In April, electronics assembler Mack Technologies completed work on a substantial installation of money-saving technology at its factory in Westford, MA. The company didn’t get a new paste printer, reflow oven or pick-and-place machine. In fact, the plant’s slick new technology had nothing to do with assembly.

Compliant mechanisms are jointless, elastic structures that reduce costs and simplify product designs. These single-piece flexible structures elastically deform without joints to produce a desired functionality.

STORRS, CT—The University of Connecticut and Pratt & Whitney, have opened of a new additive manufacturing research laboratory here.

Design for manufacture and assembly (DFMA) does well as a stand-alone methodology for simplifying product designs and lowering production costs. However, DFMA should also be hailed as a pathway to lean manufacturing.

America’s manufacturing sector gained 14,000 jobs in February, according to the latest data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Manufacturers vigorously seek out best practices because they can improve metrics, such as stock price, sales and profitability. There’s only one problem: Best practices are the actions that solved yesterday’s problems.

Producers of plastic, rubber and composites use Dynisco Inc. melt-pressure and temperature sensors, controls, and analytical instruments to maximize manufacturing efficiency and productivity. Dynisco has served these customers well for more than 50 years, providing leading-edge technology manufactured to ISO 9000 quality standards.

Aircraft Technologies Inc. makes sinks, toilets and other assemblies for airframe manufacturers, completion centers, and maintenance and repair facilities.

Each year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration logs some 100,000 reports of adverse events related to medical devices. More than a third of those are due to human error.

For example, according to the Precision Metalforming Association, 69 percent of U.S. metalworking companies have job openings. However, 91 percent of those companies are experiencing challenges finding qualified employees, and 42 percent describe that difficulty as “severe.”

The manufacturing industry is at a turning point, requiring the ability to visualize the possibilities and challenges to come so preparations can be made now.

The invitation-only Digital and Advanced Manufacturing Exchange cannot predict the future. But it can offer senior manufacturing executive best practices for quick ROI from the latest technologies with case studies and opinions from senior level practitioners.

Boothroyd Dewhurst, Inc., will host the twenty-eighth annual International Forum on Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DFMA®) on June 12-14, 2013. This year’s Forum, “Engineering Value with DFMA—Unlocking Profits in Product Design,” will take place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Providence-Warwick, R.I., USA.