Historic events make a Major League Baseball (MLB) season memorable. In October 2017, for instance, the Houston Astros won its first World Series championship ever. Several months before that, however, a less-well-known event took place: MLB approved the use of any Whoop Inc. wearable fitness tracker by all players and coaches in games.

For the past several years, the Reshoring Initiative has been helping manufacturers reshore production or keep existing work here through total cost of ownership (TCO) analysis. However, calculating TCO is only part of the overall competitiveness equation.

U.S. manufacturing continued to roll in 2017. Want proof? Look no further than Toyota Motor Corp. In September, the world’s largest automaker announced that it will invest $374 million at five U.S. factories.

Pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSAs) have long been an option for parts assembly in a wide variety of applications.

Aslew of technology is available to ensure threaded fasteners are installed in the correct sequence and at the correct torque and angle.

Regardless of whether they are called drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), their popularity is increasing among consumers, military leaders and institutions around the world. In fact, analysts at market researcher Teal Group predict that global spending on UAVs will reach $14 billion by 2024.

Manufacturers have known the importance of being discreet since the start of the Industrial Revolution. History has definitely shown this approach to be the best way to safeguard all of a company’s technological, production and assembly secrets.

Robots are being used for a variety of assembly and inspection applications, which is enabling the operation of lean, efficient and automated systems where more than one product type or model can be produced on a single assembly line.

Manufacturing execution systems (MES) are critical elements of Industry 4.0. When all production processes are linked and synchronized with the overall operation, manufacturers have a strategic tool that enables them to improve productivity, streamline costs, boost quality and reduce time to market.

As automakers and suppliers search for new ways to reduce vehicle weight, some engineers are experimenting with natural fibers. Bamboo, cotton, hemp, jute, kenaf, rice and other crops can be used to produce high-strength composite structures for automotive applications.