Plant Engineering articles from March 2008

Plant Engineering archives from March 2008

Beyond OEE: 5 steps to success.
March 15, 2008... By David Ray, Parsec Automation Corp. Combining the power of OEE with these critical success factors allows you to unlock the hidden capacity in your manufacturing operations and achieve World Class levels of performance. ...

Commit to a Lean operation or commit to mediocrity.(Editorial)
March 15, 2008... Bob Vavra, Editor I have watched with considerable amusement the efforts by political and media types to avoid the use of the 'R' word. It's a recession, folks. I'll even put it in big letters: RECESSION. It's here. Deal with it. And...

Which way do you LEAN?(Editorial)
March 15, 2008... By Bob Vavra, Editor It takes a full commitment to drive waste out of your manufacturing operation. And no, it's not easy- At its core, Lean manufacturing is about taking waste out of the manufacturing process. It means finding the...

Dealing with moisture inside electric heaters.
March 15, 2008... By John Pape, Watlow Those who work with electronics usually equate water and electricity as a bad combination - and for good reason. Labels can be found on many kitchen appliances and bathroom electronics such as electric knives and hair...

Plowing ahead in global manufacturing.
March 15, 2008... Staff Deere's Bernhard Haas to deliver keynote at Summit March 31 The keynote speaker for the 2008 Plant Engineering Manufacturing Summit, Dr. Bernhard Haas is the vice president of manufacturing for the manufacturing of tractor...

Electrical safety: 9 steps.
March 15, 2008... Jim White, training director for Shermco Industries Ever wish there was a simple way to interpret the OSHA regulations and the NFPA 70E? It seems like the more these documents are discussed, the more complicated things become. Well, there...

exida purchases AIM.
March 15, 2008... Staff Process safety consulting and certification company exida.com, LLC has purchased safety lifecycle tools supplier, Asset Integrity Management (AIM) of Aberdeen, Scotland, U.K. 'AIM and exida have been working under a mutually...

Morris, Long launch company, software, partner program.
March 15, 2008... Staff Former Citect exec Wayne Morris has created a new company, myDIALS, which offers hosted software - which shares the company name - within the performance management space. Morris officially launched the company, product and partner...

Letters to the Editor.(Letter to the editor)
March 15, 2008... Staff Cooperative program will attract new workers to manufacturing jobs Our industry needs to effectively attract more young people to plant maintenance careers. As many older maintenance professionals retire, this is imperative. ...

Taking the weight off ergonomic, productivity issues.
March 15, 2008... Staff Elkhart County in north-central Indiana is a part of heartland America where horse-drawn Amish buggies share the road with not only automobiles, but also with an astounding number of recreational vehicles. Called 'The RV Capital of...

ODR takes the driver's seat.(Operator Driven Reliability)
March 15, 2008... By Dave Staples, SKF Reliability Systems Few proactive maintenance strategies have gained as much ground in plants across industries than Operator Driven Reliability (ODR). Even in the best-running facilities, where up to 80% of machinery...

Predictive maintenance 101.
March 15, 2008... By Mark Roether, The Timken Company Getting the basics right can pay big dividends later. It's no surprise that plant maintenance can be time-consuming and expensive. It also is understood that proper maintenance practices are critical...

Extension cord.
March 15, 2008... Staff The Cord Runner is a heavy-duty, 12-gauge STW 600-V extension cord. It features three evenly spaced outlets, each equipped with a power indicator light, and outlet covers to keep water, dust and other contaminants out. The cord is...

Pressing tool.
March 15, 2008... Staff The RP 330 pressing tool comes in corded and lithium-ion battery-powered versions. The tool's jaw rotates 270 degrees, and its flattened top makes it suitable for use in confined areas. It presses 1/2- to 4-inch joints and is...

Cable strippers.
March 15, 2008... Staff Bent-nose non-metallic Romex cable strippers have a 90-degree-angled nose design, which eliminates the need to angle the tool, wire or hand when removing the outer jacket of non-metallic cable. The tools strip, cut and loop 10-, 12-...

Reciprocating saw.
March 15, 2008... Staff The lightweight WSR 1000 reciprocating saw features a slim design that includes a 1,000-W motor, a rubber cladding grip, a constant-run switch that provides continuous cutting and a 1 1/8-inch stroke length. Its Kwik-Click chuck...

Heating systems.
March 15, 2008... Staff Thermo Rotation heating systems provide temperature distribution throughout a facility with variances ranging between two and three degrees from floor to ceiling. Coupled with ThermoMixer technology, the systems prevent condensation...

Data logger.
March 15, 2008... Staff The OM-CP-PRHTEMP2000 can record more than 87,000 readings per channel and runs for up to one month on a user-replaceable 9-V battery when connected to an ac adaptor. An eight-button keypad and LCD provide access to current data and...

Label printer-applicator.
March 15, 2008... Staff The model 5300 twin-tamp printer-applicator is available with a choice of print engines that offer 203- or 300-dpi label imprinting. The system produces variable-sized text, bar codes and graphic images at print speeds of up to...

Drain trap.
March 15, 2008... Staff The AMD 1550 removes condensate and contaminants from air systems while protecting equipment. An automatic magnetic drain, it offers working pressures of up to 230 psig and a discharge capacity of 53 gallons per hour. Installation is...

Safety mats.
March 15, 2008... Staff The UMQ series of safety mats features a patented IP67 quick-disconnect cable connector that facilitates cable length changes in the field and is designed for backward compatibility with the mat cable location. Black safety mats in...

Disc installation aid.
March 15, 2008... Staff Test-Tel portable rupture disc installation aid with Flo-Tel detection system is designed to eliminate the risk of poorly fitted discs or incorrectly wired detection systems. It ensures rupture control and continuous function of...

Duct expansion joints.
March 15, 2008... Staff The custom-engineered 8400-HT style expansion joint is available in a variety of configurations. Ideal for low-pressure, lightweight piping and ductwork applications, the joint withstands a temperature excursion range of -75 to 2,200...

Online UPS.
March 15, 2008... Staff The UniStar P series single-phase online UPS protects over a range of input voltages. The double-conversion UPS is available in 6-, 8- and 10-kVA models and protects from outages and irregularities in incoming line voltages from 160...

Electromagnetic clutch/brake modules.
March 15, 2008... Staff Gen 2 packaged electromagnetic clutch/brake modules provide increased heat dissipation and better input-to-output axis alignment when compared to previous designs. Custom mounting bolts allow the conduit box to be located directly on...

Data collector.
March 15, 2008... Staff The vb5 single-channel, route-based data collector is designed specifically for industrial machinery and operator-based data collection and comes equipped with Ascent software. Vb series instruments allow users to monitor the...

Heaters.
March 15, 2008... Staff The PRH series of plenum-rated heaters is designed for concealed and plenum space applications such as those found in bathrooms and in suspended ceilings. The heaters offer a blow delay feature and multiple heat selections, with...

Workstation.
March 15, 2008... Staff The MK26 workstation achieves low net vertical stiffness without affecting its capability to support static loads with the help of the Minus K stiff spring and negative-stiffness mechanism. When adjusted to ½ Hz natural...

Resolver.
March 15, 2008... Staff The resolver-based Model 941 PositionServo drive measures the position of the motor shaft within a revolution. The resolver has a scalable emulated encoder output, which scales the resolution back into the user's controller and...

Torque arm.
March 15, 2008... Staff The lighter-duty torque arm reduces operator fatigue and limits operator influence on the assembly process. The parallel arm design keeps the tool perpendicular to the work surface and helps absorb torque, reducing risk of injury to...

Stretch wrapper.
March 15, 2008... Staff The S-2500 overhead stretch wrapper has an 80-pallet-per-hour capacity and is capable of processing unstable or heavy loads. Designed for automated or conveyor-type operation, the machine's Power Roller-Stretch Plus film delivery...

Mesh networking module.
March 15, 2008... Staff Xbee-PRO ZNet 2.5 is an extended-range RF module designed for mesh networking and provides up to one-mile RF line-of-sight transmission. The module, operating on the 2.4 GHz ISM band, which makes it appropriate for worldwide use, is...

Conveyor belt.
March 15, 2008... Staff The Mini-Unscrambler conveyor orients cases into a single-file line at rates of up to 100 cartons per minute for induction into high-speed material handling systems. It has a standard length of 15w feet and edge-aligns cartons to...

Vacuum inlet trap.
March 15, 2008... Staff The MV Multi-Trap 16-inch vacuum inlet trap features a knock-down stage, two stages of user-selectable filter elements and cooling coils that remove condensable byproducts and corrosives from deposition process lines. Constructed of...

Vision sensors.
March 15, 2008... Staff The VOS300 series vision sensors combine a camera, illumination, digital outputs, process data and five evaluation methods into one sensor housing. The sensor can check a single feature of a target object, or it can check up to five...

Bore shaft collar.
March 15, 2008... Staff Large custom bore shaft collars feature smooth or threaded bores up to 16 inches in diameter, optional keyways and widths ranging from ½ to 20 inches. The collars are available in several types of construction materials...

Communications gateway.
March 15, 2008... Staff The multi-protocol communications gateway for steam-to-water and water-to-water heaters features a plug-n-play package that supports integration with N2, BACnet and LonWorks systems to deliver up to 300 user-selected data points. The...

Don't be late for class: Arc Flash University is now in session.
March 15, 2008... Staff The opening bell has rung for Arc Flash University, Plant Engineering's exclusive eight-month course that will delve into all the things plant floor managers need to know to understand and mitigate arc flash issues on their...

Additional arc flash Webcast looks at mitigation.(Brief article)
March 15, 2008... Staff Plant managers who understand the safety concern, business risk and cost of an arc flash incident will want to sign up for the March 27 Webcast, sponsored by Eaton Corp. on the topic of strategies to mitigate arc flash incidents. ...

KamanDirect.com search Website gets a relaunch.(Website overview)
March 15, 2008... Staff Kaman Industrial Technologies has launched KamanDirect.com to offer greater search capabilities, simplified navigation and personalization options to provide faster and easier access to more than two million industrial parts and...

UGL Unicco completes name, Website changes.(Brief article)
March 15, 2008... Staff UNICCO Service Company, a subsidiary of United Group Limited (UGL), has changed its name to UGL Unicco. The company's Website is now at www.UGL-Unicco.com . 'Introducing UGL Unicco only a few months after we acquired the company...

Who'll keep the lights on?
March 15, 2008... By John Toon, Georgia Tech Simulation-based training facility opens, focusing on power generation industry As utility company executives make plans to meet the growing electricity needs of the Southeast, they're also watching their...