In today’s world, more and more technology is becoming “smart.” But how does this apply to the HVACR industry? What is Smart HVACR? Smart HVACR is the successor to the programmable thermostat era of heating, cooling, air conditioning, and refrigeration systems. A smart HVACR system uses sensors and interconnected devices to collect data from the
“The robots are coming! The robots are coming!” If there were a cry to herald the start of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, it might indeed echo the famous warning often attributed to Paul Revere. Just replace the British with robots and you get the idea. As Industry 4.0 technologies take hold in the modern manufacturing
Virtual simulator is a common term used to define everything from aircraft flight simulators to interactive games. In manufacturing training, virtual simulators refer to interactive software that closely mimics the operation of machines, tools, or systems. They imitate their real-world counterparts to such a close degree that they allow the transfer of real-world skills. While
As much as we all would like to put the COVID-19 pandemic behind us, recovery is a process in which there are no quick fixes. The effects of the pandemic are still lingering in our society and are apparent in everyday life. Perhaps the most noticeable and pressing area still struggling to recover is the
Major federal legislation coupled with recent industrial trends point to the potential for a resurgence of growth in the United States’ manufacturing sector. In particular, this growth centers on those embracing smart technology, or what has become known as Industry 4.0. The decade leading up to the COVID-19 crisis (2010-2019) saw 1.3 million manufacturing jobs
Since the industrial revolution began manufacturing has been the driving force behind the success of developed nations. Unfortunately for the past century the development of industry came at the expense of the environment. Air, soil, and water pollution became synonymous with the output of large factories, who seemed more concerned with the bottom dollar than
Companies in Texas’s upper panhandle are in dire need to fill a skills-gap and train employees in various disciplines, especially process technologies and instrumentation due to the strong presence of refineries. A local institution, Frank Phillips College of Borger, Texas, applied for and received a JET grant to purchase equipment for their Career and Technical Education Program,
Why are there still so many open manufacturing positions in every industry across the U.S.? In a nutshell, the answer for year after year now has been the same: the skills gap. The supply of highly-skilled workers simply isn’t great enough to meet the continuously growing demand for workers with advanced technical skills. The skills
If today’s manufacturing sector had a mantra, it would probably be something along the lines of: work smarter, not harder. Given the struggles all industries currently face with finding skilled workers, it’s more critical than ever to improve efficiency and productivity wherever possible. It’s no coincidence that you see the word “smart” being attached to
Studies reveal that nearly half of organizations using an LMS are unhappy with their service. With a plethora of vendors on the market, offering unique feature sets and pricing models; customers often make decisions based on the wrong metrics. Whether you’re looking for your first LMS solution, or searching to replace an existing one, there’s
What’s hotter than the temperatures currently scorching most of the United States? Quite appropriately, careers in heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVACR) are hotter than ever. With heat wave after heat wave and temperatures setting new records year after year, the demand for qualified HVACR installers and technicians is greater than ever. Unfortunately, supply
Today’s educators are faced with mountains of obstacles. Among them, one obstacle is an increasingly troublesome roadblock for the education system: the equity gap. Most are familiar with terms like wage gap, and skills gap, however the term equity gap is still relatively unknown. Equity gaps refer to disparities in the success of education