Almost everyone has had the experience of buying an expensive bit of machinery—like a shop lathe, a high-end computer, or even a car—and having it fail catastrophically shortly after the purchase. Usually, this is enough to keep us from ever using that product again and maybe even from considering using any other product from that…
When people think of a production line, they typically picture conveyor belts moving car bodies along as heavy robotic arms move swiftly across the line. Automation is a big part of industrial manufacturing to be sure. However, even in large and heavily automated manufacturing plants, there are still many workers who use hand assembly tools…
Conventional assembly methods cause assemblers to inefficiently fumble with screws that are stored in bins or shaker trays. Fumbling isn’t just a football occurrence. Daily, assembly operators using power tools fumble around picking up screws from bins and slowly align the fasteners onto a bit. In an attempt to grab one fastener at a time,…