Assembly articles from September 2005

Assembly archives from September 2005

Losing our edge.(Editorial)
September 1, 2005... Innovation in science and technology drives economic growth. For many years, the United States has led the world in developing innovations in science, engineering and manufacturing. Today, we are in serious peril of losing our preeminent...

Rack and pinion systems are rugged, efficient.(X-Y-Z)
September 1, 2005... Every time you turn a corner in your car, you're using a mechanism that can also be found in gantries, machine tools and other automated equipment: a rack and pinion. Rack-and-pinion systems convert rotary motion into linear motion, or...

See the torque.(Assembly Innovations)
September 1, 2005... Motor vehicles and aircraft are held together by large numbers of threaded fasteners. Many of these fasteners are safety-critical. Failure can be catastrophic and incorrectly torqued fasteners are a prime failure mechanism. Examples include the...

EASi line set for ATExpo.(Assembly Lines)
September 1, 2005... ROSEMONT, IL -- This year's Assembly Technology Expo (ATExpo) will once again include a functioning electronics assembly line, courtesy of the Electronics Assembly Suppliers Initiative (EASi). This year's line will manufacture digital clocks,...

Honda unveils new business jet.(Assembly Lines)
September 1, 2005... OSHKOSH, WI -- The experimental HondaJet made its world debut with a demonstration flight in front of a crowd of aviation enthusiasts at this summer's Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Air-Venture show, the world's largest annual aviation...

Meeting to address electronics innovation.(Assembly Lines)
September 1, 2005... HERNDON, VA -- The International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (iNEMI) is organizing a leadership forum at its corporate headquarters Sept. 15-16 as part of an ongoing effort to stimulate innovation and manufacturing research in the U.S....

Misumi opens Southern office.(Assembly Lines)
September 1, 2005... SCHAUMBURG, IL -- Misumi USA Inc. has opened a Southern regional sales office in Duluth, GA, to tap into the region's ongoing growth in manufacturing. "Within the past year we have opened a distribution center [near Chicago] and began...

Toyota boosting San Antonio plant.(Assembly Lines)
September 1, 2005... ERLANGER, KY -- Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America has announced that it will invest an additional $50 million at its San Antonio plant, currently under construction, to increase the facility's overall production capacity to 50,000...

Comet opens service and repair center.(Assembly Lines)
September 1, 2005... STAMFORD, CT -- Comet North America Inc., a supplier of X-ray, radio frequency and dosimetry equipment, has opened a new service and repair center at the company's recently expanded American headquarters. The facility will provide test,...

TRW building test track.(Assembly Lines)
September 1, 2005... LIVONIA, MI -- Kelsey-Hayes Co., a subsidiary of TRW Automotive Holdings Corp., is building a vehicle test track scheduled to begin operation as early as fall 2006. The facility will be located on 262 acres of land near Lansing, MI, and be used...

Don't miss ASSEMBLY magazine ATExpo sessions!(Assembly Lines)
September 1, 2005... ROSEMONT, IL -- This year's Assembly Technology Expo Conference includes a half-dozen sessions organized by the ASSEMBLY magazine editorial staff, covering everything from Six Sigma to lean manufacturing to offshoring to money-saving energy...

KUKA, Nercon join forces.(Assembly Lines)
September 1, 2005... CLINTON TOWN-SHIP, MI -- KUKA Robotics Corp, has taken on Nercon Engineering and Manufacturing Inc. (Oshkosh, WI) as its newest system partner. The two will combine efforts in the packaging and material handling markets. Nercon manufactures...

Fall machine vision seminars on tap.(Assembly Lines)
September 1, 2005... NATICK, MA -- Machine vision manufacturer Cognex Corp, is currently holding a series of free seminars throughout North America and Puerto Rico. The half-day events discuss the role that vision sensors can play in the automotive, medical,...

Survey: manufacturers expect growth to continue.(Assembly Lines)
September 1, 2005... WASHINGTON -- Approximately 86 percent of large manufacturing companies and 82 percent of smaller ones describe their economic outlook as "positive," according to a survey of 200 firms recently conducted by the National Association of...

Henkel consolidates R & D facilities.(Assembly Lines)
September 1, 2005... IRVINE, CA -- Henkel Group is moving its mold compound development and technical service center from Olean, NY. to its research and applications center in California, in an effort to more quickly bring new products to market. "With the...

Corning investing in diesel materials plant.(Assembly Lines)
September 1, 2005... CORNING. NY -- Corning Inc. is investing $100 million to expand production at the company's clean-diesel products manufacturing facility in Erwin, NY. The investment comes on the heels of an earlier $70 million plant expansion announced in...

U of M wins 2005 Solar Challenge.(Assembly Lines)
September 1, 2005... CALGARY -- The University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI), beat out 19 other teams to win the 2005 North American Solar Challenge with a solar-powered race car that covered a 2,500-mile course from Austin, TX, to the University of Calgary in 53...

NASA selects telescope robot partner.(Assembly Lines)
September 1, 2005... FORT MYERS BEACH, FL -- Robotic Workspace Technologies Inc., a subsidiary of Innova Holdings Inc., has been selected by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (Greenbelt, MD) to provide control systems for robots destined for a future mission to...

Kimball Electronics going into China.(Assembly Lines)
September 1, 2005... JASPER, IN -- Kimball Electronics Group, a subsidiary of Kimball International Inc., will soon begin construction of a manufacturing facility in Nanjing, China, with plans to have the plant go online in late 2006. The electronics manufacturing...

World safety congress set for this month.(Assembly Lines)
September 1, 2005... ORLANDO, FL -- Organizers are saying the 17th World Congress on Safety and Health at Work, set to take place at the Orange County Convention Center Sept. 18-22, will focus on both the developing world and "new and emerging" safety issues in...

Rotary bearings.(ASSEMBLY SPEC SHEET)
September 1, 2005... Looking for rotary bearings? Complete this form and fax it to your potential suppliers! [GRAPHIC OMITTED] Supplier Contact Information AST Bearings--Fax: 973-355-6987 Bearing Engineers Inc.--Fax: 949-586-7786 Boca...

Conveyors drive productivity in golf ball packaging.(Assembly in Action)
September 1, 2005... Mention dimples to an avid golfer, and he won't think of his daughter's winning smile. He'll think of golf balls. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Golfers love golf balls. Serious golfers can discuss differences in core compression and cover...

Compactor helps boat maker stay afloat.(Assembly in Action)
September 1, 2005... Commitment to quality and customer satisfaction is not just an ideal, but a corporate policy for Sea Ray (Knoxville, TN), a manufacturer of pleasure boats. That commitment has paid off. The company has earned J.D. Power and Associates'...

Linear actuators cut programming, assembly times.(Assembly in Action)
September 1, 2005... Exselect Engineering (Toronto) manufactures automated soldering equipment. Its products range from lab-scale machines to multistation turnkey systems for Tier 1 automotive suppliers. Recently, the company built a customized, eight-station...

UV curing enables mass customization of hearing aids.(Assembly in Action)
September 1, 2005... Starkey Laboratories (Eden Prairie, MN) manufactures custom hearing aids. The company has 33 facilities in 18 countries throughout North America, Central America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Its workforce numbers more than 4,000. As its hearing...

Labeling system streamlines cable assembly process.(Assembly in Action)
September 1, 2005... Nortech Systems Inc. (Wayzata, MN) produces wire harness and cable assemblies for a vast array of applications. The company assembles more than 1 million cables annually. An order can consist of one custom cable or thousands of cables for a...

Retrieval system cures order woes at medical device manufacturer.(Assembly in Action)
September 1, 2005... DePuy Inc. (Warsaw, IN), a division of Johnson & Johnson, manufactures orthopedic implants and other medical devices. Its distribution center near Bridgewater, MA, ships these products directly to hospitals on a just-in-time basis. It also...

Readers track chassis.(Assembly in Action)
September 1, 2005... Ford Motor Co. (Dearborn, MI) builds the F-150 pickup truck using a fully automated build-order system. With multiple frame types to choose from, the company needed an efficient way to expedite verification of each chassis type as it was being...

Plastic bonding adhesives.(Advertisement)
September 1, 2005... Primerless methacrylates bond today's engineered plastics, composites, and dissimilar materials with little or no surface preparation. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

High-strength epoxies.(Advertisement)
September 1, 2005... Fast curing epoxies produce high-strength bonds to virtually any material or surface. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

One-part epoxies.(Advertisement)
September 1, 2005... SC Series no-mix epoxies offer unlimited working times and rapid heat or induction curing. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Metal bonding adhesives.(Advertisement)
September 1, 2005... Metal Welder[TM] adhesives are ideal for bonding metal where welding would be impractical or unsightly. Longer open time versions available [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Flexible adhesive.(Advertisement)
September 1, 2005... Flex Welder[TM] adhesive produces highly flexible bonds with exceptional shock, vibration, and fatigue resistance. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Potting compounds.(Advertisement)
September 1, 2005... Thermally- and electrically-conductive potting compounds provide exceptional impact and environmental resistance. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Guided by vision: vision-guided robots can substantially increased the flexibility of today's automated assembly systems.(Robotics)(Cover Story)
September 1, 2005... Flexibility is an increasingly high priority for many U.S. manufacturers, and the vision-guided robot has become a powerful tool to meet this demand. Vision-guided robotic (VGR) systems can be quickly adapted from one product to the next,...

Driving innovation: don't leave innovation to chance; use a systematic approach for developing innovations.(Assembly Management)
September 1, 2005... Innovation is indispensable for success in modern manufacturing. By itself, however, it is not sufficient. When asked what characterizes an entrepreneur Georg Ludwig Rexroth, owner of Rexroth and managing director for many years, said "An...

Next stop: the shipping dock; End-of-line packaging equipment is key to flexible production systems.(Packaging)
September 1, 2005... Stacking dolls, or matryoshka, are a popular collector's item. They usually consist of colorful images of identical people or animals painted on two-piece lacquered wood containers of various sizes. The smallest figure fits into the next...

Rivet it right--the first time! Monitoring rivet installation reduces labor and rework costs.(Blind Fastening)
September 1, 2005... During the past few years, technology has revolutionized the process of installing threaded fasteners. With microprocessor-controlled tools, engineers can ensure that every bolt is tightened to the correct torque and angle, that every fastener...

Electronic road trip: the number of onboard components keeps multiplying.(Automotive Assembly)
September 1, 2005... "I went to a boxing match and a hockey game broke out" is a famous line from comedian George Carlin. In a similar vein, many people could easily say, "I opened the hood of my car and an iPod and a Palm Pilot popped out." [ILLUSTRATION...

Boost your career at ATExpo: check out the latest assembly equipment, and learn about the newest assembly methods, at Assembly Technology Expo 2005.(ASSEMBLY EVENTS)
September 1, 2005... Assemblers in the United States will spend $2.6 billion on new assembly equipment and tools in 2005, according to ASSEMBLY magazine's ninth annual capital equipment spending survey. Substantial amounts of that money will be spent to...

Conferences.(Calendar)
September 1, 2005... MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Experiencing Six Sigma: A Precision Assembly Case Study Sophronia Ward, principal partner, Pinnacle Partners Inc. This workshop will guide you through a Six Sigma project based on a...

Exhibitor index.
September 1, 2005... 3M Electronics Markets Materials Div 5006 A A & A Manufacturing Co. Inc. 2009 A.P.E. Corp. 5103 ABS Vabsco & Press Hold Industries ...

Assembly Technology Expo product showcase.(Part 1)
September 1, 2005... ASSEMBLY Technology Expo, sponsored by ASSEMBLY magazine, is focused entirely on the technology and equipment needed to assemble mechanical, electromechanical and electronic products of all kinds. More than 600 exhibitors will display the...

ASSEMBLY Technology Expo product showcase.(Part 2)
September 1, 2005... Stand-alone System Tests, Monitors The Promess PRO system is a standalone monitoring and test module. The system features signature monitoring, data acquisition, gauging with storage, multiple part capability, multiple monitoring windows,...

Is there any hope?(Uncommon Sense)
September 1, 2005... Corporate distress may appear to come on quickly and with little warning. In most cases, however, management ignored one or more of these warning signs. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Incompetence reigns and reality is ignored. In one recent...