Plant layout is always a factor when designing and installing a new assembly line.

After revamping its transmission production line, GM improved workflows, reduced changeover time, and cut costs.

The choice of pneumatic or electric actuators involves an evaluation of performance, component costs, system costs and productivity gains.

Videojet Raises Yield With Custom Cart

Screw-driven linear actuators need extra support in long-stroke applications.

New tools allow engineers to conduct in-process verification.

BOSTON—Rethink Robotics has released new positioning software for its Baxter collaborative robot that will enable the robot to manage and adapt to changing, real-world environments.

AUBURN HILLS, MI—Patti Engineering Inc., a specialist in control systems integration, will expand its collaboration with McClellan Automation Systems, a company that designs and builds automated assembly systems.

Manually assembling small parts isn’t that difficult. Inserting a screw into a hole or a wire into a connector is simply a matter of hand-eye coordination. Assembling larger parts, like, say, the multiton fuselage sections of a jetliner, is whole other matter.

Methods Machine Tools has built top-notch automation equipment in North America since the late 1950s. It has seven regional technical centers across the United States, including one in Wixom, MI, that focuses on automotive applications.