Topic: Industry News & Trends

It’s hard to miss the fact that the world of hardware startups is red-hot right now --especially if you’ve been reading our blog. A handful of new tools have arisen to connect product developers, hardware[…]

In their fascinating commentary from the World Economic Forum at Davos, Martin N. Baily and James Manyika pose the question “Is Manufacturing Cool Again?” and identify a trend that may be at the core of[…]

From political campaigns to the shifting economy to adjustments in manufacturing strategy necessitated by a weakening dollar and higher energy costs, waves of change are lapping at our door. And once[…]

When a natural disaster hits—like the recent tsunami off the coast of Japan or the devastating earthquake in Haiti—access to power becomes a premium. It enables people to communicate with loved ones,[…]

Want an opportunity to network with high technology professionals, learn about the latest manufacturing and product development trends and enjoy some delicious food and music? What about the chance to win[…]

The exchange of product data between original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and their supply chain partners is one of the most important processes in manufacturing. The initial handoff of design data to[…]

When we founded Arena in 2000, it was uncommon (unique, even) to deliver PLM, and manufacturing software in general, as a cloud application. In fact, our main integration challenge was configuring our[…]

We all have our own ideas about what makes a great workplace. Some will tell you it’s about access to a smart and collaborative team and strong motivational leadership, and others will say it’s about ample[…]

Choosing supply chain partners is one of the most important decisions you make when scaling your business, but knowing which suppliers to trust can be a risky game. Whether you’re sourcing components,[…]

Social networks aren’t just for the kids these days. Today’s professional online communities offer unprecedented opportunities to connect with peers, stay up-to-date on trends and best practices and find[…]

Prior to Arena and the advent of cloud, PLM was an expensive gamble. PLM solutions took a long time to implement, and implementations frequently failed. Faced with frightening[…]

If you’ve ever designed for parts that are non-compliant or approaching end-of-life, you understand the value of accessible and up-to-date component information. But unless you work for an enterprise with[…]

Desktop Engineering’s editor-at-large Anthony Lockwood combs through dozens of new product releases each week to find the latest tool helping engineers innovate and create better designs. And this week, he[…]

We know making a product is hard—and that the day-to-day challenges of making hardware products raise a lot of questions. It’s why we’ve dedicated our blog and the resource section of our website to[…]

I’ve been wondering lately if electronic distributors’ investments in ecommerce are paying off. I’m just speculating here, but there are definitely clues that the market at large is not adopting ecommerce[…]

Prototyping with rendering software used to require specialized design and coding skills. But new developments in 3D programming have taken the technical work out of rendering and made the tool more[…]

It’s no surprise that outsourcing has changed the global manufacturing landscape over the last several decades, for better or worse. Outsourcing allows manufacturers to competitively price and scale up and[…]

What if you could download and print a physical component directly to your printer? The Pirate Bay (TPB) is confident that this will soon be a reality.

When IndustryWeek released its annual ranking of revenue growth for the 500 largest publicly held U.S. manufacturing companies, it was exciting to see the progress made in 2011.

With the rising emergence of automation in the manufacturing world, brought on by increasing global competition and reinforced by events like Foxconn’s plan to integrate over 1 million robots into its[…]

Last week, I predicted that manufacturers would dramatically increase their adoption of cloud-based software as the benefits of cloud begin to outweigh any possible concerns. And upon further research, it[…]

In the last few years U.S. manufacturing has taken a hit, but with the nation focused on manufacturing job creation and education, 2012 promises to be a year of change for the industry.[…] read more

2011 was a year full of smart technologies. We met Siri, snuggled up with the Kindle Fire, worked up a sweat with the Fitbit Ultra and even discussed the possibility of a robotic takeover. It was a busy[…]

Building a HeathKit was no great feat of engineering—it came with a fixed list of parts and the schematic—but it helped you understand how electronics work by letting you assemble your own electronic[…]

To everyone who waited so patiently while I got this write up together—thank you! And so you don’t have to wait a second longer, here it is, the 2011 Arena Solutions Manufacturing Outsourcing survey[…]

I know it’s taken forever, but I finally finished the Arena Solutions Manufacturing Outsourcing Survey report. (Whew!) We talked to 1004 respondents across the high-tech, medical device, consumer products,[…]

In the last fifteen years, manufacturing in the United States has undergone a fundamental shift. As millions of U.S. manufacturing jobs have been lost to outsourcing and automation, output has steadily[…]

Last year we published a post about SawStop, a line of table saws equipped with a patented safety brake that stops a saw blade instantly when it senses human skin.

With global supply chain shortages following the earthquake in Japan, continuing unrest in the Middle East and Libya, hurricanes and tornadoes in the U.S. and the fluctuating costs of labor worldwide, it[…]

If you are a small to mid-size manufacturer, it’s probably safe to assume that you outsource some or all of your manufacturing. But “outsourcing” is a very broad term that means different things to[…]

Historically, manufacturers haven’t had a lot of online networking opportunities. That’s why I was so excited to discover Manufacturing Chat (mfgchat)—a bi-weekly Twitter chat about all things[…]

As we mentioned recently on this blog, it is commonly believed that much of U.S. manufacturing has moved overseas in search of cheaper manufacturing alternatives. And while it’s true that many companies[…]

As northeastern Japan lies in ruins following the biggest earthquake in its history, companies around the world are conducting business as usual. But even if you didn’t feel Friday’s earthquake, disasters[…]

Do you ever feel like “innovation” is the perpetual buzzword of the week? For many, innovation has become synonymous with progress, and in all job roles employees are increasingly focused on the next big[…]

For small to mid-size businesses, manufacturing beautifully intricate product parts typically means contracting a supplier to do the job. But what if you were able to *print* your own parts in your own[…]

For years, “Made in the U.S.A.” implied “overpriced” to manufacturers and consumers alike. The pressure to reduce costs drove many manufacturers to seek less expensive offshoring alternatives to the[…]

How do small and mid-size manufacturing companies operate today? And do these firms anticipate growth over the next five years? Last December more than 200 small to mid-size manufacturing firms (thank[…]

In late 2005, the North American robotics industry was a promising gateway to a more technologically advanced, more sophisticated manufacturing sector. At the time, manufacturers had impressively shipped[…]

A recent Harvard Business Review (HBR) blog post makes the case for experimentation as a key part of the product development process. Authors H. James Wilson and Kevin Desouza cite a December 2010 Babson[…]

The revitalization of U.S. manufacturing is a top concern for the Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT), which is proposing a “comprehensive national strategy” to help jumpstart U.S. economic[…]