bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Examining the conditions of ERP implementations: lessons learnt from adopters
Authors: Soja Piotr
Published: February 2008

Purpose

This paper sets out to examine the conditions of enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementations on the basis of research conducted among practitioners dealing with ERP projects.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper builds on the research conducted among a few dozen practitioners dealing with ERP projects. The queried respondents include both ERP adopters and experts representing system suppliers. The study discusses how the researched projects were linked with enterprise strategy, how their efficiency was measured and to what extent they defined implementation goals. The analysis takes into consideration various types of projects and success levels achieved.

Findings

The results show that adopters experience different conditions depending on the project type. The findings suggest that practitioners should be more focused on the business benefits. The outcome shows that implementers from very complicated projects are more aware of the overwhelming challenge at large, while, on the other hand, the relatively simpler projects seem to be underestimated.

Research limitations/implications

This study suggests that ERP researchers should take into account the particular type of project being studied. Further research can develop a methodology by which implementation projects can be evaluated. This methodology could cover a broader range of conditions.

Practical implications

Illustrating the conditions of real ERP projects, this study gives insight into the actual problems experienced by the ERP adopters. Drawing on these results, the practitioners may better anticipate possible problems and assess potential threats in their projects.

Originality/value

This paper investigates the conditions that surround the different projects and how they relate to successful performance. These findings will then in turn shed light on the mechanisms that determine the results of ERP.
L(H) ≠ Σ(m1, m2 … mn)
Authors: Braithwaite Jeffrey
Published: February 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the case that health service leadership is more than the sum total of all the health service management activity observed; and to advocate for improved leadership in health services through an examination of top‐down management structures and processes which “crowd out” leadership behaviours.

Design/methodology/approach

Application of historical and contemporary contexts to health service management and health service leadership approaches.

Findings

The neglect of leadership is discussed and the case is put for a tightly‐crafted position on how leadership should be emphasised and raised to greater prominence. Formulae for conceptualising leadership are presented in order to show the constituent elements underpinning clear descriptions of leadership.

Research limitations/implications

Further research on leadership, and more targeted education for leaders, is needed.

Practical implications

One way to build leadership capacity is to create a sustainable partnership between health service academics and leaders in the field.

Originality/value

Developing formulae for framing leadership is not reductionist per se but specifies with precision the essential elements needed to express health services leadership success.
An examination of hospital governance in Ghana
Authors: Aseweh Abor Patience , Abekah‐Nkrumah Gordon , Abor Joshua
Published: February 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the nature of governance structures in Ghanaian hospitals by comparing the governance systems in public and private hospitals.

Design/methodology/approach

This study employs a comparative case methodology. It compares the governance structures in private hospitals to that of public hospitals in Ghana to ascertain whether they exhibit different or similar governance systems. The results obtained are analyzed and discussed to ascertain the extent to which the governance structures in these hospitals conform to Taylor's principles of good governance.

Findings

The results of the study revealed numerous differences in the governance structures in private and public hospitals in Ghana. From the review of Taylor's principles of good governance and the comparative case analysis, it was observed that some of the principles are not present in the current hospital governance systems.

Originality/value

The findings of this paper have important implications for proper governance and management of the Ghanaian health institutions.
Programmable bowl feeder design based on computer vision
Authors: Hill John W.
Published: February 2008

The use of vision permits many types of parts to be easily fed that are difficult or impossible to feed in hard tooled systems. These include parts that become entangled, as well as those with internal features, (such as holes) and painted markings.
The orientation of components for automatic assembly
Authors: Browne A.
Published: February 2008

Complex components are often difficult to feed and orientate. In this article the use of vision for detecting component orientation is presented, based on a photodiode array and a microprocessor system.
Automated assembly of integrated circuits gives flexibility, productivity
Authors: Ozaki H. , Sakai N.
Published: February 2008

Increasing demand for integrated circuits has put emphasis on the need for flexibility and productivity in any system developed to assemble them into systems. Added problems are created by the IC's fragility, size variation and minuteness.
Simplicity is the key to automatic assembly
Authors: Hartley John
Published: February 2008

Much of the automation in Japanese assembly lines is simple and relies heavily on co‐operation from the operators to keep it going.
A passive assembly device for the speedy assembly of pegs in holes
Authors: Romiti A. , Belforte G. , D'Alfio N. , Quagliotti F.
Published: February 2008

A system has been devised for the fast assembly of pegs in holes using a guiding frame which has four degress of freedom and which is separated from the insertion actuator.
Building watches can be as easy as A, B, C…
Authors: Hartley John
Published: February 2008

Seiko watches are produced on automatic assembly lines by three methods: System A for mechanical watches, System B for digital watches and now System C is being developed to give greater flexibility.
Streamlining the assembly and test of engines for Land Rover
Authors: Hayler Bob
Published: February 2008

Computers are being used more and more to control production operations and provide accurate data for management decisions. The key factor is the software system and at BL's Solihull factory Autoroute has been introduced to control the assembly and test of Land Rover 5‐bearing engines.
Watchmaking is influencing assembly automation technology
Authors: Hartley John
Published: February 2008

Precision and automation indispensible to the watch industry can spin off into other industries. A manufacturer of LPG hand valves is using the technology evolved by the Citizen Watch company.
Meeting a variety of future needs with flexible assembly
Authors: Schröder Manfred
Published: February 2008

A flexible assembly system, built along modular lines, offers the potential to meet a variety of production line requirements
The economic design of assembly processes
Authors: Lotter Bruno
Published: February 2008

A description of the economic design of assembly processes for medium‐size batch production is presented which highlights the need to avoid secondary operations.
Study of precision and calibration for IBM RS‐1 robot system
Authors: Ho C.Y.
Published: February 2008

At Robots VI IBM publicly launched its RS‐1 gantry frame robot and this device is now undergoing extensive field trials. Work at the University of Missouri has studied the precision problem of an RS‐1 robot and this is reported. The calibration technique is introduced, and the AML program is also included.
Productivity increases ninefold
Authors: Hartley John
Published: February 2008

Design for production and full automation gives Nippondenso a tremendous boost in reduced costs in the manufacture of relays, while its compressor line mixes man and machine.
Robots start to assemble watches
Authors: Hartley John
Published: February 2008

Although it relies on normally automated lines for the bulk of its watch assembly, Seiko is now beginning to use robots.
Looking to automation to enhance productivity
Authors: Hollingum Jack
Published: February 2008

John Brown Automation is this month shipping its biggest‐ever automated assembly and test line, worth more than £4 million, to the Soviet Union.
A flexible solution for low volume component insertion
Authors: Kochan Anna
Published: February 2008

The assembly of electronic components onto circuit boards is currently receiving great attention, particularly for low volume, high flexibility applications. Ambotech feels it has hit on a winning solution.
Simple effective functions enhance robot assembly
Authors: Lehtinen H. , Gepertz J. , Albertsson O.
Published: February 2008

Four powerful functions have been developed for the ASEA IRb 1000 assembly robot. Compliant control with positioning check, relative positioning and pallet positioning are now easily programmed.
From robotics to assembly — KUKA looks to the future
Authors: Rooks Brian
Published: February 2008

Starting life in 1898 as an acetylene torch manufacturer the West German company Keller und Knappich, Augsburg (KUKA) has grown to one of Europe's largest manufacturers of factory automation equipment. Turnover in 1985 reached DM425 million, almost 50% of the turnover of the whole of IWKA (Industrie‐Werke Karlsruhe Augsburg), the group formed in 1970 following the merger of KUKA with IWK.
Surface mount technology: prospects and pitfalls
Authors: Mangin Charles‐Henri , McClelland Stephen
Published: February 2008

Surface‐mounted components (SMC) for placement on hybrid substrates and small boards for miniaturised products have been in use for almost 20 years. Still, it is a fairly new technology to most designers and printed‐circuit board (PCB) assembly operations even in the US, the leading industrial nation. Surface mount technology is still in its infancy and subject to strong cross currents. There is no doubt that SMC packages will be substituted for through‐hole packages. The question is the speed at which SMCs can penetrate the market and the volumes of assemblies they can represent. The fact that more than half the components on new boards could be SMCs by the end of the decade does not mean that half of all the components assembled in the US, for example, at that time will be in an SMC format. A major issue with SMT today is the short‐term vs. long‐term prospects.
Quality and automation give Rank Xerox a good image
Authors: McClelland Stephen
Published: February 2008

RANK XEROX could be a good company to copy. Not only has it won the top UK award for quality in production and business for the second time, it has also, through a shrewd use of automated production equipment, managed to trim manufacturing costs to such an extent that it has been winning assembly business from its Japanese associate, Fuji‐Xerox, in the manufacture of low‐cost photocopiers.
Automatic flexible assembly of an electromechanical timer group
Authors: Steudel M.
Published: February 2008

THE German Diehl Group has divisions producing: non‐ferrous metal products; clocks and watches; control systems; industrial machinery; ammunition; and track systems. It employs a total of more than 13,000 people.
Surface mounting spurs automation
Authors: Hartley John
Published: February 2008

Over the past year, the pattern in assembly of electronics components to printed circuit boards (PCBs) has changed dramatically, with far greater use of surface mounted devices (SMDs) in place of through‐hole insertion of leaded devices. Therefore, most of the established makers of machinery have introduced special placement equipment. However, the Japanese were slow to introduce the vapour phase soldering needed for surface mounting, but now equipment, claimed to overcome the weaknesses of the early machines, is available.
Assembling the expertise to beat the opposition
Authors: Mortimer John
Published: February 2008

Winning a contract worth £6 million from the Austin Rover group for the design, manufacture, installation and commissioning of an engine‐assembly line requires a good deal of patience and tenacity.
Laser applications for small part assembly
Authors: Lotter Bruno
Published: February 2008

With the development of laser welding technology, welding techniques are increasingly used in automatic assembly machines. The main advantage of laser welding is due to the contactless welding, which largely obviates the need of equipment maintenance.
Measuring future needs: Sangamo goes for electronics
Authors: Kochan Anna
Published: February 2008

The electricity meter in a British home has an 80% chance of being made by Sangamo Metering of Felixstowe. However, to date it has only a very small chance of being electronic in design. Now this is all changing. With the application of new and highly‐sophisticated automated assembly techniques incorporating robots, Sangamo is a leader in the metering industry, with volume manufacture of a range of electronic products, sold mainly to the electricity boards. So far, sales are very promising and the automation programme has had to be accelerated for the company to keep pace with orders.
Current hardware configurations in assembly automation
Authors: McClelland Stephen
Published: February 2008

One important but frequently‐ignored feature of assembly automation is that hardware continues to evolve, and consequently, detailed system designs are liable to rapid change. This in turn underlines the need to optimise each component of a system during the design phase to ensure that innovative components which are capable of simplifying and cheapening the cost of system implementation are used early on.
A survey of the assembly of wire harnesses in industry
Authors: Schraft Rolf‐Dieter , Schlaich Gerd
Published: February 2008

Research shows automated assembly could give time and cost savings in the production of wire harnesses.
Flexible fingers can solve gripper sensitivity problems
Authors: Irwin C.T.
Published: February 2008

FLEXIBILITY has always been associated with robotic systems. However, once a robot has been integrated into an application, the robot is no longer flexible but becomes a part of the tooling. This loss of flexibility is attributed to the use of rigid, costly tooling, which includes end effector tooling.
Unusual arrangement at Oki leads plasma display production
Authors: Hartley John
Published: February 2008

INVESTING in the automation of a product still in its infancy is a risky business, especially when there is a rival product of a different type that is being promoted by many competitors. But this is what Oki Electric has been doing in a new plant dedicated to the production of gas plasma displays, now being used increasingly in the more expensive portable computers.
‘Learning laboratory’ aims to perfect automation concepts
Authors: Kochan Anna
Published: February 2008

ROBOTS, AGVs and vision systems are used liberally at the General Motors Vanguard Plant at Saginaw, Michigan, USA, where a $52 million investment in the automated manufacture of front‐wheel drive axles is under way. The machining area is already fully operational but the assembly area has barely reached commissioning stage and the automated kitting function, which will be the most interesting of all, is not yet constructed.
DATE: a benchmark for flexible assembly systems
Authors: Heemskerk C.J.M. , Luiten T.L.M.
Published: February 2008

IN THE Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems at Delft University of Technology, a research project is underway into automatic, off‐line generation of programs for Flexible Assembly Systems (FASs). From the early stages of the project on, it was clear that some method for comparing programming systems was needed.
Divergent trends in robotic assembly in the UK and Japan
Authors: Tidd Joseph
Published: February 2008

OVER the past twenty years, industrial robots have become increasingly task‐specific, moving away from the original concept of ‘steel collar’ worker, or ‘universal automation’. In terms of tasks or applications, robots can be divided into three broad groups, which also approximate to their chronological development:
Design concepts for electronics factories of the future
Authors: Furukawa Yuji
Published: February 2008

After studying current methods, a Japanese industry association aims for new manufacturing concepts.
Tackling quality and flexibility in robotic assembly
Authors: Clarke Kevin
Published: February 2008

The Special Placement Assembly Robot system aims to aid placing of odd‐form components on PCBs.
Flexibility drives gear motor assembly
Authors: Aregger B. , von Burg P.
Published: February 2008

ASSEMBLY automation like other technologies has not developed continuously but in innovative spurts. The 1960s and 1970s produced the first generation of dedicated assembly machines, reflecting a manufacturing environment of large volume, standardised products with few product variables. Such market conditions were provided mainly in the USA, Japan and in a few European industrial countries. Today, the European market faces increasing pressures to adapt standard products to individual customer requirements. This in turn re‐enforces the need for a new generation of assembly machines: robot‐assisted assembly systems.
LK shares out it's experience
Authors: Rhyl Nielse Ole
Published: February 2008

A COMPANY manufacturing a product in large quantities, will typically choose to invest in a special‐purpose automatic assembly machine. LK, like most Danish companies manufactures a wide product range with a multitude of model types produced in small and medium‐to‐large batches.
Flexible step‐by‐step assembly automation
Authors: Lotter Bruno
Published: February 2008

The correct choice of basic assembly system design is essential to provide the flexibility to cope with market demands. Bruno Lotter explains.
Combining robotic assembly with just‐in‐time manufacture
Authors: Gast David
Published: February 2008

THE Vancouver Division of Hewlett‐Packard, Vancouver, Washington, USA, designs and manufactures workstation printers. The evolution of design and manufacturing processes through each product generation has allowed ongoing design improvements, more efficient use of printed circuit board space, a reduction in the number of circuit boards, and robotic assembly within a Just‐in‐Time (JIT) manufacturing environment.
Off‐line programming and simultation of flexible assembly
Authors: Angermüller Gerhard , Niedermayr Erich , Roth Norbert
Published: February 2008

IN a classification of the effects which lead to economic success of industries, the ability to successfully innovate the production processes plays a dominant role. The competition in the international markets, influenced by overcapacities in the industrial countries and by growing capacities in the countries on the threshold of industrialisation, makes it necessary to be quick in presenting new products on the market while being able to produce these products in the most efficient way. To realise such consumer‐oriented production, two main conditions have to be fulfilled:
SCARA's race to the finish
Authors: Schöninger Joachim , Schlaich Gerd
Published: February 2008

The German Institute IPA has carried out the first comparative study of SCARA robots. After a year of tests the first results have been released.
A better view of PCB assembly
Authors: Domm M.
Published: February 2008

A fast‐changeover PCB assembly cell incorporating image recognition is being used to evaluate concepts of minimising cycle times for component insertion.
The technology approach to flexible assembly
Authors: Spinadel P. , Fugger E.
Published: February 2008

A flexible assembly cell test bed has been installed at the Austrian Research Centre in Siebersdorf. Work is progressing to solve cell control and cost accounting problems.
Design‐for‐assembly through knowledge application
Authors: Holbrook A. , Sackett P.
Published: February 2008

Reduced part count is a powerful cost‐saving element of design‐for‐assembly systems. A method has been developed in which component function and relationship data are used to present advice to the designer.
Simulating part flow in automated assembly
Authors: Figour J. , Verdebout E.
Published: February 2008

A programme to simulate part flow in assembly automation, SIMAS, has been developed with support from Swiss industry. It allows the user to optimise investment as well as preview system behaviour.
An integration and analysis tool for engineers
Authors: Baines R.W. , Colquhoun G.J.
Published: February 2008

System design methodologies can greatly help the understanding of complex manufacturing situations. The IDEF0 structured analysis method is one of the favoured tools for industry.
New technology and automation for the gas hob
Authors: Carr Trevor L.
Published: February 2008

Severe competition in the domestic appliance industry is forcing manufacturers to examine their methods. One company decided that it needed to rationalise both the organisation and the methods of manufacture.
Lot Size 1: a flexible answer to customer demands
Authors: Mayser Jörg K.H.
Published: February 2008

A new production process for PCB assemblies in Siemens' Bruchsal plant in Germany allows the just‐in‐time installation of EWSD telecommunication systems.
Manual and automatic work in harmony
Authors: Lien TK
Published: February 2008

A socially acceptable solution to the demand for hybrid assembly lines can be attained by having the manual section ‘drive’ the automatic section.
Automating the interference fit process
Authors: Warnecke H.J. , Schraft R.‐D. , Schweizer M. , Wurtz G.
Published: February 2008

A German research team has developed a robotic tool that enables the ‘interference fit’ fastening process to be automated. The problems of high forces and positioning an ‘oversize’ component have been overcome.
Job design in assembly automation systems
Authors: Seitz Dieter
Published: February 2008

Alternative models for assembly systems are discussed, ranging from technology‐driven to a human‐centred approach. Examples are taken from three case studies.
EYE‐TO‐HAND CO‐ORDINATION
Authors: Wolfe D.F.H. , Wijesoma S.W. , Richards R.J.
Published: February 2008

Tasks in automated manufacturing and assembly increasingly involve robot operations guided by vision systems. The traditional “look‐and‐move” approach to linking machine vision systems and robot manipulators which is generally used in these operations relies heavily on accurate camera to real‐world calibration processes and on highly accurate robot arms with well‐known kinematics. As a consequence, the cost of robot automation has not been justifiable in many applications. This article describes a novel real‐time vision control strategy giving “eye‐to‐hand co‐ordination” which offers good performance even in the presence of significant vision system miscalibrations and kinematic model parametric errors. This strategy offers the potential for low cost vision‐guided robots.
ULTRASONIC WELDING OF PLASTICS
Authors: Wells Peter J.
Published: February 2008

One option available to the design engineer who requires a permanent joining of thermoplastic parts is to weld them together.
GET STUCK IN WITH HIGH PERFORMANCE ADHESIVES
Authors: Ludbrook Bryan D.
Published: February 2008

Robots and new materials are revolutionising the manufacture and design of everything from aircraft to automobiles, furniture to footwear, golf clubs to generators. The automotive industry is typical of an industry implementing such changes, as the principles first incorporated in concept cars are carried through into hybrid vehicles designed for easy and cost‐effective production. The need to join an ever‐increasing number of dissimilar materials, for which traditional methods may be unsatisfactory, means that adhesives technology will play an even more important role in the future than it does today.
THE RESEARCH SCENE IN FRANCE
Authors: Kochan Anna
Published: February 2008

There is only one word to describe French research activities in the field of robot and production technology and that is dynamic. During a two‐day conference held in Paris in January, more than 50 research groups presented their work. Organised by the International Institute of robotics and artificial intelligence at Marseille, the conference aimed to present a round‐up of Government‐sponsored research and development being undertaken in France in the field of robotics and production technology. It is the first time such an event has been held and more than 240 participants attended.
AUTOMATIX VISION SYSTEM ENSURES CORRECT ASSEMBLY OF AUTOMOTIVE DISTRIBUTORS AT LUCAS
Authors: Washbourn Alaistair
Published: February 2008

An Automatix AV90 vision system has been installed at Lucas Engine Management Systems, of Birmingham, to inspect automotive distributors as they are manually assembled, to ensure both correct assembly sequence and the presence of all parts.
LASER GUIDES MANUAL ASSEMBLY
Authors: Browne Arthur
Published: February 2008

The capabilities of automated production equipment continue to increase while the costs of the equipment fall. Software based electronic control of mechanical systems has increased the functions available and simplified the task of producing the required sequence of operations. A processing unit can be programmed to switch from one pattern of operations to another before each workpiece and thereby allow “batch of one” operation. The pattern and the parameters for each operation can be selected either by a supervisory computer or following the reading of a code, perhaps a barcode label, on the carrier of the workpiece. Sensory systems, such as vision systems, can be used to determine the positions of the workpiece and the components so that accurate jigging is not required. Also sensory systems can be used to determine that a task has been completed correctly and to inspect the quality of the workpiece before and after the operation.
WHAT IS ISO 9000?
Authors: Brewser Nigel
Published: February 2008

The ISO 9000 series is the international standard for quality systems. In 1987 it was published in the UK as BS5750. It tells suppliers and manufacturers what is required of a quality‐oriented management system. It does not set out unusual or special requirements with which only a few firms can or need comply, but is a practical standard for quality systems which can be used by all sectors of industry.
BOOTHROYD/DEWHURST — QUANTIFY YOUR DESIGNS
Authors: Kochan Anna
Published: February 2008

Good product design can make the difference between a competitive and a non‐competitive product. It can make the difference between an assembly cycle time of 592 seconds and one of 277 seconds, as was the case with a Digital Equipment computer mouse. And it can serve as a competitive weapon, even against the Japanese. According to Professor Geoffrey Boothroyd, international expert, “If you scrutinise the design of most Japanese products, you will see that they leave a lot to be desired”.
NIST
Authors: Pellerin Cheryl
Published: February 2008

THIS TALE OF THE AUTOMATION OF THE “MACHINE SHOPS OF THE '90S” HIGHLIGHTS THE PROBLEMS THAT ARE SO OFTEN EXPERIENCED WHEN COMPANIES DECIDE TO “AUTOMATE” ‐ On a sprawling, grassy campus north of Washington DC, the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Maryland, operates two research laboratories — one opened in 1984, the other in 1988 — to push the envelope of advanced flexible automation and help small and medium‐sized US manufacturers into the 21st century.
WORLD'S LONGEST CANTILEVER CMM
Authors: Beckett John
Published: February 2008

Responding to unprecedented demands for its high capacity medium range series of airliners, a leading world aircraft manufacturer recently identified requirements for updating techniques employed in the production of certain major airframe components. To achieve corresponding reductions in inspection time on these components, LK Limited was asked to produce a co‐ordinate measuring machine that would be the largest of its type in the world.
NEW ALTERNATIVES TO THE VIBRATORY BOWL FEEDER
Authors: Kochan Anna
Published: February 2008

The inconvenience of the noisy and unreliable vibratory bowl feeder is no longer an inevitable feature of the automatic assembly line. An Italian company has devised an alternative and it is one that is already gaining widespread popularity among major automotive companies like Fiat, Citroen, Renault and Volvo.
PERMATACK ADHESIVES FOR ROBOT GRIPPERS
Authors: Monkman G.J. , Shimmin C.
Published: February 2008

The use of chemical adhesives for the automated handling of materials, like most other techniques has a long and varied history. A patent for a paper sheet feeding mechanism was originally filed in 1941, and for textile handling in 1961. In both cases adhesive tapes capable of being automatically wound on are utilised in preference to tacky pads. According to Parker et al., the adhesive force drops approximately linearly with use. Their own tests yielding a 50 per cent force deterioration after about 25 cycles using the same section of tape.
THE WAY OF THE WORLD
Authors: Cokayne Andrew
Published: February 2008

Plus ca change: plus c'est la même chose “The more things change, the more they stay the same”. When playwright Jean Baptiste Alfonse Karr wrote those words in 1849 he could have been talking about automatic assembly, a technology that emerged upon an unsuspecting world more than a century later. The basic need for this type of automation has hardly changed for the last 40 years, but the attitudes of industry towards it certainly have. In the early 1950s it was optional; important mainly because it was new and a sure sign of a company keeping abreast of the times. But now it is more than that.
AUTOMATION COMMUNICATION NETWORK
Authors: Higham Mark
Published: February 2008

Modern technical communications is an incredibly important subject because, without it, no commercial business would be able to survive in today's marketplaces. Communications in the technical sense ranges from links between computers in the commercial data processing world as a management tool, i.e. office communications, to communication between a number of machines in the production and manufacturing sphere, i.e. factory communications. An important aim is to overcome the schism that still exists between the two “worlds” of office and factory, because that is the only way in which available capacity can be fully utilized and the necessary flexibility achieved.
BITBUS SHARES THE LOAD AND TAKES THE STRAIN FOR PCS
Authors: Webb Mike
Published: February 2008

In general, designers of industrial control and data acquisition applications based on the PC use plug‐in cards to introduce signals from transducers into the computer system. This solution presents three major difficulties. First, each transducer must be individually wired into the computer, involving a complicated and costly cabling task. Secondly, the distance from transducer to computer is restricted by the level of noise pick‐up which can be tolerated. And, thirdly, the PC's microprocessor carries the full burden of processing for the entire system.
ASSEMBLY ENGINEERING AT CONTROL TECHNIQUES DRIVES LTD
Authors: Wittenberg Gunter
Published: February 2008

For us, manufacturing means assembling and, when we have done that, we test and then we pack. When we can do all this as a continuous sequence of operations, with as much automation as technology and economics permit, we shall be as efficient as we can be.
LIFE AFTER DEATH FOR CONSUMER PRODUCTS
Authors: Wittenberg Gunter
Published: February 2008

There are about 20 million cars on the roads of Britain these days. About 1.5 million of them retire from the roads in the year, through age, death or damnation. What happens to them?
DESIGN FOR ASSEMBLY: SOMETIMES MORE IS LESS
Authors: Atiyeh Philip G.
Published: February 2008

Design for assembly (DFA) techniques have been well established as a useful and powerful tool in the development of new products or the enhancement of existing products through redesign. With the ultimate goal of developing a quality product at the lowest possible cost, DFA teams are acutely aware of the need to eliminate unnecessary parts and refine geometrical considerations to aid in the product's assembly.
THE INFACT COMPLIANCE
Authors: Selke Klaus K.W.
Published: February 2008

Why is Compliance Needed in Flexible Assembly? Flexible assembly in a modern production environment poses very specific problems. The need for flexibility is well established and is mainly due to the desire to bring the economic advantages of mass production into a changing marketplace, where the trend goes towards smaller batches, larger product variety and faster response to the customer's expectations. This article describes only compliance, one of the many different and difficult problems which are inherent in such an environment, and the solution which the InFACT project (EUREKA/FAMOS EU321) has adopted.
LOW‐KEY ASSEMBLY SHOW AT HANOVER
Authors: Hollingum Jack
Published: February 2008

Once every two years Germany's vast Hanover Fair gives additional space to companies in the fields of assembly, handling and industrial robotics, and this year two halls and part of a third — out of a total of about 20 — were given over to this sector of industry. The generally poor level of business throughout Europe was reflected at the exhibition, and it could not be said that products and services on offer were exciting, though a number of companies had new or updated products.
FLEXIBLE MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS IN HIGH PRODUCTION ENVIRONMENTS
Authors: Cottrill Alan
Published: February 2008

The demand today for more flexibility in manufacturing systems is being driven by our automotive customers' production schedules. No longer manufacturing mass volumes of automobiles, these companies require more flexibility to respond quickly to change. Several factors are involved: auto companies are entering into more niche markets, models have a shorter product life and the customer wants to lower the capital investment required for changeover or introduction of a new product.
BEHAVIOUR‐BASED ASSEMBLY
Authors: Malcolm Chris A.
Published: February 2008

This article introduces the current research programme in assembly robotics at the department of artificial intelligence at Edinburgh University. Our research is primarily directed at issues such as systems architecture, language development, and programming methodologies. Our assembly robotics research has been largely funded by the ACME Directorate of the SERC. Having recently completed our last ACME funded research project[l], I shall briefly summarize the concerns, aims, and findings of this project.
LUCAS ASSEMBLY & TEST SYSTEMS
Authors: Wittenberg Gunter
Published: February 2008

The business which became Lucas Assembly & Test Systems in 1992 has its origins in a company established in 1930 to deal in garage tools and equipment. It now comprises eight business units and employs 300 people in the UK and 350 in North America. Two factories in the USA, which came with the acquisition of Allen Automated Systems, are situated in and close to Detroit.
ASSEMBLY LINE SHOWS BLACK & DECKER'S NEW STRATEGY
Authors: Hollingum Jack
Published: February 2008

A new, highly flexible assembly line, built for Black & Decker by ADM Automation, is the first outcome of a radically changed approach to product assembly by the portable tools manufacturer.
Verification of Automated Pack Assembly
Authors: Alton Rosemary
Published: February 2008

Verification of the correct matching of product and pack has remained one of the last areas in the pharmaceutical industry to become fully automated.
The Showroom as Assembly Line
Authors: Ealey Lance , Mercer Glenn
Published: February 2008

In the past, automobile buyers had to choose between the ride of, say, a stretch limousine and the fuel efficiency or manoeuvrability of a small‐sized car. No longer. The emerging premiss of recent developments in flexible hardware, coupled with programmable electronics or software, is to allow buyers to customize their cars with the exact mix of “ride” and “feel” characteristics that they want — not those which automobile companies bundle into a limited number of available model types. Such a buyer‐driven approach to customization may, oddly enough, make Alfred Sloan's mass‐production model valid again. But this time, instead of the final assembly taking place in the factory, it will take place in the showroom or right in the driver's seat.
The “Methods” of a Quality Master
Authors: Ealey Lance
Published: February 2008

A Quality Engineering Primer: Quality engineering (QE) techniques enable engineers to develop products and processes in a fraction of the time required by conventional engineering practice, using the least expensive materials possible, and simultaneously achieving the lowest levels of product or process variability. QE started as a form of experimental design developed in Japan in the 1950s by Genichi Taguchi. In its current application in Japanese companies and many leading Western organizations, QE encompasses much more than experimental design.
Just‐in‐Time (JIT)
Authors: Schweigert Uwe
Published: February 2008

Initial Planning or Revision of Electronics Manufacturing Areas: Automation and just‐in‐time (JIT) manufacturing are the crucial suppositions of economical electronics manufacturing in the future. Surface mount technology (SMT), automated through‐hole component insertion machines and in‐line assembly systems are the basic solutions to implement highly automated electronics manufacturing systems (see photograph).
Neural Networks for Electronics Assembly
Authors: Grewal Simmy
Published: February 2008

In August 1991 I had the opportunity of attending the annual general meeting of CIRP in Aix‐en‐Provence, France. CIRP is not all that well known generally. It is however a forum for the leading experts in manufacturing technology, and since its inception in 1951 it has evolved as the College of International Research in Production (CIRP). The annual general meeting of CIRP moves around the globe. The purpose of its existence is mainly to exchange and develop ideas in manufacturing technology with a view to providing a more scientific base for product and process design for manufacturing. Each year there are about 150 papers presented at the annual meeting and they form the Annals of CIRP which can be purchased or consulted by the public at large[l]. The papers selected by CIRP are generally of the highest quality, and reflect most advanced concepts in various areas of manufacturing engineering. The areas addressed by the scientific technical committees (STCs) of CIRP are: assembly, cutting, design, physical and chemical machine tools, optimization, dimensional metrology in quality assurance, and surfaces. I was invited by the STC on assembly to give an overview of the assembly research in Australia. This provided the opportunity for me to hear about the latest research on assembly. Of the 12 papers presented on assembly, including a keynote paper by Boothroyd and Alting on Design for Assembly and Disassembly, there were two which specifically dealt with the issue of quality control in electronic assembly, particularly via neural network data processing. With reference to the previous article by Pandya in Assembly Automation, Vol. 12 No. 4, the material which follows provides further insights into the neural network approach.
Machine Vision Boosts PCB Assembly Processes
Authors: McWalter Kathy
Published: February 2008

Visual feedback is integral to the PCB assembly process for a variety of tasks, including board alignment, component identification, and guidance of components onto boards. Most of those visually oriented tasks, however, have become increasingly challenging due to trends towards faster production lines, increased integration of fine‐pitch SMDs, and greater reliance on factory automation.
The Flexible Automation of Garment Assembly
Authors: Taylor Paul
Published: February 2008

The manufacture of garments is important in many countries, not only because of economics but also because of the social and political issues arising from the employment of large numbers of people, often concentrated in particular districts. In addition, the production of textiles is often economically and geographically close to garment manufacture. Indeed some major companies have a policy of vertical integration of the two activities. In Europe in 1990 the clothing industry employed about 1 million people and an extra 0.5 million in the knitting industry. The figures for the UK were 213,000 and 72,500 respectively, with exports increasing in the value of over £2 billion by 1992.
Automation in the Footwear Industry
Authors: Wittenberg Gunter
Published: February 2008

In the footwear industry automation is beset by tremendous difficulties. The materials are flexible, stretchable, often thin and easily damaged. Natural materials, like leather, have structural faults or blemishes which must be found and eliminated. Manufacturing processes are intricate and complex, as in the case of sewing, or variable and unpredictable, like adhesive bonding. Many disparate operations are required to produce any one item of footwear. Feet are awkward shapes and come in graded sizes. They are sensitive to poor fits and pressure points. Customers have fickle tastes and are slaves to fashion. They are critical of finish and general appearance.
Modular Delivers £1 Million Micro Relay System
Authors: Hollingum Jack
Published: February 2008

Modular Automation, which claims to be the UK's largest independent automation house, has delivered a complete assembly system for automotive micro relays to the North Carolina factory of Elbi Hiram, the US sister company of Italian electrical components manufacturer OMP. The system is designed to operate on a two second cycle time, giving an output of 10,000 relays per shift. The line is to run on three shifts, six days a week.
Automating the Assembly of Shoe Uppers
Authors: Reedman D.C.
Published: February 2008

The assembly of shoe uppers is a labour‐intensive activity requiring highly developed manipulative and supervisory skills to ensure economic production of adequate quality. A typical manufacturing unit in the fashion sector might at any instant have in process say 20 – 40 or more shoe styles, each one comprising left and right, each with ten sizes and perhaps as many as 20 components, in the upper alone. Clearly, any form of automation depending on hard tooling is unacceptable in such an environment. Tool changes are too frequent and the cost and logistics of providing and managing the tooling hardware are prohibitive. There are, of course, exceptions to this rule and machinery based on such technology is successful when production runs are long enough. This article describes an aspect of a major project undertaken by British United Shoe Machinery Ltd (BUSM) and a number of universities, with financial support from the ACME Directorate of the Science and Engineering Research Council. The objective of the programme has been to identify and demonstrate automation technologies of sufficient flexibility to be applicable to a broad range of shoemaking environments. This has been successful, and the following discussion describes in particular a product that arises from work at the City University, carried out in the early 1980s and from more recent work at the University of Hull.
Networking Intelligent Systems for Cost‐effective Automation
Authors: Karg Rolf
Published: February 2008

The mechanical and plant engineering industry, power distribution sector and, more recently, environmental protection industry, are among the engineering branches in which intelligent components and systems are being used increasingly in electrotechnical installations. With potential cost savings as high as 40 per cent in the areas of engineering, control, system building, assembly and commissioning, the benefits for companies are considerable. A term which has already found its niche in the engineer's vocabulary is “fractal factory”, which describes a system of networked production “islands”. A look at the state of the art highlights the pioneering trends and shows the means that are already available for leaner, more cost‐effective production.
Product Development
Authors: Golding David
Published: February 2008

What have breweries got in common with insurance companies, industrial manufacturers and power generation companies, processed food companies and software houses? All recognize that successful new product development is vital for company survival and maintaining a lead over their competitors.
The Fraunhofer Institutes, Stuttgart
Authors: Monkman G.J.
Published: February 2008

The Fraunhofer Institute for Production and Automation (IPA) in Stuttgart is situated adjacent to the Universität Stuttgart, on the outskirts of the city in a small suburban village called Vaihingen in the state of Baden‐Württemburg. Visitors entering the town by car, hoping to rely on members of the local population for directions to the university, may well find themselves, as I did, in completely the wrong place. Like many German higher education and research establishments, the Universität Stuttgart consists of a number of widely distributed sites. The local dialect is Schwäbisch (something akin to broad Geordie) which makes any form of meaningful conversation in my limited Hocht Deutsch almost impossible.
Scheduling Automated Assembly Systems
Authors: Little David , Hemmings Andrew
Published: February 2008

Today's market environment is characterized by an increasing demand for greater product variety. This has inevitably led to decreased product life cycle and forced volume manufacturers to consider switching from the mass production of a limited range of products to lower volume production of a wider range. This trend is observable in moves towards lean production within the car industry.
Mechatronic Innovation in Switch Assembly
Authors: Butler Sally
Published: February 2008

When leading connector and terminal manufacturer Grote & Hartmann was awarded the contract to manufacture a new switch module for Black & Decker's Dustbuster® hand‐held vacuum cleaner, it represented a new departure for the company, involving not only the manufacture of the metal contact but also complete assembly of the module.
The Array Manipulator — A Generic Material Handling Device
Authors: Ciufo P.P. , Cook C.D. , Naghdy F.
Published: February 2008

While robots have proved to be ideal for the manipulation of single articles accurately in three dimensions, they are not as cost‐effective in industry for tasks which require simultaneous manipulations of several parts. In addition, changes in part geometry often necessitate the redesign of the gripping device, modification to the sensors and re‐examination of the grasping strategies to be used. These tasks are time consuming and add to the inefficiency of the approach.
The DFA House
Authors: Rampersad Hubert K.
Published: February 2008

The assembly is often a weak link in the production process. It is an enterprise activity which is responsible for a substantial part of the production costs and the throughput time. Robot assembly systems in addition offer legitimate possibilities to rationalize the assembly activities, because of the increasing product diversity, and the more severe demands concerning the reliability of delivery. Unfortunately several bottlenecks hinder the widespread application of robot assembly systems. Figure 1 gives an overview of the bottlenecks and the development tendencies in robotic assembly.
Choosing the right level of assembly automation
Authors: MacLaren Peter G.
Published: February 2008

This paper provides an overview of five types of assembly equipment and indicates where each type is typically suited to small parts assembly operations
More assembly robots
Authors: Hartley John
Published: February 2008

Seiko is all set to introduce robots to assembly, Toyo Kogyo uses a couple, and the accent is on assembly at the ‘Mechatronics’ Show