Articles and News

By Bill Lydon, Editor There is a great opportunity to leverage the latest technologies and compete in the global manufacturing landscape. The future lies in the convergence of product design, production planning, production engineering, production execution, and services.

U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $506.89 million, up 32.7% from November and up 4.7% when compared with the total of $484.08 million reported for December 2013.

The tabbing and framing cell takes the Sportbrake body floor out of the assembly line to have the side body panels, roof and other components put in place, tabbed and then welded by robots.

By Bill Lydon, Editor There is a growing frenzy over the application of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to industrial automation. The question is, “Why do we want to do this?” The high level goal is to improve manufacturing processes in a number of dimensions, including efficiency, responsiveness, and the ability to meet individual customer needs in a timely manner.

Schmueckle succeeds MAG founder Prof. Mo I. Meidar, who will continue his involvement with MAG as the Chairman of the global MAG board.

By Bill Lydon, Editor Fluke recently introduced Fluke Connect, a system which allows maintenance technicians to wirelessly transmit measurement data from their test tools to their smart phones. There is a lot of hype about the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing. To date, from what I have seen on the market, Fluke Connect is the most useful, productivity-increasing industry solution based on these technologies.

Spectrum Technologies supplied an enamel stripping system for the magnet wire coils used in the stators for the gear box in Volkswagen's latest range of electric engines.

China’s leaders are issuing increasingly clear signals that they plan another round of economic stimulus programs, as evidence accumulates that the economy is slowing more than expected this year.

Fiat Powertrain is upgrading the CNC systems of 20 key machine tools used on the crankshaft and cylinder block production lines of its engine manufacturing plant in Campo Largo, Brazil.

Two laser line displacement sensors from Micro-Epsilon are mounted to a purpose-built handling and processing machine manufactured by Behr Systems.

Brochure includes 28 application examples of how Micro-Epsilon sensors and measurement systems are providing benefits for customers in development, testing, production and quality assurance.

Valeo will use LED-based detection technology to develop a new infrared sensor for vehicle road obstacle detection and tracking functions.

igus retrofit a car with 56 iglide bearings, and now igus is putting them to the test on a 20 country, 9 month world tour.

By Bill Lydon, Editor With this acquisition, Schneider Electric significantly enhanced its position to serve the process industries and now has a complete portfolio of products to serve the entire industrial and process automation industry. This article highlights a few key aspects of the integration of the two companies.

The sensors will be used on the BLOODHOUND SSC Project – the 1,000 mph land speed record attempt that is scheduled to take place in 2016.

By Bill Lydon, Editor Helmuth Ludwig, CEO of Siemens Industry Sector USA, provided his views on the 2014 manufacturing outlook and other industry topics, including the first live display of an assembly line at the Auto Show in Detroit, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the first assembly line.

By Bill Lydon, Editor The huge installed base of automation software running on Windows XP will be vulnerable to cyber-attacks with the end of Windows XP support April 8, 2014. More than 12 years old, Windows XP is the longest supported version of Windows ever and therefore is the most used in industrial automation systems.

The charger was awarded the UL rating for compliance with North American safety directives, including the requirements of UL 2202, Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging System Equipment.

By Bill Lydon, Editor I recently had the opportunity to discuss Ocean Data Systems – a little company you likely have never heard of - with Roy Kok, their VP of Sales and Marketing. Their product, Dream Report, is OEMed by a number of well-known software providers. Here is a synopsis of my interview with Kok.