Disposable or reusable? Consumers face that choice many times each day. Should we buy a bottle of water for the gym or fill a thermos at home? Should we eat dinner on paper plates or use the dishes? Which to choose depends on many factors, including convenience, cost and the environment.

JACKSON, MN--Farmers never take a day off. Nor do their tractors. Growers rely on their machines to plow, plant, till, spray, bale and harvest a wide variety of crops in all sorts of conditions.

Ultrasonic welding can handle most plastics assembly applications. Other friction-based processes, such as vibration welding and spin welding, can usually tackle the rest. However, that necessitates investing in three separate machines at considerable cost.

In manufacturing, the latest innovations in equipment, processes and materials often get tested first by automotive OEMs or Tier 1 suppliers. A good example of this is the Polimotor, an all-plastic engine that inventor Matti Holtzberg has worked on for nearly 40 years.

One of the main challenges in forestry is removing bark from freshly cut logs. For many decades, the standard method involved loading logs into a hopper with a conveyor belt that moves the logs into a ribbed drum.

When the average person opens up a refrigerator and grabs a too-warm soda can or bottle, his initial reaction is one of disappointment. But, if that person is an assembler of harnesses for this type of appliance, his initial thought is: Check the evaporator fan wiring harness.

On construction jobsites throughout the world, contractors rely on the spirit level to make sure surfaces are truly flat (horizontal) or plumb (vertical). This type of level—so named because it contains a vial of alcohol (spirit) with a bubble in it—has been used for centuries and remains very popular.

When it comes to the economics of assembly machines, faster is always better. Every minute that it runs, a fast machine produces more goods—and more profits—than an otherwise similar slow machine.

Plastics and polymer composites are essential to a wide range of safety and performance parts in cars today. In fact, the use of plastic and polymer composites in light vehicles has increased from less than 20 pounds per vehicle in 1960 to 334 pounds per car in 2015.

When one thinks of Italy, several things immediately come to mind. There’s wine and pasta, world-class soccer and gondoliers singing in Venice. Another thing that symbolizes Italy is Maserati, the manufacturer of technologically advanced sports cars.