Baby boomers are retiring at the rate of approximately 10,000 a day. In their wake, Millennials are changing the way manufacturers do things.
According to Pew Research Center, Millennials range in age from 22 to 37 and are expected to reach 73 million in the U.S. this year. They make up “more than half the workforce population.”
Quick to try new technology, they are more likely to embrace working remotely. A traditional 9-to-5 lacks flexibility. To attract this segment of the population, manufacturers are using technology. For example, integrating a “bring your own device” policy allows them to use their smartphones to do things like clock in, file reports, manage inventory, check on production or respond to equipment maintenance alerts.
Software developers are also taking their cue from these trends. Baby boomers likely remember the early days of computer numerical controlled CNC machine programming. Terms like paper tape media, alpha-numeric “G” code, “conversational” programming, and graphical user interface probably sound like an obscure language. Today’s software looks and feels quite a bit different and with good reason.
According to Recruiter, Millennials “entered the workforce from the golden age of gaming. Nintendo, Playstation, and Xbox weaned them, and as a result, they have a distinct perspective about the workforce and their place in it.”
Manufacturers know that to attract Millennials they have to talk to them in their own language.
Consider the software that runs 5-axis coordinate measuring machines (CMM). MODUS, like other metrology packages, measures lines, planes and circles. The difference is that updates have been made to make the software faster, more accurate and more interesting to today’s workforce. It has the look and feel of a video game. Its’ user interface allows native DMIS programs to be developed offline. An operator can draw geometry and embed dimensions and tolerance data from CAD, feature construction and part alignment. MODUS supports I++DME compliant metrology controllers – including Renishaw’s UCC range of universal CMM controllers, CAD-driven offline programming with on-screen probe path verification. The CMM environment, fixture and the location of the part on the machine can be defined for simulation and crash detection of 5-axis measurement programs.
AIMS’ other software option, QC-CALC Real Time, collects and displays measurement results from all CMMs, Video CMMs, and hand gauges without operator intervention. An operator can create reports and export data to spreadsheets, databases, and to QC-CALC SPC or other SPC programs. The program provides one interface for all machines and one interface for all outputs. QC-CALC Office Buddy integrates with Minitab, JMP and MS Excell to run reports using the CMM data collected by QC-CALC Real-Time. QC-Sort can quickly identify bad parts on a multiple-part inspection fixture.
Both packages have the capability to connect machines in smart factory environment and collect big data in real time.
