- 4 Types of Robots You Should Know - We manufacturers know what a robot is and is not - and for all intents and purposes it’s not Data from Star Trek, Luke Skywalker’s sidekick, nor is it an angry AI bot from the new Netflix hit Mitchell’s versus The Machines (Hot Tip: If you have kids this is a must watch family fun… Continue Reading
- Reshoring Manufacturing: Lessons from the COVID-19 Warp Speed Vaccine Project - A blog based on an interview with Bill Pollock, CEO of Optimation Manufacturing in America: No matter your level of awareness of why domestic manufacturing is of vital importance, the truth has always been that our safety and sovereignty as a nation are rooted in our ability to be resilient and independent. The so-called "global… Continue Reading
- The Prevailing Reasons for Skid Based Systems in Manufacturing - Skid Based Systems are one type of innovative solution for designing new or modifying existing manufacturing processes. Skid systems are named for their ability to be fabricated in their entirety ready to subsequently be integrated into a process for either permanent or temporary use. When talking about the wide variety of designs and uses for… Continue Reading
- Celebrating Safety: A Manufacturing Imperative - As manufacturers strive for a zero-incident workplace, they fight with realities like the 2nd law of thermodynamics. This law essentially says that entropy exists in nature and the natural course of entropy is the tendency of systems to go towards disorder. What that means for all human activity - be it manufacturing or making an… Continue Reading
- Questions to Ask When Selecting a Firm to Build Your Manufacturing Line - You may be a startup firm with some promising IP and a dream, a researcher with a lab scale manufacturing line, or a manufacturer with an established product and a great market who needs additional manufacturing capacity. In each case you need a new manufacturing machine or a new production line, and you need a… Continue Reading
- Proper Electrical Safety Training Improves Craftsmanship - Electrical safety is important because electricity may cause serious injuries, or even fatalities. The statistics tell us more about the unique threat it poses. For example, in 2015 and 2016, there were a total of 1380 deaths and injuries from fires caused by electrical goods. However, this figure saw a decrease in 2017 and 2018 with… Continue Reading
- Digital Manufacturing for Small Manufacturers - It has been a decade since Siemens introduced the term Industry 4.0 at the Hanover Fair. The concept was to promote computerization, or digital manufacturing, to industrial plants. Of course, there were already many computers used for automation and control in manufacturing prior to that, but Industry 4.0 defined a set of core principals to… Continue Reading
- Test Your Products Before they are Put into Service, Especially if Installed in Harsh Environments - Many companies making high tech sophisticated products require testing prior to selling and/or end-user installation. Putting these products thru a thorough and vigorous test process will not only satisfy client requirements but will also give you peace of mind that your products can withstand the rigors of real-world environments once they have left your company.… Continue Reading
- Alternative Energy isn’t alternative anymore. - Technologies such as fuel cells are not just for NASA. It is true fuel cells helped get humans into space and to the moon 50-60 years ago and will soon perhaps to Mars. But those fuel cells weren’t cost-effective enough to become accessible to other applications that are more familiar to us, like driving a… Continue Reading
- Spend Your Stimulus Check on American Made Products - 90 million Americans received the $1,400 stimulus checks this week. The recipients are part of the first wave of payments that totaled more than $242 billion, the Treasury Department, IRS and Bureau of the Fiscal Service announced Wednesday. Additional batches of payments will be made in the coming weeks. Recipients of this first tranche include those… Continue Reading
