Strong and lightweight, carbon-fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) offers numerous benefits to automotive and aerospace manufacturers. Many engineers are intrigued by potential applications for the material, yet remain frustrated by joining challenges.
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.
Medical device manufacturers often use silicone adhesives to assemble products such as catheters, pacemakers, cochlear implants, aesthetic implants and gastric balloons.
Manufacturers love established assembly line technologies not only because they produce expected results. But, also because they occasionally provide an unexpected benefit.
Whether the product being manufactured is a mobile phone or an aircraft seat, the assembly processes will likely require some combination of manual and automated transfer operations.
For Flex, there isn't a question of what can't they do, but what they will do next. The 50-year-old company began manufacturing electronic products, something it still does today, but has expanded to offer end-to-end production across the globe.
Cummins Inc., founded in 1919, designs, manufactures, sells and services diesel engines and technology globally. Between its four business units, Cummins has 107 manufacturing plants, 600 company-owned and independent distribution facilities and over 5,000 dealer locations in more than 160 countries.
Although Kuopio, Finland-based Savonia University of Applied Sciences (SUAS) is a multidisciplinary school, its common theme amongst all areas of study is developing real-world solutions based on creative experiments.
"Scratch-resistant plastic parts" is more than a phrase with great appeal to car buyers. It also presents a great challenge to automotive Tier 1s to make sure these parts perform as promised in the real world.
Some automotive enthusiasts get their fix by building a car themselves. Others thoroughly enjoy watching the pros do it; i.e., assemblers on the production line.
Aircraft wings have been assembled the
same way for decades. But, engineers at
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT) and NASA have developed
a flexible aerostructure that is produced
from hundreds of tiny, identical pieces using
composite lattice-based cellular materials.
Some 12,838,000 million Americans held manufacturing jobs in April 2019. That's 12 percent more than in April 2010, it's the highest total since December 2008.