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Wednesday, September 28, 2016

VOLUME - NUMBER

Registering 20 Years of Rapid Service

By Dee Claybrook, President/CEO, Rapid Tooling. Inc., Plano, TX
In a fast-paced world, the word "rapid" may sound like music to some ears. Rapid Tooling, Inc. was created 20 years ago to address the challenges faced by engineers and managers in printed-circuit-board (PCB) assembly and semiconductor packaging, and its rapid responses have been music ...

	Stepper Motors Bring Precision to Medical Phototherapy Device


	Skin diseases such as psoriasis, vitiligo, and eczema can be treated by one of two basic methods: medication and phototherapy. Sunlight, which contains therapeutically valuable UVA and UVB forms of ultraviolet (UV) radiation, has been used as a skin treatment for over 3000 years. Two basic phototherapy methods ...

Parts Management at Jazz Aviation Keeps Airplanes Flying High

By Christina Duda, Marketing Communications Manager, Kardex Remstar LLC, Westbrook, ME
Jazz Aviation is a regional carrier serving approximately 80 destinations across Canada and the United States. Working under a commercial agreement with Air Canada, Jazz operates more flights and travels to more Canadian destinations than any other carrier. With flights to large cities ...

Widening the SMT Print Process Window

By Michael L. Martel, Speedline Technologies Inc.
About 15 years ago, the new mantra in stencil printing was to "take the art out of the art of screen printing." It was the age of the "lights-out turnkey" manufacturing "flowline". Screen printing solder paste had become stencil printing, and advances in PCB assembly technology now ...

	Packaging an Innovative Light Source


	By Ken Tumblison, President, Buckeye Shapeform, Columbus, OH Boston Uplights owner Paul Therrien needed a spotlight that was light in weight, battery powered, and remotely controlled. He requested it from his suppliers, but soon realized such a light was unique and not available in the market. Rather than accept defeat, he saw an opportunity to market such ...

	The Shift to Industrial Networks


	By Members of the Technical Staff, Automation GT, Carlsbad, CA Progression of the Internet and the growth of networked computing have impacted almost all business sectors and industries, some more than others. At the same time, this evolution in computing is revolutionizing the automation industry, or at least it will for Automation GT, a custom automation assembly ...

Custom Cables Handle Rugged VFD Cable Applications

By the staff of Northwire, Inc.
Leveraging more than 1200 total years of tenured expertise in the design and manufacture of custom technical solutions for demanding variable-frequency-drive (VFD) cable applications, Northwire, Inc. (NWI) is a company that has seen and solved some of the toughest challenges in industrial ...

Enhancing Solder, Stencil, and Assembly

By the staff of FCT Assembly
FCT Assembly, with headquarters in Greeley, CO, is an important manufacturer of lead-free and leaded solder products, superior quality stencils, and precision cut parts. The company consists of three divisions: FCT Solder, Fine Line Stencil, and A-Laser. With numerous facilities in the ...

	Minimizing Final Cost By Utilizing Design For Manufacturing


	Design for Manufacturing (DFM) is the buzz on many blogs and company priority lists. Provided here is an example of how communication and cooperation between component design engineers and circuit design engineers can result in optimum performance, quality, and cost savings for both.

Error-Proofing the Process

By the Staff of Schleuniger, Inc.
Located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, at the heart of Toronto's industrial sector, lies Kelvin Technologies, a company with over 100 years of combined experience in electrical heating, controlling and sensing. Specializing in electrical heaters, microprocessor controls, temperature ...

	Custom Building Projectors with 24-Hour Turnaround


	By Christina Dube, Marketing Communications Manager, Kardex Remstar, LLC, Westbrook, ME Christie is a global visual technologies company offering diverse solutions for business, entertainment, visual environments and medical industries. With over 100,000 projection systems installed worldwide, Christie technologies include solutions for cinema, large audience environments, control rooms ...

	Tracking Components at The Sony UK Technology Centre


	By Michael Bloor Counting SMT components on reels can present a dilemma. Conventional counting systems are slow, error-prone and can even result in component losses and damage to the material being counted. They require far too much operator time and delay the availability of reels for further builds. They rely on ...

Saving Millions by Reducing Warranty Returns

By Alan Perkins, Qualmark, Denver, CO
Faced with slimmer profit margins in a shrinking economy, today's leaders of manufacturing businesses find themselves scrutinizing every aspect of their business model to find ways to shave costs. Profitability targets are getting harder and harder to attain, while ever-present threats ...

Falcon CNC a "Gem" for Inspecting Diamond Tools

Jeff Bronson, Metrology Sales and Marketing Manager, Vision Engineering, Inc.
Based in Mentor, Ohio, the Mastertech Diamond Products Company designs, manufactures and distributes a comprehensive range of high-quality cutting tools that are capable of undertaking the most challenging of machining applications. In addition to producing a wide variety of standard ...

How Kubota Keeps Parts Available for 20+ Years

By Christina Dube, Marketing Communications Manager, Kardex Remstar
Kubota Canada has been introducing groundbreaking tractor and utility vehicles for construction, commercial and residential use for 36 years. With an industry leading reputation for equipment that lasts, Kubota's parts promise is what keeps customers coming back.

Replenishing Horizontal and Vertical Carousels and VLMs

By Ed Romaine, Sapient Automation, Hatfield, PA
The benefits of automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS), Horizontal and Vertical Carousels and Vertical Lift Modules (VLMs) are improved throughput, more accurate picking, less operator strain and fatigue. The result is significant improvement in order picking and fulfillment ...

	PCB Prototyping: Building a Relationship


	By Nolan Johnson, CAD/EDA Manager, Sunstone Circuits, Mulino, OR In a 2010 report, "Manufacturing Insecurity," High Road Strategies, a Virginia consultant, cites that US-based PCB manufacturers have shrunk by 74 percent since 2000. The widely-held belief is that the small, local-market PCB manufacturers were often the first to go. While the shrinking supply of ...

Ultrasonic Metal Welding Offers Important Advantages

By Melissa Alleman, Sonobond Ultrasonics, West Chester, PA
Ultrasonic metal welding is a solid-state welding process that uses localized high-frequency vibratory energy in conjunction with moderate clamping force. It does not require consumables — such as welding rods, fluxes, fillers, or solders — or special cleaning methods. This energy ...

Automation Optimizes Parts Inventory at M/D Totco

By Patrick Roberts
For M/D Totco, the need for more manufacturing space was critical. After 25 years in the same location its 250,000-ft.² and distribution facility in Cedar Park, Texas, it was running out of space. The leading supplier of control, instrumentation and well data systems for drilling ...

Anticipatory Maintenance Improves Order Picking Efficiency

By Ed Romaine, Sapient Automation, Hatfield, PA
Competing in today's rough-and-tumble global economy means that organizations of all kinds look for the most efficient way of operating. For many companies, this has led to installing automation that includes carousels and Vertical Lift Modules (VLMs) in their facilities. Today's automated ...