Manufacturing Research
The success of manufacturing research at IN-MaC is driven by our engagement with state, national, and global stakeholders and collaborators. IN-MaC has a two-part focus for achieving this objective – a focus on understanding today’s challenges and opportunities in the day to day operations of manufacturing companies and their operations, but also an insightful vision for future development which supports the digital transformation of the manufacturing sector for a sustainable future.
The specific focal areas of IN-MaC research efforts will be towards the digital transformation of the manufacturing sector in Indiana and beyond, particularly in the areas of the techniques and tools which support the creation and use of the digital twin methodology and in the rapid scaling of manufacturing methods, using an integrated and flexible digital architecture for the factory of the future, to promote competitiveness in manufacturing. In partnership with the Digital Enterprise Center, IN-MaC supports a robust research agenda.
To support the sustainability of the manufacturing testbed and its equipment, we have implemented two cost recovery programs, while serving our faculty and community stakeholders in the process.
Research Support and Prototyping services
In 2020, Purdue launched a 12,000 square foot Intelligent Manufacturing Testbed (IMT) to demonstrate the digital transformation of the manufacturing enterprise, specifically the technologies, methods, and information behind the concept of the “digital twin”. The Testbed enables industry participants – especially Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) – to investigate technologies and methods to integrate products, processes and systems across an extended value chain and product life cycle. As a part of the Indiana Manufacturing Institute (IMI), the Testbed develops and demonstrates proofs-of-concept configurations and prototypes of various products and processes to illustrate current state of practice and future art of the possible.
The Testbed features a range of physical processes to generate data that is collated into useful information streams for building relevant decision models, and deployed to various operator, supervisor and management personas using standard dashboards and formats. The IMT also hosts industry workshops and showcase events that introduce novel combinations of new and existing technologies, exchange lessons learned and best practices, and provide networking opportunities for participants.
The Intelligent Manufacturing Testbed deploys an expansive suite of commercial and open-source digital tools to form an architecture which integrates CAD, PDM, MES, and analytics tools and applications to validate and demonstrate ways to manage product and process information across business systems and job roles throughout an extended manufacturing enterprise. Digital infrastructures are configured to develop applications and showcase intelligent solutions (open-source and custom) for a range of manufacturer needs and capabilities. The capabilities for distributed IoT sensor networks, operations technologies (OT) and information technologies (IT) to track materials, parts, utilities, and people have been deployed using various commercial utilities. Predictive modeling tools can be developed to monitor manufacturing variations and equip management to make more timely, better-informed decisions.
To support manufacturing research for faculty and students and prototyping services for the entrepreneurial community within the Purdue Research Foundation and the greater community, IN-MaC has established usage rates and agreements for providing access to its facilities, equipment and expertise. The information below is a summary of our equipment, personnel, and associated rates. If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Nathan Hartman, IN-MaC Director, at nhartman@purdue.edu.
General Research and Prorotyping Services
- Demonstrate technologies that aid the development of Digital Twins, including design models, product data management (PDM) systems, manufacturing execution systems (MES),
- Real-time sensor and PLC data collection from manufacturing, assembly models, and metrology systems
- Intelligent machine-tool control and tracking
- Predictive modeling of manufacturing processes
- Generation of non-proprietary data sets for usage elsewhere
- Development of prototypes and small batch manufacturing services for research grants and entrepreneurship, including in CAD modeling, CNC machining, 3D printing, mold-making, IoT sensor deployment and digital architecture recommendations
| Service | Unit | Internal | External |
|---|---|---|---|
| AGV, Fetch Research Robots - ROBOT, FETCH | hour | $9.55 | $12.03 |
| AGV, Fetch Research Robots - ROBOT, FREIGHT | hour | $4.53 | $5.70 |
| Subtractive Machining - CNC Lathe / Mill | hour | $33.05 | $41.64 |
| Metrology | hour | $20.70 | $26.09 |
| Advanced 3D Printers | hour | $9.53 | $12.00 |
| Filament / Base | gram | $0.03 | $0.04 |
| Filament / Special | gram | $0.05 | $0.06 |
| Resin | cm^3 | $0.03 | $0.04 |
| Roll-to-Roll | hour | $62.90 | $79.25 |
| Project Lead | hour | $93.90 | $118.32 |
| Technician (D) | hour | $62.35 | $78.56 |
| Principal Investigator (E) | hour | $198.37 | $249.95 |
| Graduate Student (G) | hour | $37.13 | $46.78 |
| Undergraduate Student (H) | hour | $13.04 | $16.43 |
*External and Market Rates include the off-campus F&A recovery rate of 26%
Technician Market Rate
A Market Rate of $80 will apply to work completed during weekdays.
A Market Rate of $105 will apply to work completed during evenings and weekends.