No longer is it sufficient to simply dunk a product in a water tank and have an operator look for telltale bubbles. Today’s products must be free of leaks that could affect their performance today, as well as years down the road.

It's one of the great contradictions in assembly. On the one hand, industrial robots are expected to be fast and powerful. On the other, they need to be incredibly precise and delicate-kind of like expecting Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator character to do needlepoint between gun battles.

Learn how you and your company can grow with the ongoing economic rebound at ATExpo 2009.

Find the tools your company needs to succeed at ATExpo 2009.

It’s getting to be that time of year when we at ASSEMBLY start gearing up for Assembly Technology Expo (ATExpo), which we sponsor here in Chicago each September. Doing so now has reminded me of just how much has happened over the past 12 months.

The best way to get work in process to a robot depends on the application. In addition, with the advent of advanced machine vision cameras and recognition software, robots are increasingly able to sort out parts of their own.

On the one hand, there's the dirty little secret of offshoring-those hidden costs. On the other, there’s the old adage that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

It’s been said that by the time something is featured on the cover of a glossy news magazine like “Time” or “Newsweek,” chances are its moment has already passed. I’m beginning to think much the same thing about the online and televised business press with respect to the current economic crisis.

Variety may be the spice of life, but when it comes to press-fit parts, it can also cause a lot of trouble. It’s the same thing for rivets or crimps. Differences in thickness, length or material hardness can have a tremendous effect on the quality of the final assembly.

Environmental initiatives are very much within the reach of even small manufacturers. In fact, even with the big boys, it’s often the little things that make the real difference.