The goal of vehicle-integrated photovoltaics is to enable EVs to recharge without stopping. Unlike traditional EVs that must periodically pull over to recharge batteries during a long road trip, solar cars can keep on going.

With the possible exception of medical device manufacturing, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted manufacturing in every industry last year. Wire harness manufacturing was no exception. With both automotive and aerospace manufacturing depressed, harness assemblers struggled.

One of the biggest challenges in manufacturing today is obtaining and retaining skilled labor. Wire harness manufacturing is no exception. In fact, one online job board listed more than 900 openings for wire harness assemblers in March.

Pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSAs) offer numerous advantages for aerospace assembly. PSAs enable assembly of dissimilar materials with a continuous bond area.

Kaizen, or continuous improvement, is a basic tenet of lean manufacturing. It says, in effect, that less-than-optimal is never acceptable. The concept can be applied to every major assembly process, including resistance spot welding.

Linear motor pallet-transfer systems have been around for many years now. These systems work on the principle of a "smart" track, consisting of multiple linear servomotors, and a "dumb" mover outfitted with powerful magnets.

Medical doctors have increasingly become specialized during the last 25 years or so. But, industrial robots have been specialists by design since they began being used for manufacturing in the early 1960s.

Today's printed circuit board assembly line is highly automated. Board loading, paste printing, pick-and-place, reflow, test and inspection - every process is covered by a standard machine, and assemblers have many brands to choose from.

Computer-aided-design (CAD) software has a been friend to part designers and manufacturing engineers for decades, which is old news. The good news is this type of software is friendlier than ever, enabling both specialists to perform functions ranging from analyzing the strength of an assembly, to determining the best design for a given set of parameters.

If the adhesives world had a track team, cyanoacrylate would be Usain Bolt, the three-time Olympic sprinting champion. That's because it is a versatile, super-fast material that cures much quicker than other types of adhesive.