At the recent NFPA Annual Conference, I was eager to hear Peter Ziehan, the famed geopolitical analyst, and his take on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Ziehan has been predicting this type of aggression from Putin for years, based on his country’s terrible societal demographics, which indicate a country slowly imploding. But what I came away…

EXAIR’s family of engineered Air Knives (Super Air Knife, Standard Air Knife and Full-Flow Air Knife) dramatically reduce compressed air usage and noise when compared to other blowoffs. The Super Air Knife is the most efficient way to clean, dry or cool parts, webs or conveyors. It delivers a uniform sheet of laminar airflow across…

Cybersecurity has long been a critical focus for large enterprises. Now IoT device design engineers must take a page from the enterprise security playbook. Alan Grau, Sectigo, VP of IoT Though Internet of Things device manufacturers are heavily investing in the development of new solutions, these organizations often lack the security expertise and the technical…

KOGANEI International America Inc. has introduced the DTY-ELF14HC multi-function, self-cleaning ionizer for easy and efficient static electricity removal. This high-performance AC (200 Hz) system provides excellent ion balance (±5 V) and steady long-term elimination of static electricity over an extensive range. The unit’s automatic cleaning function removes dirt on the discharge needle with a built-in…

Compressed air is a limited resource that is generated in-house for the benefit of many operations within the manufacturing environment. Learn how to ensure all point of use applications are using your compressed air in the most effective and efficient way possible. If an open, unchecked water pipe was being used to cool a machining…

EXAIR’s Gen4 Ionizing Point is a compact, single point ionizer suitable for winding, rewinding or slitting operations. It can also be mounted through a duct to neutralize static charges due to moving air or materials. The shockless Gen4 Ionizing Point delivers a high concentration of positive and negative ions for fast static decay. It can…

Digital manufacturing leader Protolabs announced that Tozuda is its latest Cool Idea Award winner. Attached to sports helmets, the head impact sensors made by this Philadelphia-based company of the same name change color to bright red when they experience an impact potentially strong enough to cause a concussion. Protolabs’ Cool Idea Award provides in-kind manufacturing…

As components are growing smaller, developers are dreaming bigger. Reduced sizing and pricing of parts has opened the door to more innovations from engineers and inventors and is giving greater access to end-users. In 2011, recognizing the need for a compact 5-axis milling machine, Pocket NC founders Matt and Michelle Hertel started designing the Pocket…

Electronic enclosures manufacturer OKW has added new laser marking technology to its wide range of customization services. Laser marking of legends and logos is waterproof, smudge-proof and durable. It is ideal for small machine-readable markings such as sequential QR codes or barcodes. Consecutive numbering can be carried out quickly, easily and cost-effectively. Using a laser…

In our latest Executive Edition series, Mary Gannon of Design World chats with Festo Didactic’s CEO Thomas Lichtenberger, about the organizations successful programs to change the manufacturing landscape in the United States. Festo Didactic provides equipment and solutions for technical education for all areas of technology in factory and process automation, such as pneumatics, hydraulics,…

PID loop control capability (up to 8 loops simultaneously) has been added to the CLICK Series of stackable, Ethernet-capable micro brick PLCs. CLICK PID control is streamlined with only the features that most users need, including direct or reverse acting control, pulse width modulated control outputs, bumpless transfer, anti-windup, auto-tuning, process variable alarms, process variable…

Teschler on Topic Leland Teschler • Executive Editor [email protected] On Twitter @ DW_LeeTeschler The recent round of tariffs on $300 billion-worth of imports from China rocked markets because it will mostly target popular consumer products such as cellphones, laptops, apparel, and toys. Unfortunately, the politics of tariffs can obscure the rationale underlying tariff wars: the…

MachineMetrics Industrial IoT Platform for discrete manufacturing has achieved Amazon Web Services (AWS) Industrial Software Competency status. This designation recognizes that MachineMetrics has demonstrated technical proficiency and proven customer success building solutions for discrete manufacturing. These specialized software solutions enable companies in the discrete manufacturing space to increase the pace of product innovation while decreasing…

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researchers, along with scientists at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC) have discovered a solution to a major type of defect in metal 3D-printed parts. Combining high-performance computer simulations with X-ray imaging of the laser powder bed fusion (LBPF) metal additive manufacturing (AM) process obtained with SLAC’s synchrotron, researchers have found…

EXAIR’s new 1/8 NPT small internal mix spray nozzles atomize fluids up to 28 gallons per hour. Internal mix atomizing nozzles mix the liquid and air inside the cap and produce the finest atomization. Internal mix nozzles can be used on liquids with a viscosity up to 300 centipoise. Small internal mix nozzles are available…

EtherCAT (Ethernet for Control Automation Technology) is a high performance and very efficient Ethernet-based fieldbus system applicable for various types of devices in the industrial network systems. Thanks to these advantages, it is one of the most widely adopted industrial Ethernet technologies, and has gradually become a standard communication interface in the industrial field. Responding…

Leuze electronic will showcase Industry 4.0 and Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) solutions at booth 7332 in the north hall of Automate 2019, collocated with Promat 2019. Leuze electronic sensors provide the foundation for Industry 4.0/IIoT by transmitting data via OPC UA directly to the Microsoft Azure cloud. The BCL 348i bar code reader and IO-Link…

If you’ve decided not to produce parts in-house, you’ll find a range of out-side contract manufacturing services for production and in just about any quantity you need. Outside services include Service Bureaus, Service Brokers, Independent Machine Shops, and High- Volume Production Houses. Each of these options offers a range of design help, manufacturing processes, capacity,…

CNC machining is a popular way to obtain prototypes and low-volume production runs. And engineers can choose from a range of providers, from full-service providers to independent shops. But the key to selecting a vendor is still how fast can they deliver parts, and do so consistently. The preferred answer is days, not weeks. At…

Leland Teschler, Executive Editor [email protected] On Twitter @ DW_LeeTeschler The N.Y. Times grabbed a lot of attention recently when it published an article about Apple’s travails trying to source a tiny screw in the U.S. for its Mac computer. According to the report Apple could get vast quantities of custom screws in China on short…

Supplier of Product Line Engineering (PLE) tools BigLever Software now offers next-generation Enterprise Gears software. The new software delivers a web-based interface (that makes Gears fully accessible for all users) and a server API that enables seamless integration of PLE with other tools, processes, and enterprise systems. With Enterprise Gears an organization can advance and…

2018 was an interesting year for the engineering and manufacturing worlds, with a generally upbeat economy and good market for component manufacturers. We saw continued advancements in robotics, 3D printing, artificial intelligence, and the IoT — all things that affect how products are designed and made. Our editorial staff is always looking to bring you…

The new Xpedition printed circuit board (PCB) design platform focuses on multi-dimensional verification. Mentor tools enable engineers to integrate a broad range of easy-to-use verification tools into a PCB design platform within a singular authoring environment to identify problems at the schematic or layout phases. This new Xpedition platform for nonspecialist PCB engineers delivers accurate…

Cadence Inc. recently partnered with Valley Career and Technical Center (VCTC) located in Fishersville, Va. to help get their new Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) program up and running to help train the next generation of the manufacturing workforce. Cadence donated funds that provided a UR5 collaborative robot to be used in the lab’s Robotics &…

In a recent Design World webinar (now available on demand) three IoT experts answered several questions about how manufacturers and machine builders can benefit from IIoT with more efficient, productive, and sustainable industrial enterprises … and best practices for approaching cybersecurity, ramping up a digital workforce, and appropriately scaling the digital transformation. Here’s what they…