CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE
By Mike Majewski
CEO, SEH Technology
Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) digitally transforms machining. Although it’s a significant stride forward in automating processes, it still requires skilled people to direct it. Those optimized production parameters, precision laser cuts, and tight-tolerance measurements all depend on the CNC programmer controlling the machine with software such as ESPRIT, BLMelements, and Mastercam.
There are two trends to watch. The first is that CAM adoption is predicted to increase. Global industry analysts project the CAM market will grow to $4.6 billion at an 8.4 percent CAGR from 2022 to 2026. Driving that growth are increased use in specific sectors, such as automotive and aerospace, and enterprises creating intelligent, connected processes that leverage Industry 4.0 and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technology.
Second, while CAM becomes more ubiquitous, so will remote work. Research by Ladders estimates that 25 percent of all professional jobs in North America will be remote by the end of this year. Furthermore, while The Great Resignation continues and manufacturers compete for talent, they need to be mindful of GoodHire research that found 68 percent of Americans choose remote work versus working in an office, and 85 percent prefer to apply for jobs that offer remote flexibility.
The outcrop forced by these trends is that more CNC programmers and product engineers will work from home.
Manufacturers Need a Comprehensive Work-From-Home Strategy
Manufacturers that quickly transitioned to remote work during the pandemic found that there’s more to enabling working from home than giving a CNC programmer a VPN login. Productivity depends on enabling work as quickly at home as in the office with an internet connection with adequate bandwidth and quality of service.
Additionally, remote employees won’t suddenly work independently. They’re still part of a team. It’s necessary to deploy solutions that facilitate teamwork, such as unified communications (UC) solutions for easy messaging, voice, and video communications and collaboration solutions like Jira or Backlog. Furthermore, manufacturers will enhance their operations with a move to cloud solutions. Transitioning from on-premises solutions to the cloud will result in greater agility, accessibility, and scalability. Managers will also benefit from greater access to data to monitor productivity and other key performance indicators (KPIs) related to their areas of responsibility.
Building a Secure Work-From Home Strategy
Manufacturers also need to expand their security strategies to include remote work. Remote programmers and engineers should use corporate-owned devices, configured with security software and dedicated to only work-related tasks. Manufacturers should also require multifactor authentication (MFA) to use the device to prevent unauthorized people from unlocking it.
Also, although no one wants the expense of replacing a lost or stolen laptop, a business‘s IT department needs to plan for that contingency and maintain visibility and control to prevent the loss of corporate data. However, manufacturers also need a strategy that ensures costly software licenses aren’t lost as well. A USB dongle server enables programmers or engineers to use copy-protected software licenses over the network. With a USB dongle, software doesn’t have to be uploaded onto laptops, but the user experience is the same as if it were. Therefore, if the laptop is lost or stolen, the software license and data stored on it aren’t lost along with it.
Moving Forward
Remote work will be a reality for the foreseeable future. Manufacturers must address the work-from-home trend to stay competitive as an employer and must develop a strategy that ensures remote work is productive, effective, and secure. Optimizing each facet of the work-from-home model will help ensure the same accuracy, precision and efficiency of CAM processes will continue, regardless of where the CNC programmer or engineer is working.
About the writer: Mike Majewski is the CEO at SEH Technology. He opened the SEH U.S. sales office in Phoenixville, Pa., in 2002; three years later Mike became CEO of newly founded SEH Technology, a fully owned subsidiary of the German vendor SEH, a specialist in network printing solutions for more than 20 years. Mike also established the U.S. sales channel and subsequently managed all sales, distribution and marketing activities for North America. Today, he is responsible for all ongoing sales and marketing processes as well as technical relations with SEH’s OEM partners.
To contact Mike, visit https://www.seh-technology.com/us/ or via LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikemajewski
CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE
