Assembly eMagazine

Inside GE Appliance's State-of-the-Art Water Heater Assembly Plant

A factory that used to mass-produce refrigerators now assembles water heaters.

May 1, 2023

Water heaters are one of the least glamorous types of home appliances. The vertical metal tanks typically sit out of sight in dark corners of basements or behind closet doors. Most homeowners never think about the devices—until there’s no hot water.

Fastening Tools for EV Assembly

Special fastening tools are need to ensure safety and quality when assembling battery packs for EVs.

John Sprovieri

May 4, 2023

The need to extend the range of electric vehicles is pushing automakers to adopt higher battery voltages. Most passenger EVs are powered by a 400-volt battery pack, while electric buses and trucks are powered by 600-volt battery packs.

What’s New With Conveyors

Conveyors remain essential for getting parts to the right spot at the right time. Here’s a look at the state of the art.

John Sprovieri

May 5, 2023

Transportation—moving parts or assemblies from place to place in a factory—is one of the seven wastes specified in the principles of lean manufacturing. Transportation does not add value.

Flow Racks Keep Parts Moving at Automotive Supplier

Heavy duty rollers accommodate large and small totes.

John Sprovieri

May 8, 2023

Atypical car contains some 30,000 parts, including fasteners, from dozens of suppliers. All these components must arrive at an OEM’s assembly plant in the right sequence at the exact moment that they’re needed. It’s a massive undertaking.

Hot Forming Titanium

Hot forming enables aerospace manufacturers to produce parts with complex shapes at lower tonnages without fracturing, spring-back or residual stress.

John Sprovieri

May 11, 2023

Titanium has the highest strength-to-weight ratio of any metal. It’s as strong as some steels, but 45 percent lighter. Titanium is also prized for its corrosion resistance, fatigue resistance, crack resistance, and ability to withstand moderately high temperatures without creeping.

Software Simplifies Programming of Robots

New software enables defense contractor to program robots quickly and easily for high-mix production.

John Sprovieri

May 9, 2023

Missiles are the premier weapon of modern warfare. According to consulting firm Polaris Market Research, global sales of rockets and missiles are expected to increase from $58.3 billion in 2021 to $73.8 billion in 2026, growing at a cumulative annual rate of 4.8 percent.

Renault Retrofits Robots at Refactory

By rehabbing its own used robots, renault saves money and reduces delivery times.

Florentina Deca

May 10, 2023

At the end of 2020, the Renault assembly plant in Flins, France, embarked on a new path to focus on the circular economy. The automaker set a goal of buying less, extracting value from existing products, and creating a new industrial model centered on sustainability.

Water Could Help EV Batteries Get More Power

Austin Weber

May 19, 2023

Water is the source of life on Earth. It also may hold the key to increasing the storage capacity of electric vehicle batteries.

Hella Shines Bright in ADAS Technology

Austin Weber

May 18, 2023

Hella GmbH & Co. has been synonymous with automotive lighting for decades. But, the 124-year-old company produces more than just top-of-the-line headlamps.

Adhesive Tapes Play an Important Role in EV Assembly

PSAs provide durability, functionality, strength and versatility.

Max VanRaaphorst

May 8, 2023

After more than 100 years of incremental evolution, the automotive industry is undergoing a transformation unlike anything it has ever experienced. The driving force behind this revolution is the shift from internal combustion to battery power.

How High Can a Battery Fly?

E-planes are slowly taxiing toward a sustainable future.

Nathan Eddy

May 8, 2023

The electric aircraft market is still in its infancy, but that hasn't stopped an ambitious group of innovators from developing a leaner, greener future of flight.

Tesla Rethinks the Assembly Line

The “unboxed” production concept could slash EV manufacturing costs and reduce factory space.

Austin Weber

May 8, 2023

Engineers at Tesla Inc. have developed a new process that they claim will reduce EV production costs by 50 percent, while reducing factory space by 40 percent.

SEC Competition Turns Manufacturing Into a Team Sport

Austin Weber

May 4, 2023

As any college football fan knows, the Southeastern Conference (SEC) takes sports seriously, with numerous gridiron rivalries. An engineering professor at the University of Tennessee has come up with a way to transfer some of that competitive spirit to the world of manufacturing.

Cobots Can Weld

John Sprovieri

May 3, 2023

Machine tending is, by far, the most popular application for collaborative robots. It’s a perfect fit for a cobot’s unique ability to work alongside or together with people without safety fencing.

Manufacturing: A Reason to Get Out of Bed in the Morning

John Sprovieri

May 1, 2023

What gets you out of bed in the morning? Whatever the reason, new evidence suggests that people who work in manufacturing are more eager to get up and go than people in other professions.

To Cut Costs, Think Beyond Procurement

Jon Quigley

May 2, 2023

Recently, I was consulting with a procurement group, one of its OEM customers, and a product engineering firm. The goal was to find ways to reduce the cost of a particular product.

This presentation addresses the vital importance of reshoring U.S. manufacturing capability to ensure economic and military security. You’ll learn how U.S. manufacturing got where it is today, how outsourcing threatens U.S. security, and what U.S. manufacturers can do to fix the problem.

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