Pacific Design & Manufacturing 2020 Debuts Smart Manufacturing and 3D Printing Innovation Summits

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Pacific Design & Manufacturing, North America's largest advanced design and manufacturing event, today announced two summits, the “Smart Manufacturing Innovation Summit” and the “3D Printing Innovation Summit” as part of the 2020 conference programming. The Smart Manufacturing Summit will highlight hot topics affecting smart factory floor adoption such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, security, and Big Data. Furthermore, the 3D Printing Innovation Summit will spotlight material trends in metals, ceramics, and multi-materials and offer insight into choosing the right tools and materials to support design strategy. Sessions will range from exclusive keynote presentations, Lightning Workshops, Tech Talk Panels, roundtable discussions, and much more.

Both the Smart Manufacturing and 3D Printing innovation summits at Pacific Design & Manufacturing will take place from February 11 - 13, 2020 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA which run adjacent to Automation Technology Expo West, Medical Design & Manufacturing West, PLASTEC West, and West Pack. 

The global smart manufacturing market is forecasted to reach $480 billion by 2023,representing a new frontier in the smart factory revolution. Disruptive technologies including 3D printing and additive manufacturing processes have also evolved beyond their initial use for prototypes; as such, the industry is valued to be worth $50 billion by 2025. Both the Smart Manufacturing and 3D Printing innovation summits will feature today’s industry-leading experts who are on the ground floor driving the movement toward the new smart factory. Experts from Boeing, Microsoft, Fetch Robotics, Infinity Robotics, Siemens, Stratasys, Protolabs, Formlabs, and Makerbot, among many more will feature their expertise at the Innovation Summits.

“The unstoppable progression toward a fully connected smart factory has the capability to transform the manufacturing system landscape for decades to come,” said Suzanne Deffree, brand director of Pacific Design & Manufacturing, Informa Markets. “The sessions in the Smart Manufacturing and 3D Printing Innovation Summits are specifically designed to help attendees understand the current state of affairs, develop greater proficiencies to help advance the next industrial revolution, and gain deeper insight into how these emerging technologies will affect their companies and the entire manufacturing industry as a whole.”

Featured Smart Manufacturing Innovation Summit Sessions Include:

Factory Reboot: Introducing New Technology & Blood into Your Operation(Panel Discussion)
Manufacturing jobs are in need of a refresh as robots become smaller, more autonomous, and able to automate a wider range of manufacturing tasks. This panel will dig deep into the new technology and give attendees greater insight into better practices to guarantee success while discussing the lessons learned through industry examples. Topics covered include unique problems manufacturing is facing with the graying of the workforce, the robots and sensors that are replacing the retiring manufacturing workforce, and what management can do to attract new blood into the operation and techniques used to minimize risk during and after implementation.

The Smart Factory: You Have All the Data, What Do You Do With it? (Session)
You’ve invested in the smart factory, employing technology such as AI, robotics, and the IoT. Now that you have all data, what do you do with it? This session will discuss the possibilities of how to leverage this big data to fully understand the manufacturing process as well as how to determine which initiatives to tackle first: topics covered include current disagreements over best practices for data access and usage, ways data can help achieve efficiencies, better practices for maximizing uptime of your equipment, and case examples in medical device manufacturing.

Securing Your Connected Factory (Session)
Smart factories, those that are prompting the fourth industrial revolution by becoming increasingly digitized and adopting automation by bringing in AI, robotics, and cloud computing, are also at greater risk of cyberattack. Manufacturers are much more prone to threats to their security because of connectivity in IT and OT systems through Industry 4.0 digitalization. Come hear from experts about ways to secure your data and mitigate risk. Topics covered include cybersecurity risks that manufacturers face in the digital era, communication challenges restricting progress (OT/IT conflict), case examples demonstrating ways to mitigate risk, and how to overcome the challenges should your factory fall victim to a breach.

Featured 3D Printing Innovation Summit Sessions Include:

How Additive Manufacturing is Disrupting Aerospace (Session)
According to several recent market reports, aerospace accounts for about one-fourth of the additive manufacturing markets and offers numerous benefits to the sector, including part consolidation, on-demand manufacturing, faster time to market, decreased downtime, and light-weighting, which leads to cost/fuel savings. In short, additive manufacturing is a potential game-changer for the aerospace industry.
 
3D Printing with Metal—What’s New, What’s Next & How Much Will It Cost? (Panel Discussion)
After decades of hype and false promises, production metal 3D printing has finally arrived. It's both complementary and competitive to traditional manufacturing in a number of important ways. Production in metal 3D printing presents great opportunity but also great risk. This session will reveal how to successfully move 3D printing into high-volume production.

Revolutionizing Additive Manufacturing through Artificial Intelligence & Robotics (Session)
Artificial intelligence is helping manufacturers find new business models, improve the quality of their products, and optimize manufacturing operations. This session will explore the emerging role of AI in AM and how companies are looking to train their robots to independently oversee and optimize 3D printing of complex parts.