All Features
Anne Trafton
Flat screen TVs that incorporate quantum dots are now commercially available. But it has been more difficult to create arrays of their elongated cousins, quantum rods, for commercial devices. Quantum rods can control both the polarization and color of light to generate 3D images for virtual-reality…
(Flowfinity: Vancouver, BC) -- Flowfinity Inc. has worked closely with engineers specializing in nondestructive testing (NDT) to help them create a unique solution using no-code tools that greatly reduce the time and effort required to collect, format, and report testing data while remaining…
(PartsBadger: Cedarburg, WI) -- PartsBadger, a leading provider of precision machining solutions, announces its latest offering in Swiss CNC machining services to meet the demands of the most intricate and high-precision components.
Swiss CNC machining is a specialized precision manufacturing…
Donald J. Wheeler
In last month’s column, we looked at how process-hyphen-control algorithms work with a process that is subject to occasional upsets. This column will consider how they work with a well-behaved process.
Last month we saw that process adjustments can reduce variation when they are reacting to real…
Julie van der Hoop
We’re all familiar with photos of Ford’s production lines in 1920. But would we recognize them today? As part of a broader trend referred to as “Industry 4.0,” systems in many factories have modernized considerably in recent years. This digitization of the manufacturing sector aims to apply…
(Key Technology: Walla Walla, WA) – Key Technology, a member of the Duravant family of operating companies, has introduced its new vibratory conveying systems designed to feed pick-and-place robots on packaging lines.
Each series of integrated conveyors meters, separates, singulates, and/or aligns…
(CIMdata: Ann Arbor, MI) -- CIMdata Inc., a leading global PLM strategic management consulting and research firm, announced an upcoming free educational webinar, “How Product Manufacturing Information Enables Digital Transformation.” The one-hour webinar will take place on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023,…
Bryan Christiansen
Deciding whether to repair or replace an asset can be difficult. That’s why maintenance and reliability managers perform an analysis to determine whether it’s more economical to repair a failing asset or replace it with a new one. This process helps minimize total costs while ensuring that your…
Adam Zewe
Imagine grasping a heavy object, like a pipe wrench, with one hand. You would likely grab the wrench using your entire fingers, not just your fingertips. Sensory receptors in your skin, which run along the entire length of each finger, would send information to your brain about the tool you are…
(Mahr: Providence, RI) Mahr Inc., a leading provider of dimensional metrology solutions, has introduced its new MarSurf M 410 portable surface measurement instrument. The MarSurf M 410 uses a skidless probe system designed for both laboratory and production environments that makes recording and…
(Honeywell: Atlanta) -- Honeywell has launched Honeywell Product Quality Review, an innovative software solution for manufacturers of medical products. It’s designed to automate and streamline the annual product quality review (APQR) process, enabling medical organizations to efficiently assess the…
(HEIDENHAIN: Schaumburg, IL) – HEIDENHAIN announces its participation at the SOUTHTEC trade show, scheduled from Oct. 24–26, 2023, at the Greenville Convention Center in Greenville, South Carolina.
SOUTHTEC is recognized as the single best source to discover the next evolution of the manufacturing…
Douglas C. Fair, Scott A. Hindle
Today’s manufacturing systems have become more automated, data-driven, and sophisticated than ever before. Visit any modern shop floor and you’ll find a plethora of IT systems, HMIs, PLC data streams, machine controllers, engineering support, and other digital initiatives, all vying to improve…
Matt Fieldman
When I first started at MAGNET (part of the Ohio MEP) in 2015, I walked into my new office and saw a white paper sitting on my desk. In it, our former board chair Felix Brueck outlined how we could adapt the German apprenticeship model of workforce development to Northeast Ohio and reap real…
John Davis
Over the past decade, one of the biggest advances in enterprise resource planning (ERP) has been the ability to communicate and integrate with machines and external software programs to lower costs and increase efficiency. For example, BOM Compare software can reduce engineering costs and get jobs…
Reece Brown, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
(ORNL: Oak Ridge, TN) -- As current courses through a battery, its materials erode over time. Mechanical influences such as stress and strain affect this trajectory, although their effects on battery efficacy and longevity aren’t fully understood.
A team led by researchers at the U.S. Department…
NIST, Katie Rapp
(NIST: Gaithersburg, MD) -- It’s no longer news that many manufacturers find it difficult to attract and retain enough skilled employees. The nationwide manufacturing talent shortage and skills gap pose complex challenges that threaten individual companies’ bottom lines. In a larger context, these…
(IDS: Obersulm, Germany) -- With the rolling shutter sensor onsemi AR2020, IDS Imaging Development Systems adds the technical successor of the onsemi AR1820 to its portfolio—making the company the first manufacturer in the industrial camera market to do so.
With 20 MP, the sensor provides an…
Mike Figliuolo
I’m going to take over the world! It’s really fun to say that. It’s even more fun to take action toward that goal.
Our world has gotten smaller. Way smaller. Globalization is an unstoppable trend. But as they say, the trend is your friend, so why not take advantage of it? I don’t care how big or…
Ron Cowen
A single atom-thick sheet of carbon known as graphene has remarkable properties on its own. But things can get even more interesting when you stack up multiple sheets.
When two or more overlying sheets of graphene are slightly misaligned—twisted at certain angles relative to each other—they take…
(Brunson: Kansas City, MO) -- Breast cancer caused 685,000 deaths worldwide in 2020. In the United States, 2023 is likely to see approximately 300,000 new cases, and estimates indicate 44,000 women will die from breast cancer in the U.S. this year. In half the cases globally, women diagnosed with…
(Platinum Tooling: Prospect Heights, IL) – Platinum Tooling, importer and master distributor of live tools, angle heads, speed increasers, Swiss machine products, knurling and marking tools, and shrink-fit tool holders manufactured by various international suppliers, will now carry REV broaching…
Mark Rosenthal
This all happened nearly three decades ago. Since then, the company has been through a series of mergers and acquisitions. Thus, the only thing I can be certain of is that things are different today—at least I hope so.
It was Tuesday afternoon of a traditional five-day kaizen event. Monday morning…
Matthew Greenwood
It’s no secret the automotive sector is racing to find ways of tapping the potential of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) to design and build the next generation of vehicles. This technology has promise, from redefining manufacturing processes to helping carmakers design smarter, safer,…
(Nullspace: Irvine, CA) -- Nullspace, an engineering software company, has released Nullspace Prep and Nullspace EM, Nullspace’s flagship electromagnetic (EM) simulation products for the aerospace, defense, and communications industries.
Engineers turn to Nullspace when other industry simulation…
