It started in Europe as a means of eliminating mistakes in the final assembly of appliances. It ended up bringing together connector manufacturers, machine builders and wire harness makers in a new set of standards and an assembly technique that is helping save jobs in Western Europe. Now it's coming to North America.

Succeeding in today's competitive manufacturing environment requires two things: smarts and cutting-edge technology. And both will be found in abundance at this year's Assembly East and NEPCON East-Electro trade show, May 10-11 at the new Boston Convention and Exhibition Center in Boston

Increasingly, what's good for the environment is also good for the bottom line.

Tool supporters can boost efficiency and reduce workplace injury in workcells and on the line.

To survive in an increasingly competitive market, Boeing Co. has completely revamped the way it builds the 737 aircraft.

Small robots are making big strides building high-quality products at low cost.

Increasingly, global manufacturers see China, India and the rest of Asia as a market as much as a source of cheap labor.

After years of waiting in the wings, the time has come for laser welding of thermoplastics in the medical sector.

Making the transition to the defense sector is tough, but not impossible.

In a tight labor market, placing value on your production workers makes good business sense.