Screwdriving and Riveting Assembly

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Whenever the 1920s are discussed in documentaries, they are first referred to as roaring and then as depressing. Too often, too little attention is paid to what happened in between these two extremes.

ROSEMONT, IL—Cleco Production Tools is bringing its CellTour demonstration truck to The ASSEMBLY Show here next week.

Engineers are challenged daily to come up with economical product designs that reduce weight, size, raw materials and labor. This competitive mandate affects every design facet, including the fasteners needed to hold components in place.

Automated assembly is becoming increasingly common, even for small manufacturing companies. Robotic assemblers improve productivity and boost output while ensuring that results are more consistent.

Inventors of manufacturing technology have many sources of inspiration. One is human anatomy, which has led to the development of things like hand-like grippers and collaborative robots. Another is commercial technology that is used in toys.

For decades, batteries have powered everything from toys and toothbrushes to personal electronics and power tools. But, that's just scratching the surface. During the next decade, advanced batteries will be mass-produced for a wide variety of new applications on land, sea and air.

There are good and bad aspects to repetition. On one hand, it's a proven way to learn to expertly perform a task. On the other, it can lead to physical problems like carpal tunnel syndrome, and bad arthritis in the hands, arms, legs and back.

Whether it's a car or a computer, a toy or a toaster, almost every assembled product has at least a few threaded fasteners. Indeed, 62 percent of ASSEMBLY's readers use threaded fasteners of one form or another to assemble their products.