Digital thread sewn by test bed

Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Willie E. May said: "The SMS Test Bed joins the many resources NIST offers to help US manufacturers drive innovation and compete in a global market."

May added: "Digital manufacturing represents an exciting advance that is expected to yield significant operational and bottom-line benefits for manufacturers of all sizes."

Until recently, manufacturers have predominantly used two-dimensional (2D) drawings-what we know as blueprints-in either printed form, Computer-Aided Design (CAD) plans or a combination of both to guide a product through its life cycle.

Because these methods require humans to interpret, translate, re-enter and transmit data at each step in the process, there can be significant expenditures of time and money, as well as multiple opportunities for errors to occur. In spite of the disadvantages, however, 90% of small manufacturers still rely on traditional 2D methods to make their products.

The digital thread relies on standardised, three-dimensional (3D) models for electronically exchanging and processing product and manufacturing information all the way from design through inspection of the final part. Researchers estimate that moving manufacturing from 2D paper-based systems to 3D digital manufacturing could cut production time by as much as 75%.

NIST's SMS Test Bed is designed to make the digital thread and the resources needed to make it work accessible to all who want to explore its capabilities and contribute to its advancement. It also serves as a platform for measuring the effectiveness of standards for collecting and distributing production data that support the digital thread.

The test bed consists of three major components:

• A computer-aided technologies laboratory with a suite of standardised software tools for controlling design, fabrication, inspection, data management, and verification and validation testing.
• A real-world manufacturing facility at NIST's Gaithersburg, Maryland, headquarters, featuring a variety of Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine tools (such as milling and turning centres) and precision inspection devices (such as coordinate measuring machines and digital micrometres).
• Online data streaming, collection, storage and publication services that provide real-time, universally compatible data links for experimenting with the digital manufacturing process; a searchable repository of all SMS Test Bed data generated; and preset data packages for model products previously fabricated using the digital thread that manufacturers can try at their own facilities.

NIST Mechanical Engineer Thomas Hedberg, co-coordinator of the project said: "The goal of the SMS Test Bed is to create a shared resource that enables smart manufacturing research and development."

Hedberg added: "We are actively seeking collaborators who are willing to link their manufacturing data sets, fabrication processes and product data exchange systems with our test bed so that we can help them make their way toward digital manufacturing, and at the same time, let others who participate in the project gain from their knowledge and experience."

According to NIST Mechanical Engineer and project co-coordinator Moneer Helu, future plans for the test bed include offering manufacturers the opportunity to compare the fabrication of test products (with preset designs and datasets) using their standard procedure and with an optimised 'digital thread' plan.

Helu commented: "We also hope to assist with the creation and launch of test beds like ours across the country so that eventually, a national network is established."