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The adoption of Smart Manufacturing is fast becoming a necessity for small- and medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs) looking to stay competitive in the Industry 4.0 age. For those SMMs in the national security ecosystem, it\u2019s no longer a suggestion \u2014 it\u2019s a requirement. Enter, once again, the Interdisciplinary Center for Advanced Manufacturing Systems (ICAMS) at Auburn University.<\/span><\/p>\n Established in 2020 to help SMMs bridge the digital divide that threatens to render 85% of the American industrial base obsolete over the next decade, the center will use a significant portion of its latest and largest award from the Department of Defense\u2019s (DOD) Office of Industrial Policy\u2019s Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment (IBAS) Program, $8.9 million, to leverage its research and outreach efforts promoting advanced manufacturing in small and medium manufacturing operations <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe have to provide SMMs a better understanding of the processes behind new guidelines and best practices necessary to engage in secure work for the DOD,\u201d said principal investigator (PI) Greg Purdy, assistant professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering. \u201cWith this grant, we can equip them with the tools necessary to produce parts in a classified manufacturing environment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Whereas, a decade ago, cyber threats were generally exclusive to IT systems, Purdy says that the operational infrastructure of manufacturers is now being directly targeted by malicious actors.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThese days, SMMs can no longer rely on basic cybersecurity,\u201d Purdy said. \u201cThey need to meet even more stringent requirements to protect sensitive information. But some of these smaller organizations and companies, those with fewer than 50 employees, might not think they\u2019re able to offer that level of protection \u2014 they might not currently have the resources to.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Co-PI Gregory Harris, ICAMS director and chair of the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, agrees.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cData integration and analysis in a classified manufacturing environment (CME) is daunting to most SMMs,\u201d Harris said of the issue. \u201cMany are choosing to forego the increased productivity and improved quality available through the application of digital manufacturing technologies because they are worried about the potential for data to escape. During conversations with SMMs, the topic of classified advanced manufacturing continues to be a subject and source of consternation for the nation\u2019s defense industrial base.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n To combat these reservations, ICAMS is creating a CME within its 20,000 square-foot state-of-the-art facility. Located on Pumphrey Avenue in Auburn, the ICAMS production environment already houses waterjet, laser cutting capabilities and welding infrastructure. The ICAMS facility also features dedicated resources critical to some of the fastest-growing manufacturing sectors, including a 4-axis friction stir welder and a Swiss-style machining center, allowing the center to support a wide range of manufacturing organizations. A digital manufacturing demonstration cell and cyber-physical machining range is also under way.<\/span><\/p>\n However, Harris said that even with the barriers of entry to Industry 4.0 lowered, many SMMs might still find defense manufacturing contracts both a blessing and a curse.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhen demand for a defense part is high, many SMMs add capacity to meet the demand, but then the surge ends, and part orders decrease, even to zero,\u201d Harris said. \u201cNow the SMM has a problem with excess capacity and costs. This feast or famine cycle has been the cause of many SMMs going out of business. The question ICAMS aims to answer is how to address this challenge by developing strategies that allow SMMs to manage the production of parts for the DOD while still maintaining capabilities to produce for commercial markets. Traditionally, this requires duplicating machines and other resources to enable an organization to produce for both markets. However, this tends to disproportionately impact SMMs that might not have the financial capital to duplicate their manufacturing systems. Having unutilized equipment directly affects their ability to stay in business.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n To address this particular challenge, ICAMS will also use the DOD award to develop a Hybrid-Secure Manufacturing (HSM) cell to showcase a flexible manufacturing environment that can produce parts supporting DOD contracts and be quickly reconfigured to produce parts on general commercial contracts.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThis will highlight the security considerations and necessary architecture to allow SMMs flexible DOD and commercial manufacturing,\u201d Harris said. \u201cBut it will also be valuable in workforce development. We\u2019ll be able to train organizations from the shop floor to the C-suite. It\u2019s an approach that can help manufacturers understand the business case for HSM through firsthand experience.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Other tasks the award will help accomplish include ICAMS\u2019 SMM Prototyping Assistance Program, and a technology adoption seed program offering SMMs willing to implement smart manufacturing up to $50,000 in matching funds, an approach that has proven highly successful in South Korean industrial digitization initiatives.<\/span><\/p>\n Other co-PIs include Lewis Payton, Peter Liu, Konstantinos Mykoniatis, Yadrianna Acosta-Sojo, Mark Schall, Daniel Silva Izquierdo and Erin Garcia, all faculty in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering.<\/span><\/p>\n