Keihin IPT Mfg. Inc. (Greenfield, IN) manufactures automotive air and fuel-line components, and is no stranger to the use of flexible automation, having implemented its first robotic die-casting system in 1988.
Rollover accidents with Humvees are a common problem in Iraq and Afghanistan. From March 2003 to August 2007, 77 soldiers lost their lives in rollovers.
Gearbox manufacturer Stober Drives Inc. (Maysville, KY) prides itself on the quality of its products. The company was therefore very concerned when it experienced a sudden increase in the number of returns for one of its products-a gearbox that had historically experienced a failure rate of just 0.5 percent.
Founded over a century ago, Grote Industries (Madison, IN) remains a leader in the manufacture of lighting and safety equipment for commercial trucks and other vehicles. As such, it is at the center of the ongoing transition from incandescent vehicle lamps to LED-based lighting.
Volkswagen’s glass-enclosed “Transparent Factory” in Dresden, Germany, not only assembles the company’s top-end Phaeton automobile; it is also employs a cutting-edge assembly line that seamlessly integrates both automated and manual work processes.
When ASSEMBLY first started to cover fusion production methods in the late 1950s, manufacturers typically joined metal parts with bulky arc welding equipment. Resistance welding was the rule rather than the exception. Friction stir welding, laser welding, robotic welding, ultrasonic welding and other processes commonly used today had not been developed yet.
Studies of fastening costs are generally only valid for an existing design and don't predict the potential costs savings in changing designs. Cost-reduction efforts should focus on three areas: significant product redesigns; superficial design changes; and assembly labor reduction.
When we asked suppliers of leak testing equipment to tell us their most challenging applications, we received dozens of reports on everything from diesel engines to water softeners.
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