factory floor

Factory Floor

Welcome to Our Factory Floor

Our 22,000-square-foot research factory is used to test and demonstrate new technology; train the workforce on these new systems and tools; and demonstrate the need for cybersecurity in manufacturing.  
Experience the Virtual Tour

Timeline

  • 2020

    Launching first process manufacturing testbed
    This testbed will feature advanced technology for process manufacturing. Process, or continuous manufacturing, uses recipes or formulas, and is common in the food and beverage, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, and plastics industries.

  • 2019

    Discrete manufacturing testbed opens
    This testbed makes souvenir coins and reports out live data. The line is equipped with a dozen sensors monitoring everything from ambient temperature to the vibrations of the machines.

  • 2019

    National Center for Cybersecurity in Manufacturing debuts use cases
    At this testbed, operators walk through a real cyber-attack on a manufacturer and demonstrate how prudent security could have prevented it.

  • 2017

    McKinsey & Company opens Digital Capability Center
    One of only five in the world, and the only one in the Americas, the center brings digital manufacturing to life through a functioning production line that makes refrigerator compressors.

  • 2017

    Digitized manual assembly line opens
    Instead of trying to replace operators, this line demonstrates how technology can help operators put things together with a focus on safety and quality.

  • 2015

    Manufacturing floor opens
    Our innovation center on Goose Island opens with manufacturing floor equipment across standard machining, emerging technologies, metrology, welding and fabrication, micro technology, and electronics and assembly.

  • 2014

    Officials break ground on innovation center
    Elected officials and stakeholders from industry and academia gather to break ground on the former windows and doors factory where MxD’s future factory will eventually be housed.

    • Floor Plan

    Use Cases

    1

    Training

    Light Guide Systems’ augmented reality software projects work instructions onto the workbench. It not only walks an operator through an assembly, it also sounds an alert when an error is made. This enables new employees to catch on quicker and with fewer errors.

    2

    Materials Management

    When an operator reaches into a bin to grab a part, the software installed on our assembly testbed knows it. The system then forecasts when a component is running low and alerts a team member to pull more.

    3

    Quality

    The line has sensors installed on the grease injection system to ensure the operator applies enough grease, thereby preventing a catastrophic failure of the impact driver months later.

    4

    Safety

    Hand soldering requires a vacuum, so an operator doesn’t inhale fumes from the melting metal. This sensor system prevents the soldering station from starting up if the vacuum isn’t turned on.

    5

    Cost Savings

    Using Tulip, all of assembly line’s data is stored in the cloud, saving enormous hardware costs and putting digital manufacturing within reach of small and medium manufacturers. They also can affordably scale as they grow.