Assembly articles from July 2001

Assembly archives from July 2001

Investing for Tomorrow's Workforce.
July 1, 2001... The survival and continuing prosperity of manufacturing companies is fundamentally essential to maintaining the way of life in the United States, Japan and virtually every developed nation. The survival of manufacturing companies depends, in...

Semper Fi! Marines Lauded for Supply Chain Excellence.
July 1, 2001... PITTSBURGH--The U.S. Marine Corps was among three winners of the Supply Chain Council's awards for supply chain operations and management. The Marine Corps won the council's Supply Chain Operational Excellence Award for Defense Department...

EMS Market Increased 47 Percent in 2000.
July 1, 2001... SAN JOSE, CA--The North American market for electronics manufacturing services (EMS) grew 47 percent in 2000, from $30 billion in 1999 to $44 billion in 2000. According to a report by Frost & Sullivan, the EMS market will remain strong...

IPC Produces Training Video on ESD Control.
July 1, 2001... NORTHBROOK, IL--The IPC has issued a new video-based program for training electronics assemblers about electrostatic discharge. The program covers the physics of static electricity and how static charges damage components. It also reviews...

Layoffs Grow During First Quarter.
July 1, 2001... WASHINGTON--Nearly 545,000 workers were laid off from their jobs during the first quarter of 2001, a 25 percent increase compared with the same period last year. According to the Labor Department, 171,466 workers lost their jobs in 1,527...

Manufacturing Layoffs, First Quarter of 2001.
July 1, 2001... Manufacturing Layoffs, First Quarter of 2001 Industry Number of workers laid off (SIC) March 2000 Furniture & fixtures (25) 1,060 Fabricated metal products...

Nanostructures Change Color Under Stress.
July 1, 2001... ALBUQUERQUE, NM--Intelligent nanostructures that report on their environment by changing color under mechanical, chemical or thermal stress have been created by researchers at Sandia National Laboratories and the University of New Mexico. ...

Emhart Acquires Bamal.
July 1, 2001... NEW HAVEN, CT--Emhart Fastening Teknologies has acquired the automotive division of Bamal Corp. (Farmington Hills, MI). Bamal is one of the nation's largest distributors of automotive fasteners. The company also specializes in automotive...

Automotive Filter Sales to Increase 30 Percent.
July 1, 2001... SAN JOSE, CA--North American sales of automotive aftermarket filters will increase by 30 percent during the next 6 years, from $1.3 billion in 2000 to $1.7 billion in 2007. According to a report by Frost & Sullivan, automotive filter sales...

New Technique Checks ICs for Defects.
July 1, 2001... ALBUQUERQUE, NM--A new optical beam failure analysis technique detects defects in an integrated circuit (IC) from both the front and back of the device. Developed at Sandia National Laboratories, the technique uses thermally induced...

Elastomeric Materials Protect Portable Electronics.
July 1, 2001... INDIANAPOLIS--Because of their portability and densely populated circuit boards, handheld electronic devices are especially vulnerable to damage and compromised performance from mechanical shock and vibration. Cell phones, pagers, personal...

Detroit Honors Michigan Pneumatic.
July 1, 2001... DETROIT--Michigan Pneumatic Tool Inc. was honored by the Detroit 300 Tri-Centennial Commission for its 59 years of continued business in Detroit. Founded in 1942, Michigan Pneumatic supplies new and rebuilt air tools for all industries,...

Cognex Gives Vision Sensors to Colleges.
July 1, 2001... NATICK, MA--Cognex Corp. is donating up to $200,000 in machine vision equipment annually to colleges and universities around the world. The Cognex on Campus grant program is providing engineering students with the opportunity to learn about...

Arca Systems Gets Q1 Award.
July 1, 2001... TACOMA, WA--Arca Systems has received a Q1 Award from Ford Motor Co. Arca manufactures material handling containers for the automotive industry. The containers range from small parts totes to large pallet containers. The Q1 award is...

Lucas-Milhaupt Updates Book on Brazing.
July 1, 2001... MILWAUKEE--Lucas-Milhaupt Inc. has published an updated version of The Brazing Book. Originally published almost 20 years ago, the reference book explains what brazing is, and where and how to use it correctly. The book contains material...

National Instruments Celebrates 25th Anniversary.
July 1, 2001... AUSTIN, TX--National Instruments celebrated its 25th anniversary in May. The manufacturer of test and measurement hardware and software was founded in 1976 by engineers James Truchard, Jeff Kodosky and Bill Nowlin. What began as a...

New Engineers Expect to Earn $45,000.
July 1, 2001... BETHLEHEM, PA--More than half of all engineering students expect to earn $45,000 when they graduate. According to a survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, 57.6 percent of engineering students anticipate salary offers...

SAE Launches News Service on the Web.
July 1, 2001... WARRENDALE, PA--The Society of Automotive Engineers has moved its news monitoring service, Auto Headline News, to the Web. The browser-driven platform has been combined with a navigation and search system to enhance sorting and retrieval of...

Bosch Merges With Rexroth.
July 1, 2001... RACINE, WI--Bosch Automation Technology and the Mannesmann Rexroth Group have merged. The new company, which will be called Bosch Rexroth Corp., will have a worldwide workforce of 26,000 and combined sales of $776 million in North America...

Productivity Decreases for First Time in 6 Years.
July 1, 2001... WASHINGTON--The productivity of U.S. workers fell for the first time in 6 years during the first 3 months of the year. According to the Labor Department, non-farm productivity fell at an annual pace of 0.1 percent in the first quarter,...

ETL Semko Builds Chamber for Dust Tests.
July 1, 2001... BOXBOROUGH, MA--ETL Semko has added a new dust testing chamber to its laboratory in Totowa, NJ. The chamber will enable the lab to conduct dust impedance testing of industrial equipment for compliance with United Laboratories and...

Vans Display Tyco Products.
July 1, 2001... HARRISBURG, PA--Tyco Electronics has unveiled three newly renovated product caravans. The caravans display more than 500 Tyco products, including connectors, switches, relays, terminal blocks, and wire crimping and terminating equipment....

Bodine Names New COO, CFO.
July 1, 2001... BRIDGEPORT, CT--Bodine Corp. has named Robert S. Carlson as its new chief operating officer and chief financial officer. "With our strong foundation, we can consistently reinvent our company, given the new set of global opportunities and...

Illinois Lab Accredited to Measure Force, Torque.
July 1, 2001... ANTIOCH, IL--The National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP) has certified that Metrology Concepts Inc. meets national and international standards for force and torque measurement. Metrology Concepts is the first laboratory...

Loctite Studies New Materials for Fuel Cells.
July 1, 2001... ROCKY HILL, CT--Loctite Corp. is developing specialty materials for assembling automotive fuel cells. Fuel cells generate electricity through an electrochemical exchange between oxygen and hydrogen. The devices have long supplied...

SME Issues Books on Lean Manufacturing.
July 1, 2001... DEARBORN, MI--The Society of Manufacturing Engineers has published two new books on lean manufacturing. Lean Manufacturing for the Small Shop explains how small-and medium-sized companies can adopt lean manufacturing practices. The book...

Congress Debates Tech Transfer Issue.
July 1, 2001... WASHINGTON--The chairman of the Senate Small Business Committee has introduced legislation to renew and expand the Small Business Technology Transfer Program (STTR), which links small businesses with federally funded research. "The success...

Environmental Management Affects Manufacturing Bottom Line.
July 1, 2001... Even though Al Gore lost the presidential election, the issue of the environment is certain to remain at the forefront of national politics. Issues, such as oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge or water management in the West,...

ASSEMBLY + INSPECTION = PERFORMANCE.
July 1, 2001... Integrating inspection into assembly systems is the key to high-quality, low-cost, flexible assembly. Over the past decade, advances in automation technology have significantly boosted production capabilities throughout the world despite...

The Black Art of Tooling FEEDER BOWLS.
July 1, 2001... Feeder bowl manufacturers have many tricks for getting parts in the right place and the right orientation. A voodoo priest can foretell the future by tossing bones, sticks and other objects on the ground and interpreting their alignment....

STUD WELDING.
July 1, 2001... Compared with other welding and fastening methods, stud welding offers faster assembly times with fewer steps. Manufacturing companies today face the dilemma of increasing productivity while maintaining high product quality. For fastening...

GET THE BIGGEST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK.
July 1, 2001... Life tests are a necessary evil in qualifying new technology in demanding applications. Here's how to optimize your testing plan so you get the most confidence, and the most credible report, for your testing dollar. A variety of...

DETECTING MISSING BEARINGS.
July 1, 2001... A dry test verifies that 31 engine bearings are correctly installed in a diesel engine. A clean, simple and adaptable production line was a primary goal when General Engine Products Inc. (GEP, Franklin, OH) set up a new, low-volume...

Machine Vision Improves PC Component Inspection.
July 1, 2001... Personal computers (PCs) contain many components, including processors, motherboards, memory and hard drives. PC manufacturers may advertise the largest hard drive, fastest processor or most memory, but the machine's usability and reliability...

Auto Supplier Adds Value With Modular Assembly.
July 1, 2001... Increasingly, responsibility for automotive assembly and quality is being pushed down the supply chain, and parts suppliers with little or no assembly experience must often become assembly experts. After 30 years in the stamping business,...

Cylinder Speeds Labeling.
July 1, 2001... Diagraph Corp. (Earth City, MO) manufactures high-performance labeling systems for high-speed, high-volume industrial applications, such as product identification, tracking, shipment addressing and bar-coding. The labeling systems apply labels...

Rapid Prototyping Revolutionizes Music Listening.
July 1, 2001... For almost 100 years following Thomas Edison's first recording, not much changed in audio technology. Then high fidelity, stereo, 8-track and cassettes, compact disks and digital audio tape emerged. And new innovations continue with the...

Sculpture Needs No Mechanical Fasteners.
July 1, 2001... For over 40 years, Ray Jacobson's sculptures have appeared in galleries and are often commissioned by architects, civic organizations and private individuals. In 1998, Edward Sovik, an architect with whom he had previously worked,...

A Sporty Assembly Line for a Sporty Car.
July 1, 2001... When Porsche AG (Stuttgart, Germany) was planning and designing its new engine assembly plant, the company initially counted on the skills of its own internal production machinery department. This department, however, had to compete with...

Adhesive Bonds Key Components of Roadster.
July 1, 2001... The Panoz AIV Roadster is 70 percent aluminum and has a curb weight of 2,600 pounds. It is hand-built by the Panoz Auto Development Co. (Hoschton, GA) and is the first aluminum-intensive vehicle manufactured in the United States. Only 200 are...

Ironcore Linear Motors.
July 1, 2001... The ICD series of ironcore linear motors produce inherently more force than comparably sized ironless motors. These compact motors have a low attractive force and an anti-cogging design. They come in two lengths and four widths. Corresponding...

Assist Devices Are Intelligent.
July 1, 2001... Intelligent Assist Devices improve material handling productivity by amplifying human abilities with computer-controlled servomotor technology. Using a human-machine interface, the operator and the assist device work in tandem to optimize...

Cell Welds Small Parts.
July 1, 2001... The System 20 is a compact robotic arc welding cell for small- and medium-sized assemblies. The cell has a pneumatic turntable that is 48 inches in diameter and accepts a load of 500 pounds. A fume extraction and filtration system is optional.

Two-Finger Grippers.
July 1, 2001... The MPG series of compact, two-finger, pneumatic grippers are made of high-tensile aluminum alloy and hardened steel. Six finger lengths are available, ranging from 20 to 64 millimeters. The grippers have double-guided base jaws for smooth,...

Standardized Machine Platform.
July 1, 2001... The Automation series of machine platforms provide a base on which to build machines for inspection, pick-and-place, dispensing and other tasks. Standard features include a steel-tube welded frame, a 1-inch aluminum work surface, synthetic...

Protective Tubing.
July 1, 2001... Tubing made of Teflon PFA fluoropolymer resin can shield wiring from heat. The tubing meets original equipment manufacturers' requirements for heat aging for 168 hours at 290 C with no property loss. It also withstands heat aging for 3,000...

Board-In Crimp Style Connector.
July 1, 2001... Type SJN board-in crimp-style connectors have 2.8-millimeter profiles and 4.9-millimeter thicknesses for use in high-density consumer or industrial electronic equipment. The connectors are available in nine circuits rated at 2 amperes. The...

Multiloop Cable Ties.
July 1, 2001... Cable ties--for securing wire, cable and hose bundles--are available in double loop and triple loop versions. Both feature a wide body strap to spread clamping forces and prevent bundle damage.

Coaxial Test Cables.
July 1, 2001... Versaline 18 coaxial cables allow interchanging of coaxial connectors with alternate interface styles. Maximum operating frequency is 18 gigahertz. Five lengths are available. They can use SMA plugs and receptacles, ETCN plugs, type N plugs,...

SCSI Connector Terminates Cable.
July 1, 2001... The MDP is a 68-position, all plastic, male SCSI connector for terminating to 32 AWG cable. Its two-piece grooved cover and grooved retainer guide the cable and restrict cable movement.

Connectors for Harsh Climates.
July 1, 2001... Threaded or bayonet locking quick-release connectors are for harsh environments. They withstand temperatures ranging from 4 degrees Kelvin to 400 F.

Precision Positioning Table.
July 1, 2001... The RB4A precision positioning table features a small footprint, recirculating linear bearings and light load capacity. It can be used for pick-and-place, inspection, alignment, assembly, deposition, light load contouring, dispensing and wafer...

Double Rail Linear Slides.
July 1, 2001... These double rail linear slides feature two sets of recirculating linear bearings, which are mounted to 3-inch by 2 1/2-inch saddle plate for backlash-free operation. Fourteen lengths are available, ranging from 11.8 inches to 118 inches. Two...

Linear Servo Actuator.
July 1, 2001... The 5020-4 direct drive linear tubular motor provides a peak force of 750 pounds and is available with linear stroke from 2 to 12 inches in 2-inch increments. Key features include a permanent magnet shaft, integral bearings and cylindrical...

Actuator With Machined Beds.
July 1, 2001... The TRUTrack linear actuator provides precision for mechanical motion control systems and is suitable for horizontal and multi-axis applications. It combines flatness and straightness within 0.0002 inch per inch, with high moment load...

Odd-Form and Small Parts Assembly.
July 1, 2001... The ClinchMaster has a 15-degree, motorized conveyor, and tooling pins facilitate fast pin location during board changes. A programmable single-pin lead clinching system allows clinching leads to any degree and in any direction without tool...

ESD Control Floor Mat.
July 1, 2001... The Statfree Type EB electrostatic discharge control floor mat is formulated to a rating of less than [10.sup.9] ohms to meet requirements of ANSI/ESD S20.20 and EIA-625. It tests at [10.sup.3] to [10.sup.6] ohms according to ANSI/ESD S7.1. The...

Automatic Rotary Lead Finish System.
July 1, 2001... The RTS-1000 is a compact, automated system that provides a solder finish on component leads. A precision rotary indexing conveyor with four arms allows hands-free operation. Precise vertical motions of the indexing conveyor and programmable...

Adhesive-Backed Component Applicator.
July 1, 2001... The 5050 applicator places 50- by 50-millimeter adhesive-backed components with [+ or -]0.13-millimeter accuracy. The device accepts rolls of material with standard core sizes and can be configured for double-sided adhesives. Custom fixtures...

Rework Station for Wireless Products.
July 1, 2001... The 13- by 15-inch M-7500 rework station provides reballing and rework of ball grid arrays, micro ball grid arrays and CSPs found on wireless devices. It comes with advanced site preparation tools for pad cleaning, and paste and adhesive...

Getting Fat on Company Time.
July 1, 2001... Managerial prominence depends on the number of persons managed. This stimulus for growth has nothing to do with what a manager's group does, or even why it exists. Benchmarking usually leads to mediocrity, but there are times when...