Danaher Motion Performance Controls (MEI), in partnership with The MathWorks and sponsored by Design World magazine, is hosting a free half-day seminar on Advanced Mechatronics for High Performance Motion Control on Wednesday, October 22, 2008, at the Boston Marriott® Newton hotel. Persons interested in attending can learn more and register online at http://www.motioneng.com/mechatronicseminarOct.
Tips to keep your design’s energy footprint small
The cost of most forms of energy is on the rise. Consequently, more attention is focused on how much energy a component, device, product, or equipment consumes. Here are suggestions to help keep that consumption low. By Leslie Langnau Managing Editor – Design World Consumer appliances have it. European machine tools have it. And if […]
UK Manufacturing M&A activity buoyant in H1 2008
M&A activity in the UK manufacturing sector has shown remarkable resilience in the first half of 2008 with 103 deals announced worth a combined value of £7.38bn, according to a study by PKF Accountants & business advisers. The PKF report, Deal Drivers UK, produced in association with mergermarket, showed that H1 2008 deal flow massively […]
Electric Car Factory Breaks Ground in Kentucky
An electric car factory broke ground in Kentucky for Integrity Automotive, a new joint venture expected to manufacture the Alias and other electric vehicles from ZAP. Construction equipment arrived at the site of the Wilkey North Industrial Park on Thursday and a site contractor with a work crew have been mobilized as of Friday to […]
Manufacturers See Benefits from ‘Green’ Operations
Over 300 North American manufacturing, operations and supply chain executives were asked to reveal where their greening efforts are being focused, how they’re being managed and financed, and how the outlook for eco-products is changing. The survey, conducted by EFT Research, discovered that the corporate mindset around environmental initiatives is changing, and the need to […]
Manufacturers Poised for Energy Efficiency Opportunity
U.S. manufacturers on the cusp of investing to boost capacity face a great opportunity to incorporate energy efficiency in their decision-making. The industrial sector is close to reaching capacity at a time when shipping costs are making domestic production more attractive. This leaves the door open for manufacturers to shift energy use patterns toward efficiency […]
RFID Growing Force in Oil & Gas Industry
Radio frequency identification (RFID), a system made up of rugged readers and tags that wirelessly transmit detailed location information, is playing an increasingly important role in helping oil and gas companies run their businesses more efficiently in today’s fast-changing economy, according to Joe White, vice president of business development for Motorola’s Enterprise Mobility Business’s RFID […]
AC and DC
It has been over 100 years since the first DC dynamo’s were built to power electric lights. Shortly after Edison’s direct current debut, Nicola Tesla and George Westinghouse gave the world AC powered motors. And the “War of the Currents” has been going on ever since. Although its been less visible of a ware in […]
Automation Advances Spark Factory-Floor Efficiency
A quiet but unmistakable evolution is sweeping through today’s plants and factories. Prodded by increasing computing power, automation steadily transforms our manufacturing, process, and assembly plants. Fully programmable-precision robots are replacing human operators, often performing tasks faster, more accurately, and more reliably. PCs are populating the factory floor. Wireless communications, along with industrial-grade Ether-nets, continues […]
Skilled Worker Shortage in Manufacturing
More leading manufacturing executives today believe the lack of skilled labor and management skills in the work force—not current oil prices or the weak U.S. dollar—most hurts the growth of America’s economy. In a new poll conducted by sponsors of the FABTECH International & AWS Welding Show, 27 percent of the executives cited the lack […]
Robotics Shipment Slides Amid Economic Setbacks
A sudden slowdown in the robotics sector is felt. North American robotics orders decline 23 percent in 1H 08, compared to the same period in 2007, according to the Robotic Industries Association (RIA), an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based trade group. Japan’s robot shipments were up 6 percent in Q2, but production levels grew only 0.8 percent […]
Manufactured exports increased to $4.2 billion in Minnesota
Minnesota manufactured exports increased to $4.2 billion in the first quarter of 2008, which was 8.5 percent higher than the same period a year ago. The Minnesota Dept. of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) reported the cause was due to increased sales of transportation equipment, processed foods and computer and electronic goods. “Minnesota manufacturers continue […]
Boom Times for Laboratory Automation Systems
Clinical laboratories will increasingly turn to lab automation systems as they deal with a growing demand for diagnostic tests, reductions in reimbursement rates and a diminishing labor pool. That’s the assessment from life sciences research firm Kalorama Information in the new report Lab Automation Markets Worldwide. The report analyzes the current and potential world markets […]
Manufacturers Receive Protections
Manufacturers received some protections, says NEMA, in its recent praise for the new, stronger consumer product safety legislation that Congress passed. After a year’s effort in which NEMA was actively engaged, the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, prior to adjourning for the summer district work period, overwhelmingly approved legislation (H.R. 4040) to reauthorize and […]
Computer Simulation for Manufacturers Focus of Computer-Aided Engineering Conference
As manufacturers and brand developers work to bring new, more complex products to the market faster to meet rapidly shifting global consumer demands—and concurrently to reduce product-development time—computer simulation, or virtual prototyping, continues to gain importance with business executives to cost-effectively meet these divergent design challenges. The role of computer simulation in today’s businesses will […]
Robot Sales Decline to Automakers, Rise in Other Sectors
North American robot orders declined 17 percent in Q1 08, while non-automotive orders jumped by 36 percent, according to Jeffrey A. Burnstein, executive vice president of trade group Robotic Industries Association (RIA). The good side may even be better, according to Rohit Khanolkar, engineering manager at Applied Manufacturing Technologies. His speculation hinges on […]
ARC says CNC market to reach $7.7 Billion by 2012
The Computer Numerical Controls (CNC) market has simply exploded in the last two years lead by the surge in production of machine tools in the European and Asian markets. The worldwide market for CNC systems is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.8 percent over the next five years. The […]
Tradeoffs and Triangles
The activity of optimization involves trade off analysis. The goal is to improve performance or cost effectiveness, or both if possible. Nowadays, we have some really sophisticated software tools that allow us to simulate the behavior of complex systems. Computational fluid dynamics, magnetic field simulations, thermal imaging, finite element analysis are a few of the […]
U.S. Manufacturing Poised for Comeback
The falling dollar, high fuel and energy prices, and rising labor costs in traditionally low-wage markets have some manufacturers rethinking how far they’re willing to extend their supply chains. Over the past year, a handful of companies have publicly acknowledged that cost pressures factored into their decisions to move production back home. Depending […]
Manufacturing Productivity Fell in 2nd Quarter
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported preliminary productivity data – as measured by output per hour of all persons – for the second quarter of 2008. The seasonally adjusted annual rates of productivity change in the second quarter were: · 2.3 percent in the business sector and · 2.2 […]
Growth Seen in Distributed Control Systems Market
ARC expects there to be continued growth in the global DCS market through 2012, with the overall CAGR of just under 10 percent. This may seem like an overzealous growth projection to some, but the process automation market remains poised for long-term growth on several fronts that we believe will be sustainable for the next […]
Mechatronics Engineering Technology Leads to Careers in High Speed Packaging
Adapting to the growing need for trained engineering technologists within the high speed packaging industry is the emphasis of a redirected Purdue University Calumet bachelor’s degree program in Mechatronics Engineering Technology. The program, offered through Purdue Calumet’s School of Technology, combines mechanical design, manufacturing, and electrical control within a foundational context of packaging […]