Latest News & Features – Page 265
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ArticleBouncing back in Japan
Glenn Brooks discovers how Japan’s automakers have coped with two years of natural disasters, economic difficulties and political turmoilOngoing power restrictions and the costs of rebuilding or abandoning plants after the earthquake hit Japan’s automakers hard in 2011. Then came a steep rise in the value of the Yen until, ...
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Ken Ramirez takes Renault UK director's post
UK – Renault UK has announced the appointment of Ken Ramirez as managing director, succeeding Thierry Sybord who takes up a new role in Europe.Ramirez joins Renault UK from Alliance partner Nissan, where he was managing director of Nissan Latin America and the Caribbean.www.press.renault.co.uk
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GM appoints Jim Glynn as vice-president
USA – General Motors has appointed Jim Glynn as GM North America Labor Relations vice-president.Most recently Glynn was GM North America Manufacturing manager, leading operations at 10 vehicle assembly, powertrain, metal stamping and battery assembly plants.He succeeds Cathy Clegg, who is now Global Manufacturing Engineering vice-president.www.ford.com
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White leads Volkswagen Group Australia
Germany – John P. White, 57, will lead Volkswagen Group Australia as managing director Volkswagen Group and brand director Volkswagen Passenger Cars, effective April 1, 2013.White’s successor as managing director Volkswagen Group Canada and brand director Volkswagen Canada is Maria Stenström, 54, currently Head of VW Passenger Cars sales in ...
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ArticleEnergy as an asset
Energy management has become a key criteria for tier suppliers’ equipment and systemsThe rush to implement renewable energy sources – in the form of solar panels, wind turbines, or co-generation plants – has gone some way to stemming the rising energy costs of auto production, but not far enough. OEMs ...
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ArticleExpending to save
Mark Venables reports on how OEMs are controlling their energy use throughout the manufacturing process using a combination of increased visualisation and energy efficient equipmentOEMs have been trying to reduce the input costs of energy by generating their own through co-generation plants, solar panels and wind turbines. This generation drive ...
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ArticleA changing horizon for GM Holden
Production at Elizabeth into the 2020sDecoding GM’s architecturesGlenn Brooks reports on production of the most advanced Australian-made car yet, soon to roll out at GM Holden’s Elizabeth plant in Adelaide.Holden is one of only seven fully integrated GM global operations that have the ability to design and build vehicles for ...
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ArticleBoosting efficiency at Cummins
Virtual operationCustomer specificationsEnhanced test methodsComponent improvementHeavy-duty diesel automotive engines, “are not overly efficient,” states Mark Firth, executive director of product line management and marketing at Cummins Turbo Technologies. “They convert only about 45% of the energy created when burning the fuel and creating usable power, the rest is lost in ...
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ArticleDrivers of reduction
OEMs have been installing renewable energy sources to reduce energy costs and comply with legislation but the focus is now moving to the manufacturing process itselfPSA Peugeot-Citroën has stated that by 2015 it wants to reduce energy consumption during manufacturing to 2MW per vehicle. GM has also set aggressive targets ...
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ArticleAustralia’s OEM
GM Holden chairman and managing director Mike Devereux, head of GM’s Australian operations, talks to Glen Brooks about future vehicle platforms, the rescue of a key supplier, and overseeing new export programmesAMS: You’ve been chairman and managing director of GM Holden since March 2010, leading the company through a period ...
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ArticleEditor's Note: Reversal of fortune
Over the last few years we have seen the rise and fall of a number of major, seemingly unsinkable vehicle manufacturers, and this picture continues to be redrawn. Like old battleships, although they appeared impressive they proved to be outmoded; too inflexible to adapt quickly enough to major changes. Nautical ...
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ArticleHandling with care
Robots, handling systems and windscreens are superficially the same as they always were, but automotive glass installation today is a very different to even a decade ago.With auto manufacturers controlling manufacturing processes more closely in order to eliminate gaps as much as possible, glass manufacturers too have had to develop ...
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ArticleClear improvements
Malcolm Wheatley discovers that even after more than a century of development, the automotive glassmaking industry is still developing innovative technologiesDevelopments such as water-repellent and heat-reflective glass, in-built sensors, ‘headup displays’, and ultra-violet light-reflective glass are now regularly incorporated into windscreens installed during vehicle assembly. Still the first choiceInnovations for ...
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ArticleSheets ahead
Malcolm Wheatley reports on how advanced production processes have enabled automotive glass to be augmented with added-value technologiesFor the most part, glass alone does not provide the capabilities that a driver most values in a vehicle’s glass components. Instead, from road noise reduction to heat-reflective capabilities, and from built-in antennae ...
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ArticleAt the heart of glass
Strong and cost-effective, developments in glass continue to enhance both production processes and vehicle applicationsIt would be a mistake to think that the business of automotive glass was without innovation. While glassmaking itself hasn’t changed much since the development of float-glass production in the late 1950s, a complex range of ...
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ArticleOnline service for robots
‘Local’ goes globalDirect to the cellDesign-for-maintenance and enhanced remote diagnostics are just two of the latest trends in robot service and support, as Steed Webzell discovers.Robots work hard: it’s one of the main reasons they’re deployed, after all. As a result, alongside the critical nature of the operations they perform, ...
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ArticleGaining control of robot efficiency
The efficiency of robot hardware is being optimised by the relentless development of software. Steed Webzell reports on this rapidly evolving technology areaThere are countless drivers in robot software at present, all of which are intrinsically linked to hardware design. Indeed, according to industrial robot specialist Comau, to achieve the ...
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ArticleEnergy-efficient electric motor range
WEG claims its W22 Super Premium range of electric motors exceeds the yet-to-beimplemented IE4 regulations, enabling manufacturers to increase energy efficiencies throughout their plants and processes.The three-phase induction motor is based on WEG’s W22 motor mechanical design and has been designed to have low operating temperatures, which increases the insulation ...
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ArticleSpring-loaded contacts suited to use in harsh environments
Harwin says it has launched an IP68-rated version of its HotShoe connector technology. Available in standard 8, 12 and 16-way versions, HotShoe connectors employ spring-loaded contacts which maintain a positive contact force against the mating half of the connector, which the company claims ensures reliable connection even under demanding conditions. ...
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Software tool for configuring laser scanners
Sensor manufacturer Micro-Epsilon has released a new version of its Configuration Tools software for the company’s scanCONTROL series of laser scanners. The company says this new version, scanCONTROL Configuration Tools v3.0, enables users to configure their laser scanner via a Windows PC or laptop. As well as improving the user ...