Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. became the first zero landfill auto plant in the United States in 2004, but it wasn’t long before many other automakers followed SIA’s example, including General Motors. Other automakers, like BMW MC in Greer, SC, are on the path to becoming zero landfill.
Green manufacturing activity has remained steady over the past 12 months, buoyed by the rebounding economy. Manufacturers are engaged in a wide variety of sustainable initiatives, such as recycling, landfill gas and solar panels.
It took several years, but self-tapping screws for plastic assembly have come of age. OEMs were lukewarm toward this type of fastener in the 1980s and early 1990s, that trend has changed in recent years.
Several manufacturers consider electromagnetic, or induction, welding a better way to weld highly filled thermoplastics than thermal or friction welding, or using adhesives.
ASSEMBLY recently asked Joel Hoffmann, strategic market development manager of Intel’s Automotive Solutions Div., to discuss current trends affecting the automotive electronics sector.
In the near future, energy harvesting and inductive power transfer technology may replace electrical wires, power cords and batteries in a wide variety of applications.
The Integrated Design and Engineering Environment system analyzes the functional requirements of a product and identifies appropriate materials at an early stage of the development process.