Manufacturers in agriculture, mining, petroleum and other industries rely on centrifugal slurry pumps to move thick, particle-filled liquids. These heavy-duty pumps feature a rotating impeller that uses centrifugal force to move water and solids through pipelines over short and medium distances.

Orfer Oy, founded in 1970, engineers and manufactures automated material-handling systems for a variety of industries.

Whether it's a car or a computer, a toy or a toaster, almost every assembled product has at least a few threaded fasteners. Indeed, 62 percent of ASSEMBLY's readers use threaded fasteners of one form or another to assemble their products.

A decade or so from now, you may find yourself traveling along an interstate in a caravan. Your automobile is separated by just a few inches from the vehicle in front of you and the one behind as you speed along at 150 miles per hour.

Some assembly technologies evolve too fast or too slow, while others change at a pace that's just right. Hydraulic presses belong in the latter category, according to some suppliers, and that's a good thing.

Production engineers often get excited about new technologies and tend to think that the benefits of investing in them are obvious to everyone else in the company. However, enthusiastic engineers can get an unpleasant surprise if they are not prepared to argue their case properly.

Most people take gravity for granted. But, manufacturers know better, especially when it comes to moving large items through a plant for assembly, finishing, storage and order-fulfillment purposes. The proof is in their use of gravity conveyors to per-form these tasks.

Remember Super Bowl XLIV between the New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts? With the Saints trailing 10-6 at halftime, Saints coach Sean Payton made one of the gutsiest gambles in NFL history, calling for an onside kick to start the second half.

Like other manufacturers, machine builders do all they can to optimize the assembly processes in their plants. Industrial technology specialist Rockwell Automation understands this goal, and has developed several products to help companies achieve it.

Remember the nursery rhyme about the old lady who swallows a fly? She swallows a spider to catch the fly, a bird to catch the spider, a cat to catch the bird, and so on, until she finally swallows a horse and dies.