SEATTLE—At a secret facility in Anacortes, WA, a small group of Boeing engineers will begin testing advanced automation methods for building the soon-to-be-launched 777X jet. The project promises to dramatically change how the plane’s metal hull is built.
ST. JOSEPH, MI—Michigan-based systems integrator Edgewater Automation will invest $3 million to establish a production facility in Spartanburg County, SC, and create 53 new jobs.
EVANSVILLE, IN—Systems integrator Evana Automation recently received a contract from a Tier 1 automotive supplier to provide a multistation system to assemble and test a lane departure warning system.
BEIJING—Chinese manufacturers are increasingly investing in robotics to overcome the challenges of rising labor costs and fierce competition from emerging nations in South and Southeast Asia.
CARLSBAD, CA—Systems integrator Automation GT has built a multistation automated assembly system to make syringes. Designed for use in a Class 10,000 clean room, the system includes robots, vision systems and dispensing equipment.
STONY BROOK, NY—Before the faucet maker RSS Manufacturing & Phylrich installed a machine-tending robot, processing 1,500 units on a tube bender using manual labor would take three days. With the robot, the same job takes four hours.
Sitting under the hood of every new car—and many older cars made since 1990—is the engine control module (ECM). Often referred to as “the car’s computer,” it usually employs the most powerful and expensive microcontroller in the vehi-cle.