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By Avory Brookins, Technical Content Writer One of my favorite places to go as a child was the car wash. I loved it so much that I even wanted my first date to be there. Weird, I know, but there was nothing more exciting (and more romantic, apparently) to my 6-year-old self than watching the…

Smalley Single-Turn Wave Springs are designed with your bearings in mind. By Justyna Rapacz, Marketing Engineer Preloading a Bearing: What is Preloading, How to Preload, Why Should You Preload? What do we mean when we say “preload”? A bearing is designed to move freely and has multiple moving parts that work together as one unit.…

By Amphenol All Sensors Corporation Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) pressure sensor descriptions often include a statement such as “intended for use with non-corrosive, non-ionic working fluids such as air or dry gases.” Following this guideline, users can expect a long working life for a MEMS pressure sensor. But what if the application does not fall within…

Recently, the industrial machinery paradigm has undergone a significant evolution. Today’s machines are no longer primarily a mechanical piece of equipment, with the electrical design and software development in their own separate silos. To improve on the design of your machines, multi-disciplinary design optimization and Generative Design can help with design ideas that a human…

SPONSORED CONTENT By Derek Thomas, Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Machine Automation Solutions at Emerson This article is the fourth in a four-part series exploring three new but related concepts — little data, edge processing, and secure connectivity — for deriving value from manufacturing data trapped inside machinery and other manufacturing assets. The first…

Automating certain jobs can be expensive for small and medium-sized businesses. However, the benefits of automation make the investment worthwhile. Think about the return on investment (ROI) that could result from increased productivity, lower labor costs and reduced lead times. Plus, not every automation solution will cost you your first-born child these days. Cost-effective robots…

What makes a Smalley Spirolox® retaining ring different, and what is the advantage of using one? By Justyna Rapacz, Marketing Engineer While there are a variety of retaining rings available in the industry, engineers specify Spirolox retaining rings because of their unique configuration, reliability, and convenience. This blog compares a traditional circlip to a Smalley Spirolox…

By Nicole Lang, iglide® Product Manager Quite often, I hear from purchasing agents that the bearings they are going to use within their machine or system need to be as cheap as possible. Cost-savings are a real concern for many companies, and it’s easy to think that reducing the price on a small, or seemingly…

Ideally, your connectors perform to their rated lifecycles. For industrial machinery, improper designs and other factors can cause connectors to fail prematurely, which can cause costly machine damage. Here’s a look at some common causes of failure and how to prevent them. Wear and tear — Like the example above, repeated connection and disconnection of a…

Need adhesive expertise for your medical device application? Master Bond technical professionals can help. Master Bond is a leader in the design, formulation and manufacture of epoxy adhesives, sealants, coatings and potting/encapsulation compounds for the assembly of both disposable and reusable medical devices. Special formulations are biocompatible and resistant to various sterilization methods. Products offer…

by Lyon Lee, IDEC Product Marketing Manager IDEC switches, relays and PLCs: Safe, Simple, Smart push-in connections Coronavirus has caused an unprecedented disruption to all businesses and negatively affected the global workforce. OEM manufacturers are struggling to maintain production under severe shortages of skilled workers and forced to look for new ways to minimize the…

SPONSORED CONTENT By Derek Thomas, Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Machine Automation Solutions at Emerson This article is the third in a four-part series exploring three new but related concepts for deriving value from big data: little data, edge processing, and embedded connectivity. The first column provided an overview of all three topics, and…

By Adam Kimmel Additive manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D printing, translates computer-aided design (CAD) data directly into a manufactured part, eliminating the drawing step and avoiding manufacturing tolerance mismatches. With a 2018 market size of approximately $8 billion, the technology is well-suited to meet the increasing market pressure to decrease sample lead times. Ideally, AM also…

By Kevin Siegel, Marketing Manager, HELUKABEL® USA HELUKABEL, one of the leading global manufacturers and suppliers of cable, wires and accessories, has introduced the ISOBUS PUR hybrid power and data cable for use in the agriculture industry. This cable connects tractors, combines, sprayers and other farm vehicles to their implements at the front or rear…

What is the best type of thermoplastic to use for your product design? We’ve put together a quick-hit list of some thermoplastics as a good starting point. Not all polymers are the same, and each type of polymer or co-polymer has specific characteristics. Before you can go down the path of designing a product, material…

Could switching to a custom save you money? By Justyna Rapacz, Marketing Engineer Picture this – you’re looking at our retaining ring selection guide to find a ring suitable for your application. You locate a ring series that looks promising. You flip through the catalog in search of the standard part, only to discover that the required…

SPONSORED CONTENT By Derek Thomas, Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Machine Automation Solutions at Emerson This article is the second in a four-part series exploring three new but related concepts for deriving value from big data: little data, edge processing, and embedded connectivity. The first column provided an overview of all three topics, and…

By Mary Gannon Contributed by James Czegledi, Engineering manager, Peninsular Cylinders It can happen at anytime, most often without notice — your cylinder has failed. More often than not the failure can be attributed to a seal or seals used inside of the cylinder. Let’s take a look at the types of seals typically found…

By Elizabeth Greenberg, Research Engineer & Technology Consultant Design engineers look for form, fit and function when choosing components for their products. Choosing connectors is no different in general, but when specifying high-voltage connectors for AC, DC or RF applications, function drives the selection. This means choosing connectors suited to the task, preventing the breakdown…

By Danny Boesing, Product Marketing Director, Samtec, Inc. Choosing the right pin plating is critical to the success of a connector system. Plating affects the connector’s performance, life cycle, quality, and cost. Let’s begin with cost. The major costs in a connector are the plastic body, the pins, plating on the pins, the labor to…

By Brian Ray, President Quality is the overall number-one concern of engineers, industrial designers and manufacturing professionals from a cross-section of industries, including the medical device, transportation and contract manufacturing sectors, surveyed in a plastics manufacturing poll. The sixth annual survey conducted on behalf of Ray Products Inc., a heavy-gauge thermoformer based in Ontario, CA,…

UV22DC80-1 is an abrasion resistant adhesive system with superior dimensional stability, very low shrinkage upon cure, and optical clarity. It meets NASA low outgassing specifications. By Rohit Ramnath, Sr. Product Engineer, Master Bond Inc. Master Bond UV22DC80-1 is a nanosilica filled, dual cure epoxy based system. Nanosilica filled epoxy formulations are designed to further improve…

SPONSORED CONTENT By Derek Thomas, Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Machine Automation Solutions at Emerson Creating value from big data is top of mind for many executives across a wide variety of industries. These executives perceive the potential to substantially improve operations by creating insights into the terabytes of existing data stored in their…

By Justyna Rapacz, Marketing Engineer Wave washers, coil springs, disc springs, the list goes on – these are all traditional springs that work well in many engineering applications. However, adding a wave spring to your design toolkit can open up a world of new and innovative possibilities. Knowing when to use a wave spring and…

Manufacturing to budget can be achieved with a forward-thinking approach, encompassing the design of cost-efficient parts and the selection of a versatile manufacturing partner. By Ronan Ye Whether your business needs five parts or five million, identifying cost-cutting techniques can be easier said than done. After all, cutting costs can seem like a surefire route…