Assembly articles from March 2005

Assembly archives from March 2005

China vs. the blind.(Editorial)
March 1, 2005... "What's remarkable about Chicago Lighthouse Industries isn't that it employs more than 40 people who are blind or visually impaired. Or even that those people work on assembly lines, producing and packaging 1,000 wall clocks and 1,600 nylon...

Faster is not always better or cheaper.(X-Y-Z)
March 1, 2005... In lean manufacturing, any activity that does not add value to an assembly is waste. Taken to an extreme, the time a pick-and-place mechanism spends moving a part could be considered waste. In that light, it's not surprising that electronics...

2005 Assembly Plant of the Year award--call for nominations.(Assembly Lines)
March 1, 2005... BENSENVILLE, IL -- ASSEMBLY magazine is currently accepting applications for its 2nd annual Assembly Plant of the Year award for 2005. Any assembly plant in the United States is eligible. Plant size or the type of industry is not important, as...

Spirol acquires GE Bissell.(Assembly Lines)
March 1, 2005... DANIELSON, CT -- Spirol Industries Ltd., a subsidiary of Spirol International Corp., is acquiring GE Bissell Ltd. of England (West Midlands, UK). The company will do business as Spirol Bissell, manufacturing slotted pins, bushings, disk springs...

GM sells locomotive division.(Assembly Lines)
March 1, 2005... DETROIT -- General Motors Corp. has agreed to sell its Electro-Motive Division to an investor group led by Greenbriar Equity Group LLC (Rye, NY) and Berkshire Partners LLC (Boston). The sale agreement covers all of the Electro-Motive...

Navy selects new 'Marine One' chopper.(Assembly Lines)
March 1, 2005... OWEGO, NY -- The U.S. Navy has selected the US 101 medium-lift helicopter to serve as the next generation "Marine One" helicopter for the president of the United States. Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for the helicopter. Other...

NAM outlines trade agenda.(Assembly Lines)
March 1, 2005... WASHINGTON -- The National Association of Manufacturers' (NAM) trade agenda for 2005 identifies a number of countries that the organization believes are ripe for near-term bilateral trade agreements with the United States. It also singles out...

Firms down under also lack workers.(Assembly Lines)
March 1, 2005... MELBOURNE -- As is the case in the United States, Australian manufacturers are having trouble finding skilled workers to fill vacancies. According to the Manufacturing and Allied Services Index published by Sensis, a division of Telstra Corp.,...

DE-STA-CO opens Shanghai facility.(Assembly Lines)
March 1, 2005... MADISON HEIGHTS, MI -- DE-STA-CO Industries has opened a new facility in Shanghai to serve as headquarters for support of DE-STA-CO offices operating in regions throughout China. A number of DE-STA-CO products have been available in China for...

ASC convention set for April.(Assembly Lines)
March 1, 2005... BETHESDA, MD -- The Adhesive and Sealant Council (ASC) will hold its spring 2005 convention and exposition April 17-20 in Columbus, OH. The event will feature a two-and-a half day conference program, networking events, and an exposition of raw...

DaimlerChrysler vehicles set record in 2004.(Assembly Lines)
March 1, 2005... STUTTGART, GERMANY -- DaimlerChrysler Group sold 712,200 commercial vehicles worldwide in 2004, a 42 percent increase from 2003 and a new high for the sale of trucks, buses and vans. This sales figure includes 118,100 vehicles from...

ITW acquires Permatex Inc.(Assembly Lines)
March 1, 2005... HARTFORD, CT -- Illinois Tool Works Inc. (ITW, Glenview, IL) has acquired Permatex Inc., a manufacturer of sealants and adhesives for the automotive aftermarket, and industrial maintenance and repair sectors. According to Mike Underwood,...

ATS founder Klaus Woerner passes away.(Assembly Lines)
March 1, 2005... CAMBRIDGE, ONTARIO -- ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. founder, president and CEO Klaus Woerner died Feb. 7, following a long battle with cancer. He was 65. "Klaus was a gifted engineer, entrepreneur and business leader who made a...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
March 1, 2005... On page 100 of the January 2005 issue, the location for laser welding coatings supplier Gentex Corp. was incorrectly listed as Zeeland, MI. The correct location is Carbondale, PA (www.gentexcorp.com). The staff at ASSEMBLY apologizes for any...

Readers spot cover errors.(Assembly Lines)
March 1, 2005... With all the articles about good ergonomic practices that we've written and edited, and all the ATExpo Conference presentations on good ergonomic practices that we've arranged, you'd think that we wouldn't use a photo that is virtually a...

U.S. manufacturers need new philosophy.(In my Opinion)
March 1, 2005... Editor's note: On Sept. 24, 1991, Richard P. Bodine Jr., chairman and CEO of Bodine Assembly & Test Systems (Bridgeport, CT) delivered the keynote address at Assembly Technology Expo. In reviewing Bodine's remarks recently, we thought his...

Threaded fasteners.(ASSEMBLY SPEC SHEET)
March 1, 2005... Looking for threaded fasteners? Complete this form and fax it to your potential suppliers! [GRAPHIC OMITTED] Supplier Contact Information Accurate Screw Machine--Fax: 973-244-9177 Alloy Fasteners Inc.--Fax: 401-275-9765 ...

School bus learns adhesives lesson.(Assembly in Action)
March 1, 2005... Thomas Built Buses Inc. (High Point, NC) has been building school buses for over 60 years. Today it is the largest school bus manufacturer in the United States, and its Saf-T-Liner C2 one of the most advanced buses in the world. Going into full...

Chip placer smoothes growth.(Assembly in Action)
March 1, 2005... The transition from startup to a going concern can be a tricky one, especially in the fast-moving, capital-intensive electronics contract manufacturing business. Canadian-based printed circuit board (PCB) assembler MARA Technologies Inc....

Frame grabbers, software help manage documents.(Assembly in Action)
March 1, 2005... Gunther International (Norwich, CT) manufactures machinery for high-volume mailing and document-finishing operations. In a situation that is analogous to many high-volume assembly and packaging applications, reading technology has long been a...

From a blank sheet: starting off on the right foot when designing a new assembly facility requires determination and discipline.(Assembly Planbook)
March 1, 2005... It's every designer's dream--to start from scratch, build a brand-new assembly facility. Along with this kind of opportunity, though, comes a tremendous amount of responsibility. How do you ensure you are creating the absolute best facility you...

Managing high-mix, low-volume assembly: as model mix increases and production volume decreases, assemblers are discovering that tried and true manufacturing strategies no longer apply.(Assembly Planbook)
March 1, 2005... In describing U.S. consumers on his 1972 comedy recording, Class Clown, George Carlin was almost prophetic about the state of U.S. manufacturing today. The typical consumer, he noted, does not merely want an inhaler with a nasal decongestant....

Leveraging the supply chain: assembly lines are a critical link in upstream and downstream activities.(Assembly Planbook)
March 1, 2005... Dell does it. Johnson Controls does it. Toyota does it. Do you do it? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Leading manufacturers have improved the efficiency of their assembly lines and boosted profitability by focusing on how they interact with...

Nordex Design Guide 2004.(Contract Assembly Services)
March 1, 2005... 100 new pages, 500+ new items, CD or print version. Vendor Consolidation: Nordex, your single source with over 35,000 electromechanical products in both inch and metric. Engineering driven, design services, prototype through production....

Turnkey manufacturing solutions.(Contract Assembly Services)
March 1, 2005... A leader in precision electromechanical parts, featured in Design Guide 2004, Nordex also offers fully integrated turnkey subsystems for medical, laboratory/industrial analytical instruments, factory automation and semiconductor OEM industries....

Leave your passport at home.(Contract Assembly Services)
March 1, 2005... Let Apex Automation meet your manufacturing requirements for volume assembly of precision components. We have the skilled personnel, equipment capabilities, and manufacturing expertise to produce a wide variety of precision assemblies to your...

Key Electronics--more than you expected.(Contract Assembly Services)
March 1, 2005... Key Electronics provides electronic manufacturing services, from fast-turn prototyping to complete box-build assembly. We offer flexible processes for product design requirements, complete design for manufacturability, engineering and technical...

Manufacturing without borders.(Contract Assembly Services)
March 1, 2005... General Assembly Corporation (GAC) is a leading electronics contract manufacturer, specializing in PCB assembly, electromechanical assembly, and box-building for OEMs. We are based in the U.S. with ISO-certified facilities in Thailand and...

The total services solution.(Contract Assembly Services)
March 1, 2005... UFE provides comprehensive engineering, manufacturing and assembly capabilities to manage your program, source your components, develop your production processes, and deliver your finished product to market. Our domestic and foreign facilities...

Profill provides contract precision dispensing.(Contract Assembly Services)
March 1, 2005... Potting, encapsulating, bonding, gasketing and other dispensing processes are currently offered by Profill Corporation in North Canton, OH. Profill provides access to highly sophisticated meter mix and dispense equipment for a fraction of the...

American Precision Electronics, Inc.(Contract Assembly Services)
March 1, 2005... Established in 1990, American Precision Electronics is an ISO 9001:2000 registered Supplier of Contract Manufacturing and Turn-key Services, Specializing in Electronic Assemblies utilizing Surfacemount and Thru-hole Technology. Serving several...

Experience the CSI competitive advantage.(Contract Assembly Services)
March 1, 2005... Circuit Service Inc. an Electronics Manufacturing Services provider since 1972 continues to grow and excel in the contract assembly space. CSI's full service business model includes PCB design services; through-hole, SMT and BGA assembly...

ACA, LLC.(Contract Assembly Services)
March 1, 2005... Provider of turnkey contract assembly and manufacturing solutions including: * Product development support * Supply chain management * Automated assembly * Automated inspection & testing * Automated packaging *...

Dial in your profits.(Contract Assembly Services)
March 1, 2005... We are a full scale stamping, molding, and automation machine building company. Whether manufacturing one component, creating an automated machine, or contract manufacturing your entire assembly, we possess the technology and capacity to meet...

V-TEK Incorporated.(Contract Assembly Services)
March 1, 2005... 20 Years of People Creating Success * Manufacturing * Distribution * Quality * Equipment * Service To learn more about V-TEK Inc., please visit www.vtekusa.com V-TEK Inc. (507) 387-3029 Fax: (507)...

Getting the help you need: in a tight labor market, placing value on your production workers makes good business sense.(Assembly Planbook)
March 1, 2005... Unemployment rates go up, and unemployment rates go down. In recent years, though, through good times and bad, there has been a growing lament: No matter what the overall employment situation, good shop-floor workers are increasingly hard to...

Managing the reality of offshore assembly: low-cost production is only one piece of a complex puzzle.(Assembly Planbook)
March 1, 2005... Like it or not, offshore production is a fact of life in manufacturing today. Volatile economic conditions have forced manufacturers in all industries to reassess traditional business models and focus on the bottom line. In most cases, the...

Saving energy on the line: consumers aren't the only people who fret over their energy bills. Manufacturing engineers do, too.(Assembly Planbook)
March 1, 2005... Equipped with a 400-hp V-8 engine and a six-speed manual transmission, the Chevrolet Corvette gets 18 mpg in city driving and 28 mpg on the highway. That makes the Corvette more fuel efficient than many sport utility vehicles. But, oil...

Managing change is critical.(Uncommon Sense)
March 1, 2005... Never forget: No matter what technical tools you use for continuous improvement, they always require change, which must be implemented with and through the people of your organization. Given how we all welcome change, it should come as no...