SOUTHFIELD, MI–Lawrence Technological University unveiled its new Siemens Electro-Matic Industrial Engineering Laboratory at ceremony this month. Siemens Corp, a subsidiary of Siemens AG, was also honored as LTU’s Corporate Partner of the Year.
Walk through any automotive plant, and there’s a good chance you’ll see lift assists in use for product assembly. Common lift assists include large or small hoists, air balancers, extension arms and end-effectors (clamp, hook, vacuum, magnet, etc.).
SPARTANBURG, SC—Workers at BMW’s automotive assembly plant here are testing an electromechanical exoskeletal vest designed to reduce muscular strain related to performing overhead work.
Employees at Fiat Chrysler’s Indiana Transmission Plant I (ITPI) in Kokomo, IN, have achieved something few in manufacturing can claim—they have logged 10 million hours, or a span of more than three years, without a lost-time injury.
Times were tough for the Timken Co. at the start of the 21st century. In March 2000, the Canton, OH-based manufacturer of antifriction roller bearings and related components announced plans to cut 600 jobs worldwide—after having trimmed 1,700 jobs in the previous two years. It also closed plants in Australia and England, and was relying more heavily on sources of steel outside the United States.
Although preventive health management in businesses is an ideal tool for driving down high healthcare costs, many companies have so far neglected this important area.
DEARBORN, MI—Since 2003, Ford has reduced the injury rate by 70 percent for its more than 50,000 “industrial athletes” in the U.S., and many more around the world, through new ergonomics technology, lift-assist devices, workstation redesign and data-driven process changes.
