Advancing Digital Manufacturing and Enhancing Cyber Security

A federally funded research and development organization, DMDII encourages factories across America to deploy digital manufacturing and design technologies to become more efficient and cost-competitive. The Institute is now focusing on developing tools to enhance cyber security in manufacturing, and it is actively seeking partners.

The Director of DMDII’s Digital Manufacturing Commons, Jim Barkley, sat down with IMTSTV during the [MC]2 Conference to discuss some of the Institute’s most exciting projects. He also appealed to potential partners to join DMDII and its parent organization, UI Labs, as they work to address cyber security.

Barkley highlighted The Digital Manufacturing Commons, or DMC, an open-source software tool that will be an open architecture communication platform and will enable plug-and-play functionality across the entire digital thread. This platform will provide access to tools and technologies that can help businesses meet day-to-day challenges. Ultimately, Barkley explained, DMC will be much like an app store for manufacturing, with millions of users creating customized manufacturing recipes to address their specific challenges.

Another area of focus for DMDII is cyber security, Barkley said. He noted that because of the prevalence of legacy equipment that is difficult to patch, updating security has become a major challenge for manufacturers. DMDII is promoting efforts to modernize factories by utilizing more robust operating systems and retrofitting legacy equipment to turn it on to the Internet of Things. There is much work to be done in the area of cyber security, Barkley explained, and DMDII is looking for partners who want to be a part of the solution.

For more information or to partner with DMDII on their cyber security initiatives, visit UILabs.org. Plan to attend the next [MC]2 Conference.