Emergency equipment varies widely. Simple tools—like backboards, braces, anchors, pulleys, ladders, and axes—intermingle with more complex equipment like SCBA gear, ventilation fans, HAZMAT-rated suits, the jaws of life, and even remote-controlled or autonomous search and rescue drones. For each of the many, far-ranging types of emergencies in the civil, industrial, wildland, marine, or military spheres,…
Whether you’re producing large volumes of products or small batches with low or no tolerance for failure, repeatability is king. Of course, in an imperfect world, perfect repeatability is easier aspired to than achieved. So, what’s the solution? Testing your tools as often and as accurately as you’re able. The electric and pneumatic tools you…
Modern appliance manufacturers must work continuously to improve the efficiency of their operations in the face of stiff competition domestically and abroad. Producing household or commercial appliances—like dishwashers, washing machines, or televisions—requires a faster pace and greater accuracy than ever to meet the market’s demands for speed and volume. At the same time, lightweight, inexpensive…
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…