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.
Chrysler LLC scored a coup today when it snatched Jim Press from the top position at Toyota Motor North America Inc. It's the latest in a recent string of announcements aimed at beefing up Detroit's No. 3 automaker. Will Chrysler once again become a formidable player or is it's new investment bank owner, Cerberus Capital Management, just trying to sweeten the pot for an eventual spinoff?
ASSEMBLY has been keeping engineers up to speed on the latest conveyor technology since it debuted. Fifty years ago, most conveyors consisted of belts, chains and rollers. Modular conveyors, skillet conveyors, self-propelled conveyors, automated guided vehicles and other material handling technology commonly found on plant floors today did not exist.
The consumer goods industry is under growing pressure to reduce waste and adopt environmentallly friendly packaging. New paper and plastic materials offer sustainable solutions, but also create new challenges.
Investing in automation requires a major commitment of time, money and other valuable resources. Unfortunately, end users often repeat the same mistakes with automation, because of time constraints and budget concerns.
Manufacturing in the United States is still healthy, but it has been shaken and stirred by recent events in the auto industry. In addition, high energy prices and a slowdown in new home construction have affected the confidence of assembly professionals, who are finding themselves crunched for time and talent. ASSEMBLY's 12th annual State of the Profession survey reveals why fewer workers and more hours at work create extra stress for manufacturing engineers, design engineers and plant management.
Every year, J.D. Power and Associates (Westlake Village, CA) recognizes a handful of automotive assembly plants around the world for their outstanding quality. It honors facilities that produce vehicles with the fewest defects. The winner of the 2007 Platinum Plant Quality Award is Ford’s plant in Wixom, MI. However, the only problem is that Ford management decided to shutter the 50-year-old plant a week before the award was announced!
Responding to legislative pressure and soaring energy costs, manufacturers of large household appliances are developing more energy-efficient products.
ASSEMBLY magazine is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. To mark the occasion, we are publishing a series of articles examining the past, present and future of various assembly technologies.
I’ve been thinking a lot about lasers lately. First, I recently attended a materials joining conference sponsored by the Edison Welding Institute (EWI, Columbus, OH), where many of the presentations focused on laser technology. Then, the other day, I read an obituary in the newspaper for Theodore Maiman, the inventor of the laser.