If you’ve ever encountered a programmable logic controller before, you know there’s a lot to learn. Commonly abbreviated as PLC, these controllers are a handy tool, although they can sometimes be challenging to learn. If, on the other hand, you’ve never encountered a PLC before, there’s no need to worry. You’re in the perfect place,…
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When we talk about aging equipment and the need to maintenance, upgrade or otherwise prepare for eventual failure, the focus tends to be on parts of the machinery with a high rate of problems. These are naturally the moving mechanical parts, load bearing mechanisms and the like. What often gets overlooked are the devices that…
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One of the most expensive failure modes of electric motors is breakage on the output shaft. This is where at some point during the motor’s life cycle stress risers were introduced to the shaft material by environmental conditions, misapplication, abuse or even manufacturing defect. So how does one sort out what happened? Diagnoses of this…
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When your business manufactures high quantities of the same – or slight variations of the same – product, keeping the machines churning is a great way to continue to meet customer demands without disrupting the production process. Known as continuous or constant manufacturing, this process is regularly used by pharmaceutical, metalworking and textile companies making…
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Lean manufacturing is an industry buzzword that many people have heard but not many understand. The core of lean manufacturing is to eliminate any waste in the manufacturing process. That includes wastes of time, talent and energy in addition to the waste of materials. Let’s take a closer look at lean manufacturing and how manufacturers…
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As someone who works in the manufacturing business, you’ve no doubt given quite a lot of thought to the idea of quality. The more you think about it, though, the more you may find it difficult to define. Practically, you might think of quality as a scale ranging from perfect to utterly disastrous. Whenever you…
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If you work in a manufacturing business of any kind, your company’s job is to make sure everything job gets done as quickly and efficiently as possible. But is there really a way to measure something like that? Can you truly determine the best way to do something, and if so, how? As it turns…
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It wasn’t very long ago that China was synonymous with outsourced labor and manufacturing practices for a variety of industries. You couldn’t pick up a product in the store without seeing a “made in China” label somewhere on the packaging. More relaxed labor laws and cheaper employee wages made China the premier location to manufacture…
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It is now May and before we know it the headlines will be filled with heat wave warnings. Bring your pets inside, keep your kids hydrated, wear sunblock, stay out of the sun – all good advice. Just as the heat can be dangerous to us humans, it is also dangerous to machinery and electronics…
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On May 9, the California Energy Commission unanimously voted to require all new homes built after January 1, 2020, to feature solar panels. California has long been at the forefront of clean energy, helping lead the way for alternative fuel use in fleet vehicles and offering more electric recharge options for hybrid and full-electric vehicle…
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