We’ve come a long way since Rossum’s Universal Robots. Robots today are rising in every industry, from manufacturing to agriculture to warehousing and logistics. Such robots are tasked with delicate, dangerous, and demanding tasks which require power and precision. As such, companies manufacturing robots must build to careful specifications to make certain the robots are…
Theme parks are a fantastic American tradition. What’s more fun than strapping yourself to a metal seat that will hurtle you upside down at 80 mph? Harking back to the days of traveling carnival barkers and the roadside attractions (world’s largest frying pan!) of early U.S. highway culture, theme parks are a unique and colorful…
The Importance of Validating Torque Wrenches in Tire Shops When you’re running a tire shop, you’re not just selling tires. You’re selling safety and security, the knowledge that when a customer drives away, they’re driving on a set of wheels that’s safe for the road. As a matter of course, the work you do on…
Efficiency separates companies. Given the same costs for supplies and access to the same demand, companies operating in the same space are competing based on who is able to produce more, faster, and at a lower cost. Increasing production line efficiency can be achieved by many means, and the most effective methods depend on the…
It doesn’t all come down to nuts and bolts. Specialty manufacturers of aerospace or automotive parts, medical devices, and packaging often must deliver precise amounts of torque to non-standard fasteners. The range of non-standard fasteners is broad enough to escape simple description, but examples include eye-bolts, clevises, oil filters, syringe caps, and even hex-head bolts…
If you’re operating a manufacturing or service facility that uses torque wrenches, knowing the cost of calibrating your tools is essential to generating an accurate projected summary of ongoing costs. Torque tools require calibration. If the products you create or service have torque tolerances specific enough to require torque tools, you’ll need to periodically calibrate…
Medical devices sold in the United States are subject to some of the most stringent manufacturing requirements in the world. Guidelines for every stage, from establishment registration to labeling, are detailed in U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) regulations. Inspections are regularly conducted to enforce FDA regulations, and fiduciary penalties are levied for noncompliance. In…
It may seem odd to think about the screws and bolts used in printed circuit boards. PCB isn’t automotive manufacturing, where great numbers of screws, bolts, and rivets hold everything together. The boards, after all, are printed; there aren’t that many screws, and these screws don’t hold the board together. Yet the screws in PCB…
The story of medicine is the story of innovation. We’ve come a long way, from biles and humors to germ theory to modern inoculants, antibacterials, and diagnostic and corrective devices. Our knowledge constantly increases. New discoveries, new plastics for syringes, new composites for prosthetics—sometimes these are best built with new tools. At the same time,…
Good question. Knowing your tool is the first step towards working in a safe, productive manner. An air tool is a powerful instrument, capable of doing a great amount of work in a short time. But to be used safely and effectively, its operator must know and follow best practices for operation and maintenance. While…