Cincinnati Automation & Test (Machesney Park, IL), a division of MAG Cincinnati Automation (Sterling Heights, MI), builds automated assembly and testing equipment for the automotive, truck and off-highway vehicle markets, as well as the aerospace, medical and electronics industries.
Like many electronics companies around the world, manufacturing and professional services company Cornet Technology Inc. (CTI, Springfield, VA) has been updating its processes in recent months to comply with the European Union’s directive on the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) in electrical and electronic products.
For a line of anti-vibration grinding-machine grips it manufactures in the Czech Republic, Robert Bosch Group needed to assemble each handle using a screw with a 3-millimeter standoff height to ensure effective spring action of the grip.
In many ways, robots are a natural fit for parts feeding. Nonetheless, for all the marvels of robotics, engineers need to be careful about the demands they place on their machines and the precise way in which they are incorporated into an assembly process.
Advances in technology are generally touted as harbingers of glorious new product opportunities. And indeed they are; but the challenges that manufacturers will face in bringing those products to market profitably are typically glossed over.
Three months ago we raised the question of whether our young people are being prepared to take best advantage of the impending labor shortfall. Specifically, we wondered whether the principal focus of our educational establishment is not on the real needs of American business.
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