Wichita, KS, calls itself the Air Capital of the World. The city has a long, proud heritage of aerospace manufacturing.

Plastic squeeze bottles for water or Gatorade are ubiquitous at sporting events around the world. Hundreds of millions of them are produced annually.

BERLIN—Kuka Systems was awarded another major contract from Volkswagen to build a robotic assembly line for the rear underbody and side members of vehicles. The robots will perform such tasks as spot welding, dispensing and material handling.

There are three reasons to attend trade shows: to learn about industry trends and new ways of doing things; to network with industry peers; and to see new technologies. This month’s Assembly Show will not disappoint on any of those fronts.

Letters matter to welders. A, B and C, for example, are grades that employers use to determine a welder’s current ability, work assignments and pay scale. Letter A is the highest grade, followed by B and C.

When screws or bolts are threaded directly into plastic components, failures can occur due to stripped threads or plastic creep.

A designer and manufacturer of electrical components, Jiangsu Phono Electrical Co. Ltd. faces the ongoing challenge of creating high-quality and safe products at the lowest cost.

Standardization is a key concept behind lean manufacturing. It allows assemblers to reduce variation, increase consistency, cut costs and improve productivity by following a prescribed set of work instructions.

Papenburg, Germany, is home to the world’s largest shipbuilding dock hall, which is operated by MEYER WERFT GmbH. There, more than 2,500 workers design and assemble some of the largest cruise ships in the world.

MIDDLEVILLE, MI—Systems integrator TranTek Automation has designed and built an automated assembly system that has enabled Bradford White Corp. to keep producing water heaters in the United States.