Austin has been senior editor for ASSEMBLY Magazine since September 1999. He has more than 21 years of b-to-b publishing experience and has written about a wide variety of manufacturing and engineering topics. Austin is a graduate of the University of Michigan.
All employees at the 2009 Assembly Plant of the Year adhere to the “Manchester Guiding Principles,” a philosophy that strives to cut costs, improve quality, boost productivity and improve time to market. Ten basic principles form the backbone of all manufacturing activity at Batesville Manchester.
Safety is something that’s taken very seriously at the 2009 Assembly Plant of the Year. In fact, Batesville Manchester’s large water tower sports an outline of the state of Tennessee with the slogan “Volunteer for Safety.” Communication and education also play a key role in the process.
The 2009 Assembly Plant of the Year strives to be a lean and green facility. Batesville Manchester has an active environmental program that focuses on waste disposal and efficient use of energy.
By implementing lean manufacturing initiatives, Batesville Casket Co.'s assembly plant in Manchester, TN, has streamlined its operations. Assemblers use continuous improvement activities and lean tools to identify and eliminate waste in the production process.
Demand for ophthalmic devices that enable minimally invasive surgery will grow dramatically during the next four years. In particular, the implantable device sector will surpass the market share of contact lenses, glasses and ophthalmic drugs, predicts a new study by Frost & Sullivan Inc.
Reducing the size and weight of batteries with the necessary charge capacity has been a long-running challenge for developers of electric cars. A new type of air-fuelled battery developed in Scotland could solve the problem. It provides up to 10 times the energy storage of designs currently available.
Engineers at the University of Leeds are developing a way to capture the kinetic energy produced when soldiers march and use it to power their equipment. The new energy harvesting system is designed to convert foot-power into battery power.
Traditionally, automotive batteries have been bulky and heavy. But, some day in the future, batteries may be printed rather than assembled. A new battery developed by engineers at the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Electronic Nano Systems is less than 1 millimeter thick. It weighs less than 1 gram and can be economically mass-produced by using conventional printing processes.
In the future, lithium-ion batteries may be produced in a test tube. Engineers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have manipulated viruses to build both the positively and negatively charged ends of a lithium-ion battery. The new virus-produced batteries have the same energy capacity and power performance as state-of-the-art rechargeable devices being considered for automotive applications.
Advanced battery technology is one of the hottest topics in the auto industry these days. Because of all that activity, this is a great time to be a battery engineer in Detroit. The industry is hungry for chemical engineers, electrical engineers and manufacturing engineers who can help address challenges such as finding new ways to make batteries lighter, stronger and more powerful. It also helps if you have some good ideas on how batteries can be mass-produced quicker, safer and more cost-effectively.