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If you’ve ever received a package from an online retailer, you probably didn’t give the protective packing material a second thought. You opened the box, removed your order, and discarded everything else.

Integrators love a good challenge, and automotive OEMs and suppliers never disappoint. Not only do these two groups expect integrators to meet increasingly high production goals and come in or under budget. They also rely on integrators for creative solutions to all types of automation problems.

A Fortune 500 manufacturer of electromechanical products previously operated six separate indexing assembly machines, each producing one of a family of products at about 40 parts per minute.

Manufacturers that use adhesives and sealants to assemble their products know how critical it is for these materials to be dispensed with accuracy and repeatability.

Large companies and small towns are sometimes a perfect fit. The most well-known example of this is Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which is the world’s largest retailer but is headquartered in tiny Bentonville, AR.

At some point during a philosophy 101 class, college students learn about Aristotle’s belief that the best way to understand something is to break it down to the smallest components. For an increasing number of manufacturers and integrators, however, the best way to assemble a product is to use a machine built with modular automation components that quickly and easily fit together.

In the nautical disaster movie, “The Perfect Storm,” three weather fronts converge off the coast of New England to create one of the fiercest storms in U.S. history. A similar convergence is occurring in the manufacturing world today. It’s called Industry 4.0 and it promises to transform the way that engineers design and build products over the next two decades.

Just a few decades ago, the typical American or European driver would never have believed that China, a communist country, would one day be the world’s largest car producer (by volume).

Cell phones, tablets, GPS devices and other mobile electronics are smaller, thinner, lighter and more powerful than ever. Wireless Internet connections, RFID and Bluetooth have become essential features of these devices, necessitating highly complex transmission mechanisms.