Among manufacturers of electronic products, few have been as vertically integrated as Fluke Corp. Arial change; Fluke now outsources many aspects of production. To get some insight into how electronics manufacturers make “build-or-buy” decisions, we spoke with David Gunderson, a project manager with Fluke Networks.

The U.S. Air Force wanted an adhesive for temporarily attaching small test packages to the exterior of a jet without fasteners. EIC Laboratories Inc. came up with a solution: a high-strength adhesive that disbonds from a metal surface when an electrical current passes through it.

Rayovac Corp. (Madison, WI) carefully selects the materials that make up its industrial flashlights, because industrial and construction workers purchase flashlights based on their ability to withstand harsh conditions.

The Old ROI Ain’t What It Used to Be.

Regardless of the recent plague of layoffs, many U.S. manufacturers are still faced with a serious shortage of qualified engineers.

Round drive belts tend to slip as they reach maximum load capacity. Struggling with this occurrence, Dura-Belt Inc. (Hilliard, OH) chose Stevens Urethane's (Holyoke, MA) thermoplastic polyurethane for its groove sleeve. The substance enables the groove sleeve to increase the load-bearing capacity on industrial conveyors.

The Motorola facility in Elma, NY produces over 1 million parts annually, supplying electronic modules to some of the largest automotive manufacturers in the world. Depending on the type of unit installed, its circuits could control one or more operations, such as interior lights or power windows, door locks, seats and seat heating.

The Marshalltown, IA plant of Lennox Industries, a manufacturer of residential and commercial heating and air conditioning equipment, required automation for a new portion of their gas furnace manufacturing process.

To fabricate a new tonneau cover for pickup trucks, Leer Div., Truck Accessories Group Inc. (Elkhart, IN) is joining ABS and high-impact Telene thermoplastic panels using a polyurethane adhesive.

Thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) continue to find use among manufacturers of power tools and other industrial applications. An example of this is an overmolding application for a palm-sized sanding tool from National Detroit Inc. (Rockford, IL), a manufacturer of pneumatic handheld sanders for industrial, autobody and woodworking applications.