College is a great time to experiment. That’s exactly what the Medical Devices Center (MDC) at the University of Minnesota encourages students to do. The 4,000-square-foot facility promotes interdisciplinary medical device development, including needs assessment, creative brainstorming, prototyping and testing.
Cornell Dubilier is a leading manufacturer of capacitors for the power electronics market. For the past several years, the company has used ultrasonic spot welders to weld multiple layers of foil to capacitor posts.
This past year, baby boomers began turning 65. Because these individuals tend to live more active lives than previous generations, some medical device companies, like Skeletal Dynamics, are developing implants to withstand up to 1 million load cycles without loosening or backing out.
Orion RED has fabricated several sets for the Academy Awards. For the 2011 ceremony, the company was asked to create an elegant, crystal-studded “Winners Circle” in which the honorees would receive their Oscars. The project involved building a 15.5-foot circular stage studded with more than 40,000 Swarovski Elements crystals.
Canadian manufacturers such as Plastech Inc. have high natural gas bills, especially in the winter. Over time, Plastech’s natural gas bill has increased to $6,000 annually (Canadian) just to heat its shipping area. So the company began looking into solar technology to lower its heating costs and learned about Lubi solar air heaters.
Automotive components are increasingly being manufactured in smaller lot sizes. Aware of this trend, German Tier 1 automotive supplier Neumayer Tekfor GmbH recently automated the feed system for a cold forming press used to form drivetrain components.
The No. 1 reason initiatives are successful is support from top management. Unfortunately, there’s never enough to go around, but that’s the way it should be.
In October, three class-action lawsuits were filed against several major automotive suppliers, alleging the companies engaged in a “massive, decade-long conspiracy to unlawfully fix and artificially raise the price” of wire harnesses. As shocking and disappointing as the allegations are, I can’t say I’m surprised.
The need for clean water worldwide has become much more important in light of increasing water scarcity and extreme weather occurrences. These realities, combined with the ongoing desire to improve product quality and production efficiency, have led the Elster Group to augment the 300-psi hydraulic testing it has always done on its water meters with dry air testing.
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