Smart window fans this week. Then smart floor lamps next month. After that, it’s a dual job; half the stations on the toaster ovens, half the stations on the air conditioners. Each product comes with its own set of specifications, its own production sequence. Reconfiguring the floor for each setup will be tricky, but that’s…
When Van Halen toured, they included in their contract a singular technical demand: bowls of M&M’s backstage, with all the brown ones removed. Rock star arrogance and capriciousness? Actually, no. The shows they put on were complex and technical, involving excessively heavy staging and sometimes explosive pyrotechnics. So when David Lee Roth would find brown…
Can you open a can with a hammer? Sure. But it would probably be easier with a can opener. Special jobs take special tools; using the right tool for your job saves effort and increases productivity. In the business world, specifically in manufacturing or equipment service and repair, saving effort and increasing productivity means lowering…
You don’t have to be a maestro to know that no matter how grand your piano is, you can’t play it if it’s out of tune. It’s similar when you’re working with torque tools; you can’t properly tighten your fasteners if your tools aren’t in calibration. In fields like manufacturing and maintenance, tightening fasteners is…
Roller coasters are thrilling. Riders soar and dive and flip upside down. They get blasted out of tunnels and splashed down through ponds. It’s an experience that causes people to grip their handrails, white-knuckled, to scream in terror, to pant for breath, and, when it’s over, to laugh. The intended effect is to expose riders…
Whether you’re in manufacturing or maintenance, it’s essential to use the right tools in order to get the job done right. After all, the tools you invest in will determine the type of work your business is capable of handling. Understanding the differences between similar tools and choosing correctly between them is, therefore, an important…
For some areas in the United States, winter isn’t the end of the year; winter is the year. Winter is when the ponds ice over for fishing, the falls freeze for climbing, and the snow covers the ground for skiing. It’s when the hockey sticks come out of the closet, the snowshoes get tightened, and…
If it moves, salute it. If it doesn’t move, pick it up. If you can’t pick it up, paint it. Naval recruits following this time-honored advice may be able to grasp the basic necessities of keeping their ship trim and themselves out of trouble. But the apparent simplicity of these rules, under closer examination, reveals…
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,…
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…