1. CENTER FOR ADVANCED MANUFACTURING AND INNOVATIVE DESIGN
The state of manufacturing is reaching a critical point in the United
States. For decades now, manufacturing has been leaving the U.S.
in search of lower labor rates in other parts of the world. It is clear
that the U.S. cannot compete in manufacturing by working cheaper
or harder.The U.S. can only compete in the manufacturing arena
by working smarter. In order to successfully compete in the world
market for manufacturing and reverse the current trend, we need
to rethink our manufacturing approach and execution and create
a new model of manufacturing.That is the purpose and role of the
Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Innovative Design (CAMID).
CAMID is a 100,000-square-foot FloridaTech facility that
will create a manufacturing and design ecosystem that will
allow U.S. manufacturers of all sizes to understand and profit
from the latest approaches to manufacturing in order to be
globally competitive.This unique ecosystem will consist of the
following to support a wide variety of U.S. manufacturers:
• The latest digital modeling, simulation and visualization
technologies
• Cutting-edge computer-driven manufacturing equipment,
including a substantial emphasis on additive methods, such as
3-D metal and other material printing, circuit board printing and
crystal growth
• Expert resources such as industry-oriented professors and industry
experts in a wide variety of engineering, systems engineering,
materials research and advanced manufacturing
• A student population that will engage with manufacturers in both
learning practical manufacturing and bringing the new digital
technologies that they have been educated on to traditional
manufacturers
• A constant offering of education and training to the manufacturing
community on the latest engineering and manufacturing digital-
based technologies
• A“Hoteling”model that enables project-oriented on-site virtual
development to physical manufacturing process
• Applied laboratory rooms where the manufacturing community can
obtain hands-on experience with the latest digital development
and manufacturing software and hardware
• Constant applied research to discover and exploit the advances in
modeling from micro material properties to macro vehicle assembly
methods, simulations of product testing and performance,
simulations of manufacturing methods such as additive and
3-D printing
• A virtual computing and communications infrastructure that will
allow these resources to not only be used locally, but nationally
The Florida Tech Research and Development Center—
2495 NE Palm Bay Rd., Palm Bay

2. CENTER FOR ADVANCED MANUFACTURING AND INNOVATIVE DESIGN
CAMID@fit.edu
RE-616-815
The key to this new approach to manufacturing is a model referred
to as the DigitalTwin. Originating from CAMID executive director,
Dr. Mike Grieves, and NASA, the DigitalTwin, as shown here, is
an approach that uses the latest digital computing technology
to design, engineer, test and manufacture a product virtually
in an integrated fashion. Once the digital version meets all its
requirements, the physical“twin”is then manufactured with first
time quality and performance. Because it is far faster and far
cheaper to use this digital technology, manufacturing can be much
more effective and efficient.
This contrasts with the current, traditional manufacturing model where
products are designed and engineered piecemeal. Then expensive and
time consuming physical prototypes are built and tested over and over
again as problems are uncovered and corrected.
This iterative process continues as piecemeal components are built up
into final products. Once a viable product is settled on, the plans are
thrown over a wall to manufacturing that then employs its own time
consuming and costly process to first determine whether the product
can be manufactured. If it cannot be manufactured with the equipment
and material manufacturing has at its disposal, the product is returned
to engineering for costly and time consuming redesign.
Even if the product can be manufactured, products are manufactured
relatively inefficiently as manufacturing attempts to find the
manufacturing method that minimizes resources. While kaizen, the
Japanese originated method for continuous improvement, is an
approach to take costs out of manufacturing by reducing wasted labor,
equipment and material on the factory floor, the result is that it means
products are being manufactured inefficiently until the most productive
means are uncovered.
The 21st century paradigm for manufacturing promises to be much
different with a virtual-to-physical focus. Products will be designed
using Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to interact and evolve
throughout their useful life. Using the Digital Twin, products will be
developed virtually, tested virtually, manufactured virtually, and used
and supported virtually. Only when the virtual product is shown to meet
all its requirements will it be manufactured physically. Manufacturing
will in large part be done by printing the product with an additive
printer utilizing a variety of new materials. By trading inexpensive virtual
bits for expensive physical atoms, innovative design and manufacturing
will be much more efficient and effective.
The paradigm above is an ideal representation of what future
manufacturing can be. CAMID is intended to move traditional
manufacturing into the 21st century, utilizing the exponential
increases in computing technologies and the advances in revolutionary
manufacturing methods, such as additive manufacturing. CAMID
will focus on understanding, developing and advancing these
technologies with an objective of the technologies’pragmatic use for
the manufacturing community.
The underlying question CAMID will use as it North Star is,“Will
these technologies make our manufacturers more globally
competitive by being more effective and efficient?”CAMID’s success
has the capability of leading the way by substantially changing the
nature of U.S. manufacturing. In doing so, CAMID will be a major
force in not only arresting the
decline of U.S. manufacturing,
but in reversing the trend by
making U.S. manufacturing both
low cost and high quality.
Bits-to-Atoms: The CAMID Approach
Dr. Michael Grieves, Executive Director