transforming the metalworking industry. Wim shared how Quotation Factory leverages advanced systems to estimate production times, streamline operations, and enhance responsiveness....

This week at the Smart Metals Podcast, we had a conversation about the state of Unified Namespace (UNS) adoption in the European metals industry. We were joined by Angelo Hulshout, a seasoned software architect, to discuss the unique challenges and opportunities that UNS presents for metals manufacturers in Europe. We delved deeper into the cultural differences between Europe and the U.S. in adopting innovative technologies like UNS and the practical steps manufacturers can take to start their digital transformation....

This week at Smart Metals Podcast, we, the hosts Luke van Enkhuizen and Denis Gontcharov, had a conversation about the critical role of domain knowledge in the metals industry, particularly in the context of increasing automation and AI. We delved deeper into the challenges of preserving expertise in a digital age and the potential future of factories. If your current challenge is balancing domain knowledge with technological advancements, then listen to this episode when you have a moment....

This video was recorded by me for the United Manufacturing Hub In this video, we’ll walk through connecting HighByte, a data processing engine, with the United Manufacturing Hub (UMH). HighByte is an OT-friendly alternative to Node-RED to handle operational technology data, making it a useful tool alongside the UMH. We will start by demonstrating how to download and set up HighByte within Kubernetes. Next, we’ll show you how to configure it to use data from the UMH, model this data, and send it back to UMH....

This article was written for the United Manufacturing Hub Energy monitoring can help you comply with the Energy Efficiency Act (EnEfG), mandating energy-intensive companies, public institutions, and data centers to monitor and reduce their energy consumption. Read the article to learn more! On 21 September 2023, the German government passed the Energy Efficiency Act (EnEfG). Energy-intensive companies, public institutions, and data centers must monitor and, where possible, reduce their energy consumption....

Article written for Grafana and the United Manufacturing Hub in cooperation with Jeremy Theocharis. Most IT professionals are familiar with Grafana as a visualization tool to monitor IT telemetry data, such as CPU consumption. Grafana is also, however, a powerful tool for industrial IoT (IIoT) — which is why our team at United Manufacturing Hub (UMH), a startup that provides an open source industrial IoT platform for enterprise manufacturers, chose to leverage Grafana in our core product....

In this episode of the Smart Metals Podcast, host Luke van Enkhuizen and co-host Dennis Gontcharov delve into Luke’s journey from welder to consultant for the metalworking industry. The discussion covers the challenges faced by metalworking companies in digital transformation and provides practical advice on how they can become more efficient and meet customer demands. Luke highlights the importance of creating a strategic plan, understanding customer needs, and ensuring comprehensive training for staff to effectively implement digital solutions....

This article was written for the United Manufacturing Hub in cooperation with Jeremy Theocharis and is based on the presentation given by Jeremy Theocharis at Cloudland 2024. Connecting a USB stick to the “cloud” seems to be a stupid thing to do. Yet, it is something that we must do if we want to increase the efficiency of our world’s production and therefore reduce CO2. Nearly every factory in the world—whether they’re churning out cars, energy, shampoo, or just about anything else—still operates on technology from the 90s....

This video was recorded by me for the United Manufacturing Hub In this first part of the UNS Basics mini series, we introduce the Automation Pyramid as a system to control the plant. We highlight the challenges related to data analytics and present the Unified Namespace as the solution. We also show how the Automation Pyramid connects to the Unified Namespace, according to the United Manufacturing Hub’s philosophy. Finally, we briefly discuss where historical data from the Unified Namespace is saved....

This week at Metal Connect, we, the hosts Denis Gontcharov and Luke van Enkhuizen, had a conversation about digital transformation in the aluminum industry. We delved deeper into Denis’s journey from an aluminum process engineer to a data consultant and the unique challenges and opportunities of digital transformation in this sector. If your current challenge is navigating digital transformation in the aluminum industry, then listen to this episode when you have a moment....