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Explore the Concepts Covered in this Month’s Manufacturing Engineering Magazine!
Automation
Affordable Automation for Small & Medium Facilities
As smaller companies transition to automation, how do you decide? Experts at Factory Five Racing, Su- preme Corporation, and Peterson Manufacturing generously share how they handled justifi cation, planning, and implementation. See how to identify the right level and kind of automation you need, esti-
mate a project’s potential ROI, and create a safe work environ- ment—one that fi ts the shop’s culture and staff capabilities. To download or view on demand, visit www.sme.org/store and search Product ID: DV06PUB14_E.
REVIEW
“I think the key challenges for small- to medium-size compa- nies are to determine the ROI and if they have the appropriate resources to implement the technology.” —Chuck Russo, CEO, Robotic Production Technology
“Through the automation, we are able to service our customer better. We’re able to hold or even reduce our costs to our cus- tomers. That has actually saved several customers from going offshore to China and stayed with a U.S. manufacturer.” —Steve Ham, Vice President of Manufacturing, Peterson Manufacturing Company
Scan the code with your smart phone’s QR CODE READER APP to view a sample clip. http://goo.gl/D4MdR
Shop Floor Data Management
RFID: Tool Tracking Solutions Experts at Traxle Manufacturing, ABSKY, Wittmann, and Nordam show how they use RFID to maintain and communicate activity history of precision tools; restock and repair inventory; track data on high-value composite layup molds; and incor- porate RFID on the end of a robotic tooling system for quick changeover and error-proof tooling. To download or view on demand, visit www.sme.org/store and search Product ID: DV08PUB7_E.
REVIEW “The benefi ts of RFID are that it doesn’t decrease our payload and it doesn’t take up space. After seeing how easy this is, adding tags to the end of arm tooling, how well it works, how easy, we don’t see any reason we couldn’t add this to other types of automation.” —Tom Schaffner, Regional Sales Manager, Wittmann U.S. GmbH
Scan the code with your smart phone’s QR CODE READER APP to view a sample clip. http://goo.gl/9I9LQ
ORDER TODAY!
Use Priority Code: 07PU41. Call SME Customer Service at 800.733.4763 or visit www.sme.org/store. Preview full product descriptions, sample video clips, and book chapters at www.sme.org/store.