Fueling the future for auto manufacturing

When we first launched our digital manufacturing practice in March 2019, our nascent team in Detroit had a big vision: to build on HULFT’s manufacturing lineage by providing customers with solutions and services that help them bridge the gap between legacy and digital – without overspending.

One year later, the local digital manufacturing team has tripled in size to meet not just customer demand, but to expand HULFT’s reach, contribution, and influence within the local community for greater social and business impact. I’m very proud to share some of the team’s highlights.

Top manufacturers are calling on HULFT

We recently worked with Seco Tools —  a leading global provider of metal cutting solutions – as they embark on digital transformation by automating workflows to improve productivity. Part of that process required the integration of a database that could streamline and accurately manage geometry changes of parts. The goal was to increase the speed and accuracy of creating and automating a bill of materials.

An exciting new project the team took on involves automating the process of tool lifecycle management. Here’s the background: On any given day technicians work throughout some 60 facilities calibrating gages, handling emergency maintenance, fulfilling preventative maintenance, or creating test reports. HULFT is allowing all of that activity to be tracked in a paperless environment with Parsable (a HULFT partner), and to be managed through IBM Maximo Tools Lifecycle Management platform as a single-source-of-truth.

Now, when a supervisor assigns a preventative maintenance ticket to a technician, HULFT makes certain that that technician clearly sees all of the tasks inside the standardized work environment, directly logs all efforts and gage readouts, and is able to then close the ticket on his/her electronic device which HULFT then readily annotates, documents, and closes inside of Maximo.

We’re innovating for a more “connected” world

Automotive and technology are converging more than ever and the Detroit team of software developers are, above anything else, strategists and thinkers – it’s in their DNA. Recently our team toured the American Center for Mobility (ACM), a joint initiative with the State of Michigan founded in partnership with organizations such as the Michigan Department of Transportation and the University of Michigan. We are exploring potential synergies between HULFT and one of the largest autonomous vehicle testing centers in the world.

Kevin Kelly (left), project director at the American Center for Mobility, explains how his organization works with software vendors like HULFT to develop the next generation of connected and automated vehicles.

Kevin Kelly (left), project director at the American Center for Mobility, explains how his organization works with software vendors like HULFT to develop the next generation of connected and automated vehicles.

 

We’re launching workforce development initiatives

As a product, HULFT Integrate is powerful, versatile, and able to add value across multiple industries. While our current focus is in manufacturing, we’re looking beyond factory walls and exploring growth areas within healthcare and HR data logistics.

HULFT supports the Leveraging Opportunity Valuing Excellence (L.O.V.E.) event, which aims to raise awareness on the state of underrepresented minorities in technology.

HULFT supports the Leveraging Opportunity Valuing Excellence (L.O.V.E.) event, which aims to raise awareness on the state of underrepresented minorities in technology.

 

Nurturing the newest generation of tech talent is critical to sustaining our region’s economic growth and leadership. There’s tremendous value in working with other established organizations to inspire the next wave of innovators, developers, and thinkers. For example, we recently partnered with Detroit Black Tech’s Hacking with the Homies Developer Conference, the first conference of its kind geared to introduce and nurture careers in technology among underrepresented minorities in the industry. We’re also carving new paths to support women in industry and will be hosting a Women in Tech Luncheon through the Capital City Council on Technology. Stay tuned for updates.

HULFT sponsored the first-ever Hacking with the Homies in Detroit, where over 150 software developers participated.

HULFT sponsored the first-ever Hacking with the Homies in Detroit, where over 150 software developers participated.

 

We’re a team of problem-solvers

As Detroiters — born, raised, or married-in — we’re committed to being a part of this city’s transformation as it heads into a new digital era. Instilled with a global perspective, the Detroit HULFT team is locally active, hands on, networking, building relationships, keeping their ears to the streets and their hands on the pulse of new trends, best practices, and key stakeholders in manufacturing and data logistics.

If you’re a manufacturer with operations in Detroit and are facing new challenges around finding, extracting, connecting and transforming your data, I’d like to help. Drop me an email at ddukhan@hulftinc.com.

This website uses cookies for analytics, personalisation and optimized performance. Click here to learn more or change your cookie settings. By using this website, you agree to our use of cookies.