Vehicles have become increasingly electrical over the years. This is not just power electronics, but also sensor data, communications and many other coordinated electrical signals. For aircraft or commercial vehicles, wire harnesses can be even more complex with hundreds of interconnection points.

Over the last 26 years, since the founding of CAMI Research Inc., customers and friends have asked why the company would focus its efforts on such a mundane, low-tech, and uninteresting device as a cable tester, particularly since a variety of such devices already existed.

There's nothing quite like a multistation automated assembly system. Watching robots, actuators and indexers go about their carefully choreographed routines with little or no human intervention can seem nothing short of miraculous.

Refrigerators are one of the only appliances found in nearly every type of home, whether it's an apartment in suburban Atlanta, a high-rise condominium in downtown Chicago, a beach house in Hawaii or a trailer in Texas. The humble refrigerator is also the hardest working household appliance. Day and night, it's constantly running to keep all types of food and beverages cool, fresh or frozen.

French company Prodeo develops and implements software that helps companies improve their production processes to increase efficiency and productivity.

Many assembled products feature metal or plastic bearings, which enable linear or rotational movement while reducing friction and handling stress.

Flow and leak testing are required for any medical device that brings a substance to or from the body. Flow testing ensures that there are no blockages and the substance being delivered can make it through.

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.

"Scratch-resistant plastic parts" is more than a phrase with great appeal to car buyers. It also presents a great challenge to automotive Tier 1s to make sure these parts perform as promised in the real world.

Manufacturers love established assembly line technologies not only because they produce expected results. But, also because they occasionally provide an unexpected benefit.