Each fire rescue vehicle E-ONE manufactures contains a large amount of parts that must be measured and inspected prior to assembly. For many years, E-ONE assemblers had used various hand tools to measure these parts. Unfortunately, such tools often limited the assemblers’ ability to make sure each part met the company’s design tolerances.

Wagic Inc. is the What A Great Idea Co. Since 1985, it has specialized in designing, prototyping and manufacturing innovative consumer products. Based in Los Gatos, CA, Wagic recently developed the RE:Solve line of handheld multi-tools, which are available to consumers at big box stores like Lowe’s.

In early 2010, Draper Laboratory was in need of a semiconductor platform that met two criteria. First, it had to perform flip chip assembly, in which microelectromechanical systems are connected to circuitry with solder bumps that have been deposited onto the chip pads. Second, the platform had to be adaptable, because Draper develops products for a wide range of applications requiring the latest technology.

SMB Schnekenburger GmbH provides assembly-ready parts made of thin sheet metal to electronics firms, equipment manufacturers, and companies in ventilation and medical technology. For the past several years, SMB has faced increased competition from suppliers in low-wage countries. This situation has forced SMB to make parts more cost-effectively without lessening fastener-insertion accuracy.

All day long, wire harnesses are sealed against porosity at nine Magna-Tech Manufacturing facilities located throughout North America. These wire harnesses are of different lengths, contain wire of different thicknesses, and are made by Tier 1 suppliers such as Delphi, ATPI, Siemens, Group Dekko and Federal Mogul.

When preparing parts for assembly, automakers can always use an extra hand or two. One automaker has found those hands at the end of a dual-arm robot. For the past four years, the automaker has used the dual-arm robot to shorten the cycle time to treat the front and back surfaces of a suspension component.

The development and capabilities of dual-arm robots are topics of worldwide interest. Very few such robots are currently performing assembly. But university researchers in Europe and Asia hope to change that in the very near future.

Forget about the sophomore jinx. My second visit to the Assembly & Automation Technology Expo, held September 20-22 at McCormick Place in Chicago, was excellent.

Before Autoliv Electronics America can provide top-notch products to its automotive customers, the company must make sure the equipment at its facility in Southfield, MI, performs top-notch. One type of equipment Autoliv uses there is pick-and-place machines, which are used in the assembly of printed circuit boards that mount onto various electronic safety components.

Many of the 4,300 people who work at Caterpillar’s heavy-equipment manufacturing plant in Gosselies, Belgium, are assemblers who bolt together hydraulic valves and hoses before installing them in medium- and large-sized excavators and wheel-loaders. Until recently, assemblers used a manual torque wrench to tighten the bolts.