Telemanufacturing educational module and laboratory for engineering and technology students

The recent leap in both information and computer technologies as well as the global economic shifts have posed to institutions several challenges for preparing a future workforce that is viable and competitive. The efficient utilization of the aforementioned technologies in the classroom, as many industries see it, provide the graduating students with the needed technologies and abilities to compete in the emerging virtual manufacturing environment. Telemanufacturing is an infrastructure that is based on the use of these advances to aid in increasing manufacturing flexibility. It enables the integration of expertise and educational equipment that exist in government, university, and private research centers into factory floor activities of manufacturers. In this paper we explain this infrastructure, present a summary of a Telemanufacturing educational module and highlight a lab concept that we developed. Society of Manufacturing Engineers 1998