Waste Reduction and Recycling Tips for Manufacturers

As consumers, we’re constantly advised to reduce our consumption and our waste. We’re chastised about purchasing anything that will just be thrown away and frowned upon for using too much plastic. We all feel a little guilty as we scrape leftovers into the trash, or throw out food that has gone bad on the shelves….
Read More

3 HMI Failures Disguised as Hardware Failures

A frequent and frustratingly common failure in industrial equipment is HMI (Human-Machine Interface) failure. Since it is the piece of the equipment that gets interacted with the most, it stands to logic that HMIs would suffer higher rates of failures.  Equipment that has a lot of use can be prone to abuse – as the…
Read More

Autonomous Vehicle Investments Set to Hit Milestones

Major players in both the auto and aero industries recently announced updates to their investments in autonomous vehicles. Ford has begun road testing vehicles in Miami to one day handle ridesharing and deliveries, Bosch and Daimler announced San Jose as a pilot city for their self-driving vehicles and Boeing plans to launch autonomous solar planes…
Read More

Root Cause Analysis

The 5 Best Approaches to Root Cause Analysis

Solving a problem means understanding its root cause. Until you’re addressing the root of the problem directly, you’re only attacking symptoms. This is a fundamental tenet of industrial maintenance and a core philosophy of any good maintenance approach. But how exactly do you get to the root of the problem? Moreover, how do you distinguish…
Read More

Why Customer Service Needs to Be Proactive

Whether you realize it or not, there are two kinds of customer service — proactive and reactive. If you have a customer-facing business and customer service is part of your business model, it’s essential that you understand the distinction between the two and why proactive customer service is so vital in today’s marketplace. Reactive Customer…
Read More

Production Slows, Prices Skyrocket in October 2018 Manufacturing ISM® Report On Business®

The October 2018 Manufacturing ISM® Report On Business® is out, and with it has come another month of fresh insight into a sector of the economy that has experienced no shortage of tumult this year. Figures from the report show trends continuing to take shape — both good and bad — while executives from various…
Read More

Maintenance program

Why Isn’t Your Maintenance Program Effective?

You can develop a diligent maintenance plan, invest in employee training and component inventories, and keep immaculate records — but still have an unsuccessful maintenance program. We preach these variables as the pillars of a great maintenance program, but they’re far from the only drivers of success. Other factors may be dragging down your maintenance…
Read More

Sensor vs. Transducer

What’s the difference between a sensor and a transducer? A sensor and transducer have similar functions, so it is understandable that there may be some confusion between them. In fact, sensors are a type of transducer, and a transducer can contain sensors — although a transducer in and of itself is not considered a sensor….
Read More

How To Inspect A Weld

Welding is one of the key skills needed to do any sort of repair work involving metal materials. A skilled welder can repair cracks to motor housings, metallize shafts, fix broken welds and mounting feet – basically anything that involves joining two pieces of metal together permanently. But with any skill, proficiency varies from person…
Read More

Automakers Respond to Growing China/U.S. Trade Tension

As a result of growing trade tensions between China and the United States, major players in the automobile industry have started to react and alter their importing and exporting plans.   Volvo has operations in both the United States and China, producing the S60 sedan in its American plant and XC60 SUV and S90 sedan…
Read More

search visa mc amex discover paypal bank