Sweet! The smell of economic improvement is in the air! AP reports today that industrial production rose in December 2010 by the largest amount in five months which is a great surge of momentum to start 2011. Activity at factories, mines and utilities increased 0.8 percent last month reports the Federal […]
Hey design engineers and CNC operators, have you tried Proto Labs’ online First Cut or Protomold CNC Machining Services? If you don’t already know about these guys, they could be quite a time and cost savings find for you. After establishing Protolabs, this 10-year-old Minnesota-based company launched First Cut and […]
Gadget guys rejoice! I have it on good authority that the electronic gadgets revealed this year at the annual International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas had more hits than misses. More cool toys for you and I to play with in 2011! This is the largest trade show in […]
2010 Flashback: Remember the massive Toyota recall that kept getting shockingly worse, the inspiring Chilean miner rescue, BP’s devastating Gulf Oil Spill, the Tea Party, Mark Zuckerberg (who knew the name Mark Zuckerberg (besides his mom) before 2010? Now it’s everywhere! ), Facebook, Wikileaks, Twitter, Android phones, the Apple iPad, […]
Talk about out of proportion! It struck me today as ironic that an entire manufacturing plant’s production can literally be held hostage by the failure of one relatively inexpensive part: an encoder. When motion control is important to your production, then your encoder is a key component… and yet, often […]
New gadgets are always cool and fun and I love letting you know about new stuff. If you are looking for more dynamic responsiveness, smoother operation, and lower vibration levels, then Siemens may have just the new spindle motor for your applications. The family of Siemens 1PH8 high performance induction […]
Picture this: A cardboard box containing the large Yaskawa circuit board repairs arrives on my loading dock just as expected. Unexpectedly, the box, marked “Fragile”, has a hole in one side, a corner is crushed and it rattles ominously. Shipping disasters can be avoided, even with overly aggressive delivery services. […]
Whilst scanning various electronic news sources today there was the usual malicious mayhem and predictable political posturing when…wait a minute…what should behold my wondering eyes but “The Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation act”? Is this a Jerry Seinfeld joke? No, it’s truth! Seems Congress has voted, unanimously I might add, to […]
Got gold? Seems like everyone from entertainer or enlightener Glenn Beck (you choose which) to hedge fund legends George Soros and John Paulson have been touting buying gold these days. Maybe investing in gold is right for you, or maybe not, but either way I’ve got a pot of gold for you! That […]
In case you missed it, Swiss-based ABB will acquire Baldor Electric Company beginning December 2010 in an all-cash deal. The $4.2 billion deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2011. Why? For ABB, this transaction fills in a gap in ABB’s automation offerings by folding in Baldor’s […]
