high-mix assembly

Quality Assurance in Wire Harness Production

Manufacturing execution systems reduce error during manual assembly of automotive wire harnesses

October 13, 2018

Digitization is an integral aspect of modern vehicle technology. With each successive generation, the implementation of electronic technology continues to rise.

2018 Assembly Plant of the Year: Ford Shifts Flexible Assembly Into High Gear

The Van Dyke transmission plant excels at high-volume, high-mix production.

Austin Weber

October 2, 2018

One of the top transmission assembly plants in the world is Ford Motor Co.'s Van Dyke facility in Sterling Heights, MI. It's part of a network of Ford factories that mass-produce axles, engines and other power train components used in the company's cars and trucks.

2017 Assembly Plant of the Year: AGCO Leads the Field With Lean Technology

Wearable devices help build better tractors in Jackson, MN.

Austin Weber

October 4, 2017

JACKSON, MN--Farmers never take a day off. Nor do their tractors. Growers rely on their machines to plow, plant, till, spray, bale and harvest a wide variety of crops in all sorts of conditions.

What’s New With RFID

RFID technology has become critical for assembling cars, appliances and other high-value, high-mix products.

John Sprovieri

August 7, 2017

Manufacturers of complex products, such as engines and transmissions, have long been using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to error-proof their processes, document quality, and deal with high-mix production.

Vision Enables Flexible Assembly

A new, flexible assembly system produces the same volume and part mix as six older machines.

Jeff Walsh

January 5, 2017

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.

Cable Manufacturer Goes From Generally Good to Specifically Great

Guided by a principle from a best-selling book, every Components Express employee focuses on one thing: making the best machine vision cables in the world.

Jim Camillo

October 4, 2016

Ray Berst is the founder and president of Components Express Inc. (CEI), a Woodridge, IL-based manufacturer that specializes in custom machine-vision cables.

Manufacturer Finds ERP Benefits to be Far From Ho-Hum

Jim Camillo

August 4, 2016

There is a big difference between being part of an industry and being an industry participant. Little Humtown Products (based in Columbiana, OH) has followed the latter path for many years as a full-service supplier to the foundry industry.

Handling High-Mix Harness Assembly

Organization, flexible equipment and standard work are the keys to handling high-mix production.

John Sprovieri

July 1, 2016

Contract manufacturer Electronic Technologies International Inc. (ETI) has been in business for more than 25 years. With approximately 75 employees working in two shifts, the company provides printed circuit board (PCB) assembly, wire harness assembly and box build services at a 32,000-square-foot, ISO 9001 certified manufacturing facility in Fort Atkinson, WI.

Mastering Mixed-Model Assembly

Austin Weber

June 15, 2016

Mixed-model assembly lines present numerous opportunities for manufacturers, but they also create headaches for engineers. Lean manufacturing guru, Drew Locher, offers some tips.