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When faced with manufacturing a complex ignition switch component for an auto manufacturer, Bebusch (Haslach, Germany) turned to Stapla Ultrasonics (Wilmington, MA).

Captive Plastics Inc. (Piscataway, NJ), a custom and stock bottle and cap supplier, was incorporating a new machine into its production process.

New ideas are often greeted with suspicion, rather than recognition and praise, a sure way to de-motivate a workforce.

For many in the American workforce, the answer to the question posed in the headline is "no; everyone's at work."

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM, Washington) predicts a slow but steady recovery in manufacturing in the fourth quarter, even though companies continue to be plagued by the high dollar, and rising energy and health care costs.

An innovative surface mount assembly machine performs screen printing, post- printing inspection, pick-and-place, post-placement inspection and reflow.

Minnesota Wire and Cable (Eau Claire, WI), a manufacturer of wires and specialty cables, used to strip a particular industrial retractable cord by hand.

"Lean manufacturing" means different things to different people. To the ruthless, it means "lay off workers and get more from who's left." But to others, lean manufacturing is a strategy for delivering high-quality products quickly and cost-effectively. To get the real story, we spoke with Tom Greenwood, Ph.D., director of the University of Tennessee's Lean Enterprise Forum.

Why is it that we someArial have so much trouble getting the result we want?

In assembly and production plants around the world, flexible gauging has become a vital stage of the manufacturing process, especially in the automotive industry.