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Being a Good Neighbor is Good Business

So often in the course of business it’s easy to forget that companies are comprised of people and that helping each other through tough times simply makes good business sense. This article, sent to me by Sunnen Products Company, is a good example of a company reaching out to help a fellow company through a disaster.

When a three-alarm blaze destroyed Carr Lane Drill Bushing Company’s plant in Austin, Texas, last year, Sunnen Products demonstrated that “above and beyond honing” is more than a tagline—it's a business practice. The fire struck overnight and when the smoke had cleared only the outer walls of the plant remained. Carr Lane had lost 33 Sunnen honing machines in the disaster—machines critical to producing the precise bore size, surface finish and geometry required for the company's extensive line of drill bushings.
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Simplification for the Sake of Productivity

It’s a challenge that high technology has come to embrace. For years we watched the conveniences that technology sought to bring to life muddled by the operational complexities that users of the technology had to deal with. Remember the well-known anecdotes about attempts to set the clock on a VCR? Lately, technology has begun to swing back to the importance of addressing the needs of the user. Not only are engineers trying to provide products that are faster and more effective, they are making an effort to simplify product use.

I have noticed a theme running through the marketing of the new Microsoft operating system, Windows 7. This latest version does not seem as focused on new features as it is on making it easier for the user to take advantage of many features that already existed in the previous versions.
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Grippers are a Workhandling Concept to Grasp

The cost of machine operation can be expensive, especially when machines must be manned all day long. In our current slow and unpredictable economy, many shops are looking at ways to reduce manpower and increase efficiency by automating their processes. Implementing loading and unloading systems is a way to do so, by either using stand-alone robots with grippers or grippers installed inside machines.

An example of a workpiece gripper that enables a machine tool to serve as its own robot is one manufactured by Schunk. The gripper allows the machine to pick parts from a magazine on its worktable and insert them into a workholding device for machining. Once a new part is loaded, the machine’s ATC swaps the gripper for a cutting tool, storing the gripper in the ATC magazine.
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