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Daily industrial news and top headlines for plant and maintenance managers
Plant Practices: DMP Tackles Assembly Issues
November 28, 2007 4:15 am | CommentsFounded in 1975, Digital Monitoring Products (DMP)is a recognized leader in network solutions for fast, cost-effective, centralized security monitoring in applications of every size. The company was at the forefront of digital communications in the security industry, and today continues to set standards with its networked intrusion, fire and access control products.
Plant Practices: SelectCrete Uses New Ink Jet Printing Technology
November 19, 2007 9:39 am | CommentsWhen SelectCrete, Inc., was faced with a new customer mandate, there were myriad details to consider. This Bakersfield, Calif.-based manufacturer specializes in cement backerboard, a mix of cement aggregate and fiberglass which is used as a water-resistant subsurface for tiling in commercial and residential building applications. In late summer 2006, a few weeks after the company had formed and before it had even started formal production, SelectCrete got a mandate from its primary customer, a Japanese firm, to place variable-data codes on the back of cement backerboard pieces.
Plant Practices: Main Steel Improves Lighting
November 19, 2007 9:32 am | CommentsMain Steel Polishing Company, Inc., a New Jersey-based metals processor, has been serving numerous markets for the last 50 years. Main Steel operates ten processing facilities throughout the U.S. and Mexico, and proudly states that it neither buys nor sells any of the hundreds of million pounds of metal it processes.
Nanotechnology Still Moving At Fast Pace
November 19, 2007 9:11 am | CommentsA look at the growing interest in utilizing matter on a molecular level. Nanotechnology is, at its most basic, the science of utilizing matter on a molecular level. When it comes to nanotechnology, there are several upcoming applications that move this emerging science beyond a laboratory and into the manufacturing environment.
Maintenance Matters: Root Cause Analysis
November 19, 2007 9:06 am | by Vlad Bacalu, ATS Product Manager | CommentsRoot Cause Analysis (RCA), a process used to identify the root causes of problems or events, is arguably the most powerful piece of equipment available in the proactive maintenance “toolbox.” RCA is designed to discover not only what or how something happened, but why it happened, and also determines the underlying causes of an event so proper corrective measures can be implemented to prevent any reoccurrences.
Q & A With Ray Shook, Executive Director, American Welding Society
November 19, 2007 8:42 am | CommentsRay Shook joined the American Welding Society in November 2002 as Executive Director. Having spent 33 years in the welding industry, Mr. Shook has a broad background encompassing financial management, strategic planning, organizational development and analysis, contracts administration, product development and promotion, business development and marketing, as well as extensive senior management experience.
No Speed Limit
November 19, 2007 7:47 am | CommentsDorner Manufacturing improves process speeds through the use of Kanban and Lean manufacturing. Dorner's new series of conveyers, the 5200, was recently displayed at National Manufacturing Week. The company is able to guarantee 5-day delivery on this product, mostly due to process changes that have increased efficiency within its facility.
Empowered To Perform
November 19, 2007 6:31 am | CommentsProviding employees with the right tools - literally and from a 5-S/Kaizan perspective - have produced a number of workflow benefits at this Ingersoll-Rand plant. By Jeff Reinke, Editorial Director Pictured above are Jeff Cain, Susan Pearson, Donna Brinkley, Selah Scott and Michael Brown, employees with an average of 14 years experience at the Southern Pines location.
Lean and Mean
October 19, 2007 7:30 am | Comments.byline { font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0; } h4 { font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #930; font-weight: bold; } li { margin-left: 12px; } .left { float: left; margin-right: 7px; } .right { float: right; margin-left: 7px; } .
Speaking The Same Language
October 5, 2007 12:42 pm | Commentsh4 { font: bold 14px Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000; } .byline { font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 4px; } .caption { font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 4px; } .sup { position: relative; bottom: 2px; font-size: smaller;" } Speaking The Same Language Recent developments in plant networking highlight an added focus on efficiency.
A Clean Case For Regenerative Blowers
October 5, 2007 12:41 pm | by Jay Jarboe & Jon Schultz, AMETEK | CommentsRegenerative blower technology as a solution to reduce energy and maintenance costs, improve productivity and “go green”. Pressures remain high for plants to reduce energy and maintenance costs, improve productivity and “go green”. In response to these needs, some have looked to regenerative blower technology as a solution.
Feeling The Heat?
October 5, 2007 12:41 pm | by Bruce Gorelick, Vice President, Enercheck Systems & Alan Bandes, Vice President of Marketing, UE Systems, Inc. | CommentsThe now bygone era of inexpensive energy has been replaced by a new reality – steady, steep and continued rises in fuel prices. This has sent plant managers on a frantic search to find new ways of cutting costs in virtually every phase of the manufacturing process, but one area they may have been overlooking is steam generation.
Cost Reduction Alone Won’t Save American Manufacturing
October 5, 2007 12:40 pm | CommentsSix Sigma and Lean Manufacturing have delivered successes, but neither are the universal answer to all of the problems created by globalization. By Mike Collins Everyone likes to blame the Chinese, or recent economic changes, for the decline of manufacturing, but the forces that led to the latest stage of globalization are not new.
Q & A With David Spong, Two-Time Winner, Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award
October 5, 2007 12:35 pm | CommentsDavid Spong is the only two-time winner of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for two different organizations in two different sectors. Dr. Spong recently retired from a 40-year career with Boeing as president of Aerospace Support for Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, which won the Baldrige Award in the service category in 2003.
Stepping Up Their Game
October 5, 2007 12:32 pm | by Anna Wells | CommentsMesa Products takes improvement to the next level with the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award program. Terry May, president of 2006 Baldrige award-winning company Mesa Products (Tulsa, OK), likens the application process to kicking a bad habit—long and arduous, but worth the rewards that come with success.
