Drilling

Drilling is a cutting process where a drill bit is spun to cut a hole of circular cross-section in solid materials. The drill bit is usually a rotary cutting tool, often multi-point. The bit is pressed against the work-piece and rotated at rates from hundreds to thousands of revolutions per minute. This forces the cutting edge against the work-piece, cutting off chips (swarf) from the hole as it is drilled.
In rock drilling, the hole is usually not made through a circular cutting motion, though the bit is usually rotated. Instead, the hole is usually made by hammering a drill bit into the hole with quickly repeated short movements. The hammering action can be performed from outside the hole (top-hammer drill) or within the hole (down-the-hole drill, DTH). Drills used for horizontal drilling are called drifter drills.
In rare cases, specially-shaped bits are used to cut holes of non-circular cross-section; a square cross-section is possible.
Process.
Drilled holes are characterized by their sharp edge on the entrance side and the presence of burrs on the exit side (unless they have been removed). Also, the inside of the hole usually has helical feed marks.
Drilling may affect the mechanical properties of the workpiece by creating low residual stresses around the hole opening and a very thin layer of highly stressed and disturbed material on the newly formed surface. This causes the workpiece to become more susceptible to corrosion and crack propagation at the stressed surface.
A finish operation may be done to avoid these detrimental conditions.
For fluted drill bits, any chips are removed via the flutes. Chips may form long spirals or small flakes, depending on the material, and process parameters. The type of chips formed can be an indicator of the machinability of the material, with long chips suggesting good material machinability.
When possible drilled holes should be located perpendicular to the workpiece surface. This minimizes the drill bit's tendency to "walk", that is, to be deflected from the intended center-line of the bore, causing the hole to be misplaced. The higher the length-to-diameter ratio of the drill bit, the greater the tendency to walk. The tendency to walk is also preempted in various other ways, which include:
Surface finish produced by drilling may range from 32 to 500 microinches. Finish cuts will generate surfaces near 32 microinches, and roughing will be near 500 microinches.
Cutting fluid is commonly used to cool the drill bit, increase tool life, increase speeds and feeds, increase the surface finish, and aid in ejecting chips. Application of these fluids is usually done by flooding the workpiece with coolant and lubricant or by applying a spray mist.
In deciding which drill(s) to use it is important to consider the task at hand and evaluate which drill would best accomplish the task. There are a variety of drill styles that each serve a different purpose. The subland drill is capable of drilling more than one diameter. The spade drill is used to drill larger hole sizes. The indexable drill is useful in managing chips.
Spot drilling.
The purpose of spot drilling is to drill a hole that will act as a guide for drilling the final hole. The hole is only drilled part way into the workpiece because it is only used to guide the beginning of the next drilling process.
Centre drilling.
Centre drill is a two-fluted tool consisting of a twist drill with a 60° countersink; used to drill countersink center holes in a workpiece to be mounted between centers for turning or grinding.
Deep hole drilling.
Deep hole drilling is defined as drilling a hole of depth greater than ten times the diameter of the hole. These types of holes require special equipment to maintain the straightness and tolerances. Other considerations are roundness and surface finish.
Deep hole drilling is generally achievable with a few tooling methods, usually gun drilling or BTA drilling. These are differentiated due to the coolant entry method (internal or external) and chip removal method (internal or external). Using methods such as a rotating tool and counter-rotating workpiece are common techniques to achieve required straightness tolerances. Secondary tooling methods include trepanning, skiving and burnishing, pull boring, or bottle boring. Finally, a new kind of drilling technology is available to face this issue: vibration drilling. This technology breaks up the chips by a small controlled axial vibration of the drill. The small chips are easily removed by the flutes of the drill.
A high tech monitoring system is used to control force, torque, vibrations, and acoustic emission. Vibration is considered a major defect in deep hole drilling which can often cause the drill to break. A special coolant is usually used to aid in this type of drilling.
Gun drilling.
Gun drilling was originally developed to drill out gun barrels and is used commonly for drilling smaller diameter deep holes. The depth-to-diameter ratio can be even greater than 300:1. The key feature of gun drilling is that the bits are self-centering; this is what allows for such deep accurate holes. The bits use a rotary motion similar to a twist drill; however, the bits are designed with bearing pads that slide along the surface of the hole keeping the drill bit on center. Gun drilling is usually done at high speeds and low feed rates.
Trepanning.
Trepanning is commonly used for creating larger diameter holes (up to ) where a standard drill bit is not feasible or economical. Trepanning removes the desired diameter by cutting out a solid disk similar to the workings of a drafting compass. Trepanning is performed on flat products such as sheet metal, granite (curling stone), plates, or structural members like I-beams. Trepanning can also be useful to make grooves for inserting seals, such as O-rings.
Microdrilling.
Microdrilling refers to the drilling of holes less than . Drilling of holes at this small diameter presents greater problems since coolant fed drills cannot be used and high spindle speeds are required. High spindle speeds that exceed 10,000 RPM also require the use of balanced tool holders.
Vibration drilling.
The first studies into vibration drilling began in the 1950s (Pr. V.N. Poduraev, Moscow Bauman University). The main principle consists in generating axial vibrations or oscillations in addition to the feed movement of the drill so that the chips break up and are then easily removed from the cutting zone.
There are two main technologies of vibration drilling: self-maintained vibration systems and forced vibration systems. Most vibration drilling technologies are still at a research stage. In the case of self-maintained vibration drilling, the eigenfrequency of the tool is used in order to make it naturally vibrate while cutting; vibrations are self-maintained by a mass-spring system included in the tool holder. Other works use a piezoelectric system to generate and control the vibrations. These systems allow high vibration frequencies (up to 2 kHz) for small magnitude (about a few micrometers); they are particularly suitable for drilling small holes. Finally, vibrations can be generated by mechanical systems: the frequency is given by the combination of the rotation speed and the number of oscillation per rotation (a few oscillations per rotation), with magnitude about 0.1 mm.
This last technology is a fully industrial one (example: SineHoling® technology of MITIS). Vibration drilling is a preferred solution in situations like deep hole drilling, multi-material stack drilling (aeronautics) and dry drilling (without lubrication). Generally, it provides improved reliability and greater control of the drilling operation.
Circle interpolating.
"Circle interpolating", also known as "orbital drilling", is a process for creating holes using machine cutters.
Orbital drilling is based on rotating a cutting tool around its own axis and simultaneously about a centre axis which is off-set from the axis of the cutting tool. The cutting tool can then be moved simultaneously in an axial direction to drill or machine a hole – and/or combined with an arbitrary sidewards motion to machine an opening or cavity.
By adjusting the offset, a cutting tool of a specific diameter can be used to drill holes of different diameters as illustrated. This implies that the cutting tool inventory can be substantially reduced.
The term orbital drilling comes from that the cutting tool “orbits” around the hole center. The mechanically forced, dynamic offset in orbital drilling has several advantages compared to conventional drilling that drastically increases the hole precision. The lower thrust force results in a burr-less hole when drilling in metals. When drilling in composite materials the problem with delamination is eliminated.
Material.
Drilling in metal.
Under normal usage, swarf is carried up and away from the tip of the drill bit by the fluting of the drill bit. The cutting edges produce more chips which continue the movement of the chips outwards from the hole. This is successful until the chips pack too tightly, either because of deeper than normal holes or insufficient "backing off" (removing the drill slightly or totally from the hole while drilling). Cutting fluid is sometimes used to ease this problem and to prolong the tool's life by cooling and lubricating the tip and chip flow. Coolant may be introduced via holes through the drill shank, which is common when using a gun drill. When cutting aluminum in particular, cutting fluid helps ensure a smooth and accurate hole while preventing the metal from grabbing the drill bit in the process of drilling the hole. When cutting brass, and other soft metals that can grab the drill bit and causes "chatter", a face of approx. 1-2 millimeters can be ground on the cutting edge to create an obtuse angle of 91 to 93 degrees. This prevents "chatter" during which the drill tears rather than cuts the metal. However, with that shape of bit cutting edge, the drill is pushing the metal away, rather than grabbing the metal. This creates high friction and very hot swarf.
For heavy feeds and comparatively deep holes oil-hole drills are used in the drill bit, with a lubricant pumped to the drill head through a small hole in the bit and flowing out along the fluting. A conventional drill press arrangement can be used in oil-hole drilling, but it is more commonly seen in automatic drilling machinery in which it is the workpiece that rotates rather than the drill bit.
In computer numerical control (CNC) machine tools a process called "", or "interrupted cut drilling", is used to keep swarf from detrimentally building up when drilling deep holes (approximately when the depth of the hole is three times greater than the drill diameter). Peck drilling involves plunging the drill part way through the workpiece, no more than five times the diameter of the drill, and then retracting it to the surface. This is repeated until the hole is finished. A modified form of this process, called "high speed peck drilling" or "chip breaking", only retracts the drill slightly. This process is faster, but is only used in moderately long holes, otherwise it will overheat the drill bit. It is also used when drilling stringy material to break the chips.
When it is not possible to bring the material to the СNС machine, a Magnetic Base Drilling Machine may be used. The base allows drilling in a horizontal position and even on a ceiling. Usually, for these machines, it is better to use cutters because they can drill much faster with less speed. Cutter sizes vary from 12mm to 200mm DIA and from 30mm to 200mm DOC(depth of cut). These machines are widely used in construction, fabrication, marine, and oil & gas industries. In the oil and gas industry, pneumatic magnetic drilling machines are used to avoid sparks, as well as special tube magnetic drilling machines that can be fixed on pipes of different sizes, even inside. Heavy-duty plate drilling machines provide high-quality solutions in the manufacturing of steel construction, bridge construction, shipyards, and various fields of the construction sector.
Drilling in wood.
Wood being softer than most metals, drilling in wood is considerably easier and faster than drilling in metal. Cutting fluids are not used or needed. The main issue in drilling wood is ensuring clean entry and exit holes and preventing burning. Avoiding burning is a question of using sharp bits and the appropriate cutting speed. Drill bits can tear out chips of wood around the top and bottom of the hole and this is undesirable in fine woodworking applications.
The ubiquitous twist drill bits used in metalworking also work well in wood, but they tend to chip wood out at the entry and exit of the hole. In some cases, as in holes for rough carpentry, the quality of the hole does not matter, and a number of bits for fast cutting in wood exist, including spade bits and self-feeding auger bits. Many types of specialised drill bits for boring clean holes in wood have been developed, including brad-point bits, Forstner bits and hole saws. Chipping on exit can be minimized by using a piece of wood as backing behind the work piece, and the same technique is sometimes used to keep the hole entry neat.
Holes are easier to start in wood as the drill bit can be accurately positioned by pushing it into the wood and creating a dimple. The bit will thus have little tendency to wander.
Others.
Some materials like plastics as well as other non-metals and some metals have a tendency to heat up enough to expand making the hole smaller than desired.
Related processes.
The following are some related processes that often accompany drilling:


Single-pass bore finishing

Single-pass bore finishing is a machining process similar to honing to finish a bore, except the tool only takes a single pass. The process was originally developed to improve bore quality in cast iron workpieces.
Process.
This process uses multiple diamond-plated, barrel-shaped tools to finish a bore. The tool has a single layer of diamonds bonded to the tool, with about half of each diamond exposed. These special tools are made to a specific diameter and are only meant to open up the hole to that size.
The tools are usually mounted in a dedicated bore finishing machine, however they can also be mounted in a milling machine. In either case the tool, workpiece, or both are rotated and the tool is plunged into the bore and removed. The part is then transferred to the next station or a larger tool is mounted and a larger bore machined, and the process repeated until the desired bore geometry is reached. The number of tools required to achieve the desired bore size is dependent on the workpiece material, the amount of stock to be removed and geometrical requirements, with four to six tool pieces being common. Each tool is progressively larger than the last, but in diminishing increments; as the stock removal is reduced, so is the tool's diamond grit size.
The process is similar to honing, in that the tool follows the existing center line of the bore. To make sure the tool follows the existing center line, the tool, workpiece, or both are allowed to float. Usually just the workpiece is floated, but both pieces may be floated to get the tightest tolerances, however this greatly increases complexity. For workpieces that are larger than approximately it may be more feasible to float the tool. The process can achieve a size tolerance of and a geometry tolerance of in production.
Machine tool.
Single-pass bore finishing is not usually done in a milling machine for several reasons. Firstly, most milling machines have only one spindle, so changing the tool more than four to six times can increase cycle times significantly. Secondly, most workpieces that require this process are made on horizontal machining centers (HMC), which reduces float-ability due to gravity. Thirdly, the lubrication may not be sufficient, which can lead to material build-up between diamonds, diminishing the tool's effectiveness. Finally, if any chips remain from previous operations they can ruin the tool.
Instead, typically a dedicated machine tool is used. It has four to eight spindles and usually a rotary table. The cycle time for this type of setup is determined by the longest individual operation, which in this situation is determined by how long it takes to plunge and retract the tool through the bore. Throughput can be increased by completing two workpieces on each cycle; this is achieved by having two identical stations for each tool size so that two workpieces can be operated on concurrently.
Advantages and disadvantages.
There is little downtime due to tool changes because tools usually last from tens of thousands of passes to over a million. The perishable tool cost can be as low as a 0.01 USD per bore for very large quantity runs. To make the process cost effective minimum runs would be on the order of one to two hundred parts with several runs each year.
Single-pass bore finishing is not well suited for blind holes because the tool has a tapered lead on it which prevents the bottom of the hole from being finished. The process can be performed on blind holes, but it requires an alternative tool design and suitable manufacturing conditions. A better alternative is ID grinding.
Commonly processed materials include soft and hard steels, aluminum, bronze, brass, ceramics, and chrome. Note that gummy grades of stainless steel, aluminum, and all but the hardest grades of plastic are much tougher for this process. The gumminess problem can be overcome with special oil based cutting fluids. Also, the process does not work well on thin-walled workpieces owing to a tendency to expand when the tool is inserted.
This method of bore finishing is better suited for bores with relatively low length-to-diameter ratios, usually less than 2:1. However, if there are cross-holes, or other interruptions in the bore, then a ratio greater than 2:1 is possible, because swarf and fluids may be expelled via these routes. This process is also not well suited for surfaces that require cross-hatching.


Air Squared

Air Squared is a vertically integrated research and development (R&D) original equipment manufacturing (OEM) firm headquartered in Thornton, Colorado. Its operations include the design, fabrication, and production of oil-free scroll compressors, vacuum pumps, and expanders. Organized in two divisions, Air Squared Manufacturing handles volume assembly and production whereas Air Squared Inc. handles research and development.
History.
In 1991, Robert Shaffer founded Air Squared Inc. in Cincinnati, Ohio to license oil-free scroll compressors for medical device applications. Air Squared's first patent was awarded in 1997 titled "Scroll compressor having a tip seal". In 2001, Air Squared Manufacturing Inc. was formed in Broomfield, Colorado. Operations were consolidated when both entities merged to form Air Squared Group Inc. in 2016. In 2022, all operations were relocated to Thornton, Colorado.


Permanent mold casting

Permanent mold casting is a metal casting process that employs reusable molds ("permanent molds"), usually made from metal. The most common process uses gravity to fill the mold, however gas pressure or a vacuum are also used. A variation on the typical gravity casting process, called slush casting, produces hollow castings. Common casting metals are aluminium, magnesium, and copper alloys. Other materials include tin, zinc, and lead alloys and iron and steel are also cast in graphite molds.
Typical products are components such as gears, splines, wheels, gear housings, pipe fittings, fuel injection housings, and automotive engine pistons.
Process.
There are four main types of permanent mold casting: gravity, slush, low-pressure, and vacuum.
Gravity process.
The gravity process begins by preheating the mold to 150–200 °C (300–400 °F). to ease the flow and reduce thermal damage to the casting. The mold cavity is then coated with a refractory material or a mold wash, which prevents the casting from sticking to the mold and prolongs the mold life. Any sand or metal cores are then installed and the mold is clamped shut. Molten metal is then poured into the mold. Soon after solidification the mold is opened and the casting removed to reduce chances of hot tears. The process is then started all over again, but preheating is not required because the heat from the previous casting is adequate and the refractory coating should last several castings. Because this process is usually carried out on large production run work-pieces automated equipment is used to coat the mold, pour the metal, and remove the casting.
The metal is poured at the lowest practical temperature in order to minimize cracks and porosity. The pouring temperature can range greatly depending on the casting material; for instance zinc alloys are poured at approximately , while Gray iron is poured at approximately .
Mold.
Molds for the casting process consist of two halves. Casting molds are usually formed from gray cast iron because it has about the best thermal fatigue resistance, but other materials include steel, bronze, and graphite. These metals are chosen because of their resistance to erosion and thermal fatigue. They are usually not very complex because the mold offers no collapsibility to compensate for shrinkage. Instead the mold is opened as soon as the casting is solidified, which prevents hot tears. Cores can be used and are usually made from sand or metal.
As stated above, the mold is heated prior to the first casting cycle and then used continuously in order to maintain as uniform a temperature as possible during the cycles. This decreases thermal fatigue, facilitates metal flow, and helps control the cooling rate of the casting metal.
Venting usually occurs through the slight crack between the two mold halves, but if this is not enough then very small vent holes are used. They are small enough to let the air escape but not the molten metal. A riser must also be included to compensate for shrinkage. This usually limits the yield to less than 60%.
Mechanical ejectors in the form of pins are used when coatings are not enough to remove casts from the molds. These pins are placed throughout the mold and usually leave small round impressions on the casting.
Slush.
"Slush casting" is a variant of permanent molding casting to create a "hollow casting" or "hollow cast". In the process the material is poured into the mold and allowed to cool until a shell of material forms in the mold. The remaining liquid is then poured out to leave a hollow shell. The resulting casting has good surface detail but the wall thickness can vary. The process is usually used to cast ornamental products, such as candlesticks, lamp bases, and statuary, from low-melting-point materials. A similar technique is used to make hollow chocolate figures for Easter and Christmas.
The method was developed by William Britain in 1893 for the production of lead toy soldiers. It uses less material than solid casting, and results in a lighter and less expensive product. Hollow cast figures generally have a small hole where the excess liquid was poured out.
Similarly, a process called "slush molding" is used in automotive dashboard manufacture, for soft-panel interiors with artificial leather, where a free-flowing (which behave like a liquid) powder plastic compound, either PVC or TPU, is poured into a hot, hollow mold and a viscous skin forms. Excess slush is then drained off, the mold is cooled, and the molded product is stripped out.
Low-pressure.
Low-pressure permanent mold ("LPPM") casting uses a gas at low pressure, usually between 3 and 15 psi (20 to 100 kPa) to push the molten metal into the mold cavity. The pressure is applied to the top of the pool of liquid, which forces the molten metal up a refractory pouring tube and finally into the bottom of the mold. The pouring tube extends to the bottom of the ladle so that the material being pushed into the mold is exceptionally clean. No risers are required because the applied pressure forces molten metal in to compensate for shrinkage. Yields are usually greater than 85% because there is no riser and any metal in the pouring tube just falls back into the ladle for reuse.
The vast majority of LPPM casting are from aluminum and magnesium, but some are copper alloys. Advantages include very little turbulence when filling the mold because of the constant pressure, which minimizes gas porosity and dross formation. Mechanical properties are about 5% better than gravity permanent mold castings. The disadvantage is that cycles times are longer than gravity permanent mold castings.
Vacuum.
Vacuum permanent mold casting retains all of the advantages of LPPM casting, plus the dissolved gases in the molten metal are minimized and molten metal cleanliness is even better. The process can handle thin-walled profiles and gives an excellent surface finish. Mechanical properties are usually 10 to 15% better than gravity permanent mold castings. The process is limited in weight to .
Advantages and disadvantages.
The main advantages are the reusable mold, good surface finish, good dimensional accuracy, and high production rates. Typical tolerances are 0.4 mm for the first 25 mm (0.015 in for the first inch) and 0.02 mm for each additional centimeter (0.002 in per in); if the dimension crosses the parting line add an additional . Typical surface finishes are 2.5 to 7.5 μm (100–250 μin) RMS. A draft of 2 to 3° is required. Wall thicknesses are limited to . Typical part sizes range from 100 g to 75 kg (several ounces to 150 lb). Other advantages include the ease of inducing directional solidification by changing the mold wall thickness or by heating or cooling portions of the mold. The fast cooling rates created by using a metal mold results in a finer grain structure than sand casting. Retractable metal cores can be used to create undercuts while maintaining a quick action mold.
There are three main disadvantages: high tooling cost, limited to low-melting-point metals, and short mold life. The high tooling costs make this process uneconomical for small production runs. When the process is used to cast steel or iron the mold life is extremely short. For lower melting point metals the mold life is longer but thermal fatigue and erosion usually limit the life to 10,000 to 120,000 cycles. The mold life is dependent on four factors: the mold material, the pouring temperature, the mold temperature, and the mold configuration. Molds made from gray cast iron can be more economical to produce but have short mold lives. On the other hand, molds made from H13 tool steel may have a mold life several times greater. The pouring temperature is dependent on the casting metal, but the higher the pouring temperature the shorter the mold life. A high pouring temperature can also induce shrinkage problems and create longer cycle times. If the mold temperature is too low misruns are produced, but if the mold temperature is too high then the cycle time is prolonged and mold erosion is increased. Large differences in section thickness in the mold or casting can decrease mold life as well.


Toyota Industries

 is a Japanese machine maker. Originally, and still actively , a manufacturer of automatic looms, it is the company from which Toyota Motor Corporation developed. It is the world's largest manufacturer of forklift trucks measured by revenues.
History.
1920s.
The company was founded on 18 November 1926 as Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, Ltd. by Sakichi Toyoda, the inventor of a series of manual and machine-powered looms. The most significant of these was the 1924 Toyoda Automatic Loom, Type G, a completely automatic high-speed loom featuring the ability to change shuttles without stopping and dozens of other innovations. At the time it was the world's most advanced loom, delivering a clear improvement in quality and a twenty-fold increase in productivity.
In 2007, this machine was registered as item No. 16 in the Mechanical Engineering Heritage of Japan as "a landmark achievement that advanced the global textile industry and laid the foundation for the development of the Toyota Group."
1930s.
In 1933, the company established its automobile department, led by Kiichiro Toyoda, the eldest son of Sakichi Toyoda. This department was spun off as Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. in 1937 and is now known as Toyota Motor Corporation. Toyota Industries is one of 13 core companies of the Toyota Group. The company owns 8.48% of Toyota Motor and is the largest shareholder (excluding trust revolving funds). As a countermeasure against hostile merger and acquisition attempts, Toyota Motor currently holds 24.92% of common stock of its origin Toyota Industries.
1940s.
In 1940, the steel production department of Toyota Industries was spun off as Toyota Steel Works Ltd. (present Aichi Steel Corporation). In 1944, Toyota Industries's Obu plant, which produces castings, began operations. Five years later, the Toyota Industries stock was listed on the Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya Stock Exchanges.
1950s.
In 1952, Toyota Industries began producing press die for automobiles. One year later the Kyowa plant began to assemble automobiles and produce engines. In 1956 Toyota unveiled the Model LA 1-ton lift truck, this was the company's first lift truck model. In 1957, Toyota Industries began producing D-type diesel engines. That same year, it launched the Model LAT .85-ton towing tractor. In the final year of the decade, Toyota Industries began producing the P-type gasoline engine.
1960s.
In 1960, the Kyowa plant was modified to only assemble lift trucks. That same year, the company began producing the shovel loader and three cylinder crank shaft type compressor. That same year, Toyota Industries' Development Laboratories and Toyota Central Research were established with funds from ten Toyota group companies. In 1964, Toyota Industries was recognized by Japan's Ministry of International trade and industry as one of the first Japanese companies to export. Toyota Industries also unveiled their new automated continuous spinning system. In 1967, the Toyota Publica entered into production at the company's Nagakusa plant. Toyota Industries had a monthly output of more than 1,000 units.
1970s.
In 1971, the company started assembling the Corolla. In 1973, Toyota Industries reached an output of 3,000 units. One year later, in 1974, production began on car air-conditioning compressors.
1980s.
In 1980, the company started producing the JA air. By 1984, the engine division of Toyota Industries was separated from the vehicle division. In 1986, Toyota Industries received the Deming Application prize for quality control implementation. In 1988 Toyota Industrial Equipment is created in Indiana, US.
1990s.
In 1991, Toyota Industries reached the landmark of 5 million units produced. A year later, it set up an Environmental Committee.
Current business.
Toyota Industries is active in five business areas: automotive, materials handling, electronics, logistics, and textile machinery.
Toyota-branded forklifts from Toyota Industries share the same logo as Toyota automobiles from Toyota Motor Corporation and are manufactured at the Toyota Material Handling Inc. (TMH), previously known as Toyota Industrial Equipment Manufacturing (TIEM), facility in Columbus, Indiana, for the US market.
Toyota Material Handling USA (TMHU) was formally a separate company, breaking out dealer and sales divisions of the North American business. Toyota Industrial Equipment Manufacturing (TIEM) was formally focused on engineering, manufacturing and responsible for the daily production of forklifts. In 2018, these two divisions merged, combining the sales and manufacturing business functions into one business entity, now known as Toyota Material Handling Inc. (TMH).
Toyota Industries Corporation is under contract from Toyota Motor Corporation for the production of the Toyota RAV4. The company manufactures automotive engines for use in Toyota-branded automobiles such as Avensis, Corolla, Crown, and Land Cruiser.
In 2000, Toyota Industries acquired the Swedish-based forklift truck corporation BT Industries, alongside BT's subsidiaries The Raymond Corporation and CESAB. Combined with Toyota Industries' materials handling division, this created the largest forklift company in the world, Toyota Material Handling Corporation.
In October 2012, Toyota Industries acquired Cascade Corp., a maker of attachments for forklifts, for a price of $728 million.
In 2017, Toyota Industries acquired Vanderlande, a manufacturer of automated material handling equipment, mostly for airports.
Looms.
In 2020, Toyota Industries was manufacturing two state-of-the-art looms: the JAT810 (air jet loom) and LWT810 (water jet loom). Both looms operate without shuttles. The water jet loom throws the weft through the warp threads using water, and thus can only be used with synthetic fibers. The air jet loom uses air to throw the weft, and thus can be use with any fiber.
Stock exchange.
The company's shares are traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange under symbol 6201.T.


Kaizen costing

Kaizen costing is a cost reduction system used after a product's design has been completed and it is in production. Business professor Yasuhiro Monden defines kaizen costing as
The Shogakukan Dictionary's original definition of Kaizen is translated as "“The act or making bad points better”." In English, the more popular definition of Kaizen is “Change for Better”. Many believe that the Kaizen meaning is “continuous improvement” but, Kaizen is a result of continuous improvement. It exists at the employee's level. The employee's goal is to reach their potential, challenge the status quo and achieve continual improvement.
Prior to kaizen costing, when the products are under the development phase, target costing is applied. After targets have been set, they are continuously updated to display past improvements and the projected (expected) improvements.
Monden has described two types of kaizen costing:
Adopting kaizen costing requires a change in the method of setting standards.
Kaizen costing focuses on "cost reduction" rather than "cost control".
Types of cost under consideration.
Kaizen costing takes into consideration costs related to the manufacturing stage, which include:


Microscanner

A microscanner, or micro scanning mirror, is a microoptoelectromechanical system (MOEMS) in the category of micromirror actuators for dynamic light modulation. Depending upon the type of microscanner, the modulatory movement of a single mirror can be either translatory or rotational, on one or two axes. In the first case, a phase shifting effect takes place. In the second case, the incident light wave is deflected.
Microscanners are different from spatial light modulators and other micromirror actuators which need a matrix of individually addressable mirrors in order to accomplish the desired modulation at any yield. If a single array mirror accomplishes the desired modulation but is operated in parallel with other array mirrors to increase light yield, then the term microscanner array is used.
Characteristics.
Common chip dimensions are 4 mm × 5 mm for mirror diameters between 1 and 3 mm. Larger mirror apertures with side measurements of up to approx. 10 mm × 3 mm can also be produced. The scan frequencies depend upon the design and mirror size and range between 0.1 and 50 kHz. The deflection movement is either resonant or quasi-static. With microscanners that are capable of tilting movement, light can be directed over a projection plane.
Many applications requires that a surface is addressed instead of only a single line. For these applications, actuation using a Lissajous pattern can accomplish sinusoidal scan motion, or double resonant operation. Mechanical deflection angles of micro scanning devices reach up to ±30°. Translational (piston type) microscanners, can attain a mechanical stroke of up to approx. ±500 μm. This configuration is energy efficient, but requires complicated control electronics. For high end display applications the common choice is raster scanning, where a resonant scanner (for the longer display dimension) is paired with quasi-static scanner (for the shorter dimension).
Drive principles.
The required drive forces for the mirror movement can be provided by various physical principles. In practice, the relevant principles for driving such a mirror are the electromagnetic, electrostatic, thermoelectric, and piezoelectric effects. Because the physical principles differ in their advantages and disadvantages, the driving principle is chosen according to the application. Specifically, the mechanical solutions required for resonant scanning are very different for those of quasi-static scanning. Thermoelectric actuators are not applicable for high-frequency resonant scanners, but the other three principles can be applied to the full spectrum of applications.
For resonant scanners, one often employed configuration is the indirect drive. In an indirect drive, a small motion in a larger mass is coupled to a large motion in a smaller mass (the mirror) through mechanical amplification at a favorable mode shape. This is in contrast to the more common direct drive, where the actuator mechanism moves the mirror directly. Indirect drives have been implemented for electromagnetic, electrostatic, as well as piezoelectric actuators. Existing piezoelectric scanners are more efficient using direct drive.
Electrostatic actuators offer high power similar to electromagnetic drives. In contrast to an electromagnetic drive, the resulting drive force between the drive structures cannot be reversed in polarity. For the realization of quasi-static components with positive and negative effective direction, two drives with positive and negative polarity are required. As a rule of thumb, vertical comb drives are utilized here. Nevertheless, the highly non-linear drive characteristics in some parts of the deflection area can be hindering for controlling the mirror properly. For that reason many highly developed microscanners today utilize a resonant mode of operation, where an eigenmode is activated. Resonant operation is the most energy-efficient. For beam positioning and applications which are to be static-actuated or linearized-scanned, quasi-static drives are required and therefore of great interest.
Magnetic actuators offer very good linearity of the tilt angle versus the applied signal amplitude, both in static and dynamic operation. The working principle is that a metallic coil is placed on the moving MEMS mirror itself and as the mirror is placed in a magnetic field, the alternating current flowing in the coil generates Lorentz force that tilts the mirror. Magnetic actuation can either be used for actuating 1D or 2D MEMS mirrors. Another characteristic of the magnetically actuated MEMS mirror is the fact that low voltage is required (below 5V) making this actuation compatible with standard CMOS voltage. An advantage of such an actuation type is that MEMS behaviour does not present hysteresis, as opposed to electrostatic actuated MEMS mirrors, which make it very simple to control. Power consumption of magnetically actuated MEMS mirrors can be as low as 0.04 mW.
Thermoelectric drives produce high driving forces, but they present a few technical drawbacks inherent to their fundamental principle. The actuator has to be thermally well insulated from the environment, as well as being preheated in order to prevent thermal drift due to environmental influences. That is why the necessary heat output and power consumption for a thermal bimorph actuator is relatively high. One further disadvantage is the comparably low displacement which needs to be leveraged to reach usable mechanical deflections. Also thermal actuators are not suitable for high frequency operation due to significant low pass behaviour.
Piezoelectric drives produce high force, but as with electrothermal actuators the stroke length is short. Piezoelectric drives are, however, less susceptible to thermal environmental influences and can also transmit high-frequency drive signals well. To achieve the desired angle some mechanism utilizing mechanical amplification will be required for most applications. This has proven to be difficult for quasi-static scanners, although there are promising approaches in the literature using long meandering flexures for deflection amplification. For resonant rotational scanners, on the other hand, scanners using piezoelectric actuation combined with an indirect drive are the highest performer in terms of scan angle and working frequency. However, the technology is newer than electrostatic and electromagnetic drives and remains to be implemented in commercial products.
Fields of Application.
Applications for tilting microscanners are numerous and include:
Some of the applications for piston type microscanners are:
Manufacture.
Microscanners are usually manufactured with surface or bulk micromechanic processes. As a rule, silicon or BSOI (bonded silicon on insulator) are used.
Advantages and disadvantages of microscanners.
Microscanners are smaller, lower mass, and consume smaller amounts of power compared to macroscopic light modulators such as galvanometer scanners. Additionally, microscanners can be integrated with other electronic components such as position sensors. Microscanners are resistant to environmental influences, and can tolerate humidity, dust, physical shocks in some models up to 2500g, and can operate in temperatures from -20 °C to +80 °C.
With current manufacturing technology microscanners can suffer from high costs and long lead times to delivery. This is an active area of process improvement


Equal channel angular extrusion

Equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE) called also equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) is one technique from the Severe Plastic Deformation (SPD) group, aimed at producing Ultra Fine Grained (UFG) material. Developed in the Soviet Union in 1973 by Segal.  However, the dates are not always consistent. In industrial metalworking, it is an extrusion process, The technique is able to refine the microstructure of metals and alloys, thereby improving their strength according to the Hall-Petch relationship. This process improves not only the strength but also other properties such as corrosion and wear resistance of alloys and compounds.
ECAE is unique because significant cold work can be accomplished without reduction in the cross sectional area of the deformed workpiece. In conventional deformation processes like rolling, forging, extrusion, and drawing, strain is introduced by reduction in the cross sectional area. ECAE produces significant deformation strain without reducing the cross sectional area. This is accomplished by extruding the work piece around a corner. For example, a square cross section bar of metal is forced through a channel with a 90° degree angle. The cross section of the channel is equal on entry and exit. The complex deformation of the metal as it flows around the corner produces very high strain. Because the cross section remains the same, a work piece can be extruded multiple times with each pass introducing additional strain.
Die design is critical because of the large forces required.
To reduce the friction of the pushed sample is lubricated with grease for example mixture of graphite and oil, and to reduce the forces, the process is sometimes carried out at elevated temperatures but then recrystallization can occur which can also leads to excessive grain growth at elevated temperature.
There are some modifications of the process e.g. incremental ECAP (I-ECAP) for the production of continuous products.
Process routes.
The process can be carried out in multiple passes. According to the rotation angle and direction between next passes, there can be four fundamental process routes named A, Ba, Bc, and C:
Finite element method in the ECAE process.
The behave during deformation and flow of the material, are analyzed by scientists and there are many articles on computer simulation, finite element method is one of the important approaches to understand the deformation occurring in the ECAE process.
See also.
Severe plastic deformation
Strengthening mechanisms of materials


Arc spring

The arc spring (also known as - bow spring, curved spring, circular spring or "banana" spring) is a special form of coil spring which was originally developed for use in the dual-mass flywheel of internal combustion engine drive trains. The term "arc spring" is used to describe pre-curved or arc-shaped helical compression springs. They have an arc-shaped coil axis.
Function.
Like other technical springs, arc springs are based on the fundamental principle of storing mechanical work in the form of potential energy and the ability to release this energy again. The force is applied through the ends of the spring. A torque formula_1 can be transmitted around an axis via the force formula_2 directed along this helical axis and the lever arm to the system center point formula_3. The wire of the arc spring is mainly subjected to torsional stress.
Support.
An arc spring requires suitable support to transmit torque. The support is usually provided from the outside in the form of an arcuate channel (sliding shell) or radially shaped support plates. This prevents buckling of the arc spring. Another result of this support is a hysteresis between the loading and unloading curves in the characteristic curve. This results from the friction of the spring on the radial support and is an intended effect to achieve damping in the system.
Arc spring systems.
As with compression springs, spring systems can also be used for arc springs. The main designs are series and parallel connection. With these, single-stage or multi-stage spring characteristics can be achieved. In order to make optimum use of the available space, systems consisting of inner and outer arc springs are often used.
In addition, the spring characteristic can be influenced by other parameters such as the cross-sectional geometry of the wire, the coil diameter or the number of coils. CAD configurators, which generate a CAD model after entering certain parameters, can contribute to optimal design.
Applications.
The arc spring is suitable for static and quasi-static as well as dynamic applications. Examples include:
Materials and their standardization.
In principle, the spring steels used for ordinary coil springs can also be used for arc springs. These are:


Kemet International Limited

Kemet International Limited, based in Maidstone, Kent UK, is involved with precision lapping and polishing technology using diamond media, composite lapping plates and precision lapping and polishing machines to produce polished finishes with close tolerances. In 1998 Kemet was Britain's largest supplier and manufacturer of diamond compounds and slurries.
Kemet has four divisions covering flat lapping and polishing, Tool and Die, Metallographic and Petrographic specimen preparation and Ultrasonic cleaning with aqueous media.
History.
The company was formed in September 1938, initially as an importer of equipment for the aircraft industry, which included precision machinery and small tools for the fabrication of ball bearing races for gyroscopes as well as woodworking machines to help manufacture the Mosquito fighter aircraft used in World War 2.
In 1953 manufacture started on a range of diamond abrasive pastes, which for the first time enabled precision components to be polished to a specified surface finish with guaranteed reproducible results. Developed in the first instance for use in the production of moulds and tools for the rapidly expanding plastics industry, as well as the precision polishing of hard materials and ceramics, diamond pastes now form just part of the Kemet product range.
In the early 1970s, a series of metal/resin composite lapping plates were developed which meant that for the first time a wide range of materials, including materials of different harnesses, could be flat lapped and polished to a higher specification than was previously achievable.
Shortly afterwards, a new division was set up to concentrate specifically on flat lapping using the technology of the Kemet composite plates. The result of this new venture was the introduction of a range of liquid diamond products and precision flat lapping machines developed for production lapping applications.
In February 1989, Kemet International obtained ISO 9001:2008 certification for the manufacture of diamond lapping and polishing products. This was extended soon afterwards to include Kemet composite lapping plates.
In 2009, Kemet International Limited won the . In 2014 Kemet International won the southern regional categories of the British Chambers of Commerce Awards 2014.
Subsidiary companies.
Kemet Europe was established in 1965 in the Netherlands, Kemet Australia in 1972, and Kemet Far East in Singapore in 1983. Kemet Far East obtained ISO 9001:2008 certification in July 2000.
The turnover of Kemet International and the subsidiary companies was £15.4m ($25m) in September 2014
Between 2002 -2008, Kemet International set up Kemet China as a sales company and entered into joint ventures to establish Kemet Japan and Kemet Korea.
Services.
Kemet offers training courses both in- house and on the customer’s premises covering all lapping and polishing activities. Kemet also offers a contract lapping service for customers who do not want to buy the equipment. Contract lapping is also covered under ISO 9001:2008
Research and development.
Kemet has set up dedicated research and development facilities in the UK to optimise customers’ processes for lapping and polishing application and to develop new products.
Recently new process developments facilities have been opened covering metallographic and petrographic sample preparation and ultrasonic cleaning with aqueous- based media.
In 2013 new R&D facilities were built in Singapore to cover high precision lapping and polishing process development for the electronics industry in SE Asia and China


Calcium stearoyl-2-lactylate

Calcium stearoyl-2-lactylate (calcium stearoyl lactylate or CSL) or E482 is a versatile, FDA approved food additive. It is one type of a commercially available lactylate. CSL is non-toxic, biodegradable, and typically manufactured using biorenewable feedstocks. Because CSL is a safe and highly effective food additive, it is used in a wide variety of products from baked goods and desserts to packaging.
As described by the Food Chemicals Codex 7th edition, CSL is a cream-colored powder. CSL is currently manufactured by the esterification of stearic acid and lactic acid with partial neutralization using food-grade hydrated lime (calcium hydroxide). Commercial grade CSL is a mixture of calcium salts of stearoyl lactic acid, with minor proportions of other salts of related acids. The HLB for CSL is 5.1. It is slightly soluble in hot water. The pH of a 2% aqueous suspension is approximately 4.7.
Food labeling requirements.
To be labeled as CSL for sale within the United States, the product must conform to the specifications detailed in 21 CFR 172.844. In the EU, the product must conform to the specifications detailed in Regulation (EC) No 96/77. Tests for these specifications can be found in the Food Chemical Codex. Acceptance criteria for these two regions are as follows:
To be labeled as CSL for sale in other regions, the product must conform to the specifications detailed in that region's codex.
Food applications and maximum use levels.
CSL finds widespread application in baked goods, cereals, pastas, instant rice, desserts, icings, fillings, puddings, toppings, sugar confectionaries, powdered beverage mixes, creamers, cream liqueurs, dehydrated potatoes, snack dips, sauces, gravies, chewing gum, dietetic foods, minced and diced canned meats, and "mostarda di frutta". In the United States, approved uses and use levels are described in 21 CFR 172.844, 21 CFR 176.170 and 21 CFR 177.120. while the corresponding regulations in the EU are listed in Regulation (EC) No 95/2.
The largest application of CSL is in yeast leavened bakery products. Although CSL was introduced to the market first, most applications use SSL. The main reason for the preference of SSL over CSL is that CSL has less crumb softening effects than SSL. However, CSL is still preferred in some applications, such as lean hearth bread-type formulations. In these applications, CSL is preferred because CSL performs better than SSL as a dough strengthener, while the finished product does not require a soft crumb or a perfectly symmetrical loaf shape.


Precision mechanics

Precision mechanics (also "fine mechanics") is an engineering discipline that deals with the design and construction of smaller precision machines, often including measuring and control mechanisms of different kinds.
The study may be further defined as the practices of rigid body kinematics to the positioning and holding of objects on the micrometre scale and smaller.


Discbox slider

The discbox slider (also called DBS) is a 100% carton board optical disc packaging concept developed by the multinational paper and board company Stora Enso.
The case is comparable with the plastic jewel or Amaray case when it comes to size, but has more of the features of the LP style cases in terms of weight and printability. The DBS case opens up from the side by moving the slider part (on which the disc is resting) from the sleeve. The Discbox Slider is also considered as an environmentally friendly prerecorded media packaging option as it is 100% recyclable and manufactured using sustainable processes.
The Discbox slider has two packaging formats: the small-sized DBS CD for CD-sized packaging, and the DBS DVD for DVD-sized packaging (a DVD case which is available both in normal and slim size). The DBS CD case can hold 1–2 discs and a booklet, whereas the DBS DVD cases can hold 1–3 discs and booklet. The DVD-sized case is increasingly being adopted for Blu-ray releases. The Discbox Slider (DBS) packaging is currently being used by record labels and movie studios worldwide.
Many covermount CDs released in British magazine Mixmag used to be packaged in a Discbox slider. This format replaced the standard jewel case which in turn was replaced by a simple cardboard sleeve.


Process manufacturing

Process manufacturing is a branch of manufacturing that is associated with formulas and manufacturing recipes, and can be contrasted with discrete manufacturing, which is concerned with discrete units, bills of materials and the assembly of components. Process manufacturing is also referred to as a 'process industry' which is defined as an industry, such as the chemical or petrochemical industry, that is concerned with the processing of bulk resources into other products.
Process manufacturing is common in the food, beverage, chemical, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, consumer packaged goods, cannabis, and biotechnology industries. In process manufacturing, the relevant factors are ingredients, not parts; formulas, not bills of materials; and bulk materials rather than individual units. Although there is invariably cross-over between the two branches of manufacturing, the major contents of the finished product and the majority of the resource intensity of the production process generally allow manufacturing systems to be classified as one or the other. For example, a bottle of juice is a discrete item, but juice is process manufactured. The plastic used in injection moulding is process manufactured, but the components it is shaped into are generally discrete, and subject to further assembly.
Formulation.
Formulation is a simple concept, but it is often incorrectly equated with a bill of materials. Formulation specifies the ingredients and the amounts (e.g., pounds, gallons, liters) needed to make the product. The first thing to recognize is that to be able to work with a formula, the units of measure must correspond; a flexible unit of measure conversion engine running under an ERP software cover is needed. Furthermore, conversion rules must be specified to account for the unique requirements of the business in question. This formulation then needs to be scaled up to the development and then manufacturing scales, and must often be transferred and validated in different manufacturing sites around the world.
The proportions of ingredients in a formula also highlight the need for another feature, namely scalability. A formula to make 500 liters of a chemical must be scalable to make 250 liters or 1,000 liters. Another aspect of scalability is that it makes possible manufacturing based on how much of an ingredient is available. An example will illustrate this point. If you are making a car and only have two of the required four tires, you cannot make half a car. In other words, you must have all the parts in the required quantities to make the finished product; they are not scalable. But in process manufacturing, if you want to make 1,000 gallons of soda and you only have 500 gallons of the required 1,000 gallons of carbonated water, you have the option of making half as much soda. In process manufacturing you can make as much of a finished product as is specified in the formula for the smallest quantity in stock of one of the ingredients.
Packaging.
A packaging recipe is similar to a formula, but rather than describing the proportion of ingredients, it specifies how the finished product gets to its final assembly. A packaging recipe addresses such things as containers, labels, corrugated cartons, and shrink-wrapping. In process manufacturing, the finished product is usually produced in bulk, but is rarely delivered in bulk form to the customer. For example, the beverage manufacturer makes soda in batches of thousands of gallons. However, a consumer purchases soda in 12-ounce aluminum cans, or in 16-ounce plastic bottles, or in 1-liter bottles. And a restaurateur may have the option of getting a 5- or 50-gallon metal container with the beverage in syrup form, so that carbonated water can be added later.
Why is this concept important? Compare how often Coca-Cola changes the formula for Coke with how often the packaging is changed. If the formula and packaging recipes are linked, then every time the packaging changes, the formula would need modification. Likewise, when the formula is changed, all of the packaging recipes would have to be changed. This increases maintenance costs and chances for error. In process manufacturing, the formula for making the product and the recipe for packaging the product exist in separate structures to reduce the ongoing maintenance function. There is a difference between discrete manufacturing and process manufacturing in terms of flow patterns. An example given is that discrete manufacturing follows an "A" type process and process manufacturing follows a “V” type process.
In the production cycle, a work order or process order is issued to make the product in bulk. Separate pack orders are issued to signify how the bulk material is to be containerized and shipped to the customer. This is important in process industries that make “brite” stock or private labels. For example, large grocery chains sell products, such as soups, soda, and meats, under their own brand names, hence "private labels". But these chains do not have their own manufacturing plants; they contract for these products. In the case of soups, process manufacturers create and warehouse nondescript, unlabeled (hence “brite”) aluminum cans of soup. (Since the cans are filled, sealed, and then cooked under pressure, their shelf life is long.)
By separating the product formula from a packaging recipe, a production or process order can be issued to make and store the cans of soup and later, when the customer is ready to order soup, a work order can be issued to label the cans according to customer specifications before they are shipped to the store. Thus segregation of the formula and pack recipe makes the world of process manufacturing efficient and effective.
Process manufacturing systems and methodologies.
Enterprise resource planning
Just like the products that they produce, discrete manufacturing and process manufacturing use different Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems which have different focal points and solve different problems. For the same reason that the proverbial square peg does not fit in the round hole, ERP software geared toward discrete manufacturing, or even hybrid manufacturing will not work smoothly in a process manufacturing setting. With process manufacturing, the end-product is unable to be broken down to its original ingredients, for example beer or pasta sauce. Thus, the ERP software must be able to account for these intricacies in its ability to convert and transform raw materials to finished goods. Critical aspects such as recipe formulation, forward and backward lot traceability, handling of mixed units of measure and conversion, raw material calculations, and scalable batch tickets with revision tracking and recording of manufacturing steps and production notes are specific to process manufacturers and key functionality of process manufacturing ERP systems. An example is the SAP module, Production Planning - Process Industries (PP-PI).
In Process Inspections and Statistical Process Control
In process inspection for process manufacturing refers to inspection at any point in producing a product, and is also referred to as in process product verification. The objective of in process inspection is to ensure the requirements of the product are being met before they are finalized and continue to the next stage. Identifying a problem at an early stage in the production process allows for correction and preventative action to avoid wasted time and resources at the end of a production run.
Statistical Process Control complements process manufacturing and in process inspections to ensure that the process operates efficiently, producing more specification-conforming products with less waste (rework or scrap).
Process approach in Management Systems
The process approach is one of seven quality management principles that ISO management system standards are based on, and includes establishing the organization’s processes to operate as an
integrated and complete system.
In Food processing, complying product has to come from a process to comply, in comparison to discrete manufacturing where a finished product is inspected to comply. An example how the process approach complements a process industry is implementation of ISO 22000 as a Food Safety Management System (FSMS). The process approach involves the systematic definition and management of processes, and their interactions, so as to achieve the intended results in accordance with the food safety policy and strategic direction of the organization. Management of the processes and the system as a whole can be achieved using the PDCA cycle, with an overall focus on risk-based thinking aimed at taking advantage of opportunities and preventing undesirable results.
Further reading.
Salimi, Fabienne; Salimi, Frederic, A Systems Approach to Managing the Complexities of Process Industries, 2017


Atomic hydrogen welding

Atomic hydrogen welding (AHW or Athydo) is an arc welding process that uses an arc between two tungsten electrodes in a shielding atmosphere of hydrogen. The process was invented by Irving Langmuir in the course of his studies of atomic hydrogen. The electric arc efficiently breaks up the hydrogen molecules, which later recombine with tremendous release of heat, reaching temperatures from 3400 to 4000 °C. Without the arc, an oxyhydrogen torch can only reach 2800 °C. This is the third-hottest flame after dicyanoacetylene at 4987 °C and cyanogen at 4525 °C. An acetylene torch merely reaches 3300 °C. This device may be called an atomic hydrogen torch, nascent hydrogen torch or Langmuir torch. The process was also known as arc-atom welding.
The heat produced by this torch is sufficient to weld tungsten (3422 °C), the most refractory metal. The presence of hydrogen also acts as a shielding gas, preventing oxidation and contamination by carbon, nitrogen or oxygen, which can severely damage the properties of many metals. It eliminates the need of flux for this purpose.
The arc is maintained independently of the workpiece or parts being welded. The hydrogen gas is normally diatomic (H2), but where the temperatures are over near the arc, the hydrogen breaks down into its atomic form, absorbing a large amount of heat from the arc. When the hydrogen strikes a relatively cold surface (i.e. the weld zone), it recombines into its diatomic form, releasing the energy associated with the formation of that bond. The energy in AHW can be varied easily by changing the distance between the arc stream and the workpiece surface.
In atomic hydrogen welding, filler metal may or may not be used. In this process, the arc is maintained entirely independent of the work or parts being welded. The work is a part of the electrical circuit only to the extent that a portion of the arc comes in contact with the work, at which time a voltage exists between the work and each electrode.
This process is being replaced by gas metal-arc welding, mainly because of the availability of inexpensive inert gases.


Bremen Castings

Bremen Castings, Inc (BCI) is a 4th generation family owned manufacturer of machined complete gray & ductile iron castings for heavy truck, valves & pipe fittings, pump components, compressors, lawn/garden equipment, and military contract work. BCI is headquartered in Bremen, Indiana.
History.
Bremen Gray Iron Foundry was founded on March 17, 1939 by Ellis Brown, Charles W. Kling, and Harold Heckamen. The foundry originally produced fire pots, stove parts, furnace, shaker, and laundry grates for its customers. Suppliers included Hurwich Iron where they purchased cupola/steel materials, I.O. Pfeiffer Construction who helped build the foundry and install equipment, and Koontz Hardware where various supplies were purchased. All of these early suppliers are still in business today and continue to have close relationships with BCI.
In 1972, the company changed its name to Bremen Castings, Inc.
Starting in the mid-1990s, Bremen Castings started to expand beyond casting. The foundry's machine shop opened in 1996 and the tool shop opened in 2009.
BCI Defense began in December 2012 and currently manufacturers firearms and Firearm parts from 7075 aluminium alloy, specifically the AR-15 style rifle.
Machining.
In 1996 BCI launched its own internal machine shop with the new addition of a facility to the existing foundry with the expectations to diversify across many markets. This forced quality and engineering to grow to be diverse in both machining and foundry. This gives BCI the advantage for both departments to communicate before the product launch for a lower total start up cost. BCI purchased its first CNC machines in 1996 and now has over 17 CNC machines in its arsenal.
BCI continues to grow. In 2011 BCI opened its 55,000 SFT facility to house all machine centers and host all assemblies.
Bremen Castings also creates prototypes using solidification software and runs solidification simulations as a means of scrap reduction.
Foundry.
Bremen Castings foundry produces castings made from recycled materials such as plate and structural steel and old cast products. A Cupola and medium frequency furnaces are used at the foundry for melting recycled materials to be poured into green sand molds produced by match plate molding machines. Once the metal has been cast and shaken out, the products flow through the state of the art cleaning room (mill room) then on its way to the CNC machining centers.
Engineering.
To help design casting models, BCI also creates prototypes and production models using MagmaSoft solidification software. The engineers are able to pre-determine scrap issues prior to production with solidification simulations and as a result they have been able to reduce the amount of scrap produced at start up of a new product launch.
The engineers at Bremen Castings are a full production staff handling product design, steel weldment conversions and existing products. All tooling and fixtures can be designed and built in house. BCI Engineering software consists of: MagmaSoft Solidification software, Vero Software (Visi), and CAD/CAM/CAE software for aiding the design and manufacturing process.
Status Quo Sucks.
The Status Quo Sucks (SQS) team was created to lead BCI in its goal to implement Lean Practices and eliminate waste throughout the organization. By incorporating a cultural change to a team concept, each individual at BCI has an ownership of sustainability and improvement with everything the employee touches. When the SQS team launches an improvement project, a well rounded team is assembled and a problem or situation is strategically attacked and resolved through a group effort.
Recycling.
BCI has been Bremen's largest recycling plant and product producer by weight. In an effort to reduce paper usage and to increase productivity, BCI has adopted a paperless office policy, and as of 2011, BCI has eliminated 85% of paper waste through technology such as iPad, iPhone, iPod, floor monitors, and electronic filing cabinet software.


Simplic

The Simplic was a cyclecar manufactured from 1914 onwards by George Wadden in Surrey, England. Wadden was a hairdresser who took over the business that had produced the Autotrix. The first Simplic was a 4-wheeled vehicle powered by a 5/6 hp air-cooled JAP engine. Transmission was by epicyclic gear and belt final drive. Production stopped later that year due to World War I.
Wadden redesigned the car at the end of the war, and the Simplic now featured an 8/10 hp JAP engine and twin speed chain drive. Although selling for only £185, and advertised as "Positively the best value in Cyclecars", production ended in 1923.


Substrate mapping

Substrate mapping (or wafer mapping) is a process in which the performance of semiconductor devices on a substrate is represented by a map showing the performance as a colour-coded grid. The map is a convenient representation of the variation in performance across the substrate, since the distribution of those variations may be a clue as to their cause.
The concept also includes the package of data generated by modern wafer testing equipment which can be transmitted to equipment used for subsequent 'back-end' manufacturing operations.
History.
 The initial process supported by substrate maps was inkless binning.
Each tested die is assigned a bin value, depending on the result of the test. For example, a pass die is assigned a bin value of 1 for a good bin, bin 10 for an open circuit, and bin 11 for a short circuit. In the very early days of wafer test, the dies were put in different bins or buckets, depending on the test results.
Physical binning may no longer be used, but the analogy is still good. The next step in the process was to mark the failing dies with ink, so that during assembly only uninked dies were used for die attachment and final assembly. The inking step may be skipped if the assembly equipment is able to access the information in the maps generated by the test equipment.
A wafer map is where the substrate map applies to an entire wafer, while a substrate map is mapping in other areas of the semiconductors process including frames, trays and strips.
E142.
As with many items in the Semiconductor process area, also for this process step there are standards available. The latest and most potential standard is the E142 standard, provided by the SEMI organization. This standard has been approved via ballots for release in 2005.
It supports many possible substrate maps, including the ones named above. While the old standards could only support standard bin maps, representing bin information, this standard also support transfermaps, which can help in tracing back dies on strips to the locations they come from off the wafer for example.


List of Boeing 787 orders and deliveries

This article lists the orders and deliveries for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. As of December 2022, the largest airline order is by United Airlines for 170 aircraft.
Orders and deliveries.
Orders and deliveries by type and year.
Boeing 787 orders and deliveries (cumulative, by year):
Orders and deliveries .
Orders and deliveries sortable, presorted by customer.
Data through February 2023.
Orders and deliveries graph.
Data through February 2023.


Discrete manufacturing

Discrete manufacturing is the production of distinct items. Automobiles, furniture, toys, smartphones, and aeroplanes are examples of discrete manufacturing products. The resulting products are easily identifiable and differ greatly from process manufacturing where the products are undifferentiated, for example oil, natural gas and salt.
Discrete manufacturing is often characterized by individual or separate unit production. Units can be produced in low volume with very high complexity or high volumes of low complexity. Low volume/high complexity production results in the need for a flexible manufacturing system that can improve quality and time-to-market speed while cutting costs. High volume/low complexity production puts high premiums on inventory controls, lead times and reducing or limiting materials costs and waste.
Industry Profile - Discrete Manufacturing includes makers of consumer electronics, computer and accessories, appliances, and other household items, as well as "big ticket” consumer and commercial goods like cars and aeroplanes. Discrete Manufacturing companies make physical products that go directly to businesses and consumers, and assemblies that are used by other manufacturers.
The processes deployed in discrete manufacturing are not continuous in nature. Each process can be individually started or stopped and can be run at varying production rates. The final product may be produced out of single or multiple inputs. Producing a steel structure will need only one type of raw material - steel. Producing a mobile phone requires many different inputs. The plastic case, LCD display, the mainboard, PVC keypad, sockets, cables are made from different materials, at different places. This is different from Process manufacturing like production of paper or petroleum refining, where the end product is obtained by a continuous process or a set of continuous processes.
Production capacity of the factory as a whole in discrete manufacturing is impossible to calculate. It is the question of common sense that how can one calculate the production capacity of its multiple characterize different products because the production time and machine setups of the parts produced are different from each other.


List of computer hardware manufacturers

Current notable computer hardware manufacturers:
Cases.
List of computer case manufacturers:
Motherboards.
Top motherboard manufacturers:
List of mainboard manufacturers:
"Defunct":
Central processing units (CPUs).
Note: most of these companies only make designs, and do not manufacture their own designs.
Top x86 CPU manufacturers:
List of CPU manufacturers (most of the companies sell ARM-based CPUs, assumed if nothing else stated):
Hard disk drives (HDDs).
Internal.
List of current hard disk drive manufacturers:
External.
Note: the HDDs internal to these devices are manufactured only by the internal HDD manufacturers listed above.
List of external hard disk drive manufacturers:
Solid-state drives (SSDs).
Many companies manufacture SSDs but only six companies actually manufacture the NAND flash devices that are the storage element in most SSDs.
Optical disc drives (ODDs).
List of optical disc drive manufacturers:
Computer cooling systems.
List of computer cooling system manufacturers:
Non-refillable liquid cooling (AiO).
List of non-refillable liquid cooling manufacturers:
Refillable liquid cooling kits.
List of refillable liquid cooling kits manufacturers:
Water block.
List of water block manufacturers:
Video-card cooling.
List of graphics card cooling manufacturers:
Computer monitors.
List of companies that are actively manufacturing and selling computer monitors:
Video cards (graphics cards).
List of video card manufacturers:
Keyboards.
List of keyboard manufacturers:
Mouse.
List of mouse manufacturers:
Mouse pads.
List of mouse pad manufacturers:
Joysticks.
List of Joystick manufacturers:
Speakers.
List of computer speaker manufacturers:
Modems.
List of modem manufacturers:
Network interface cards (NICs).
List of network card manufacturers:
Chipsets for network cards.
There are a number of other companies (AMD, Microchip, Altera, etc) making specialized chipsets as part of other ICs, and they are not often found in PC hardware (laptop, desktop or server). There are also a number of now defunct companies (like 3com, DEC, SGI) that produced network related chipsets for us in general computers.
Power supply units (PSUs).
List of power supply unit (PSU) manufacturers:
Random-access memory (RAM) modules.
Note that the actual memory chips are manufactured by a small number of DRAM manufacturers. List of memory module manufacturers:
Random-access memory (RAM) chips.
List of current DRAM manufacturers:
List of former or defunct DRAM manufacturers:
List of fabless DRAM companies:
In addition, other semiconductor manufacturers include SRAM or eDRAM embedded in larger chips.
Headphones.
List of headphone manufacturers:
Image scanners.
List of image scanner manufacturers:
Sound cards.
List of sound card manufacturers:
TV tuner cards.
List of TV tuner card manufacturers:
USB flash drives.
List of USB flash drive manufacturers:
Webcams.
List of webcam manufacturers:
Gaming chair.
List of gaming chair manufacturers:


Electron-beam technology

Since the mid-20th century, electron-beam technology has provided the basis for a variety of novel and specialized applications in semiconductor manufacturing, microelectromechanical systems, nanoelectromechanical systems, and microscopy.
Mechanism.
Free electrons in a vacuum can be manipulated by electric and magnetic fields to form a fine beam. Where the beam collides with solid-state matter, electrons are converted into heat or kinetic energy. This concentration of energy in a small volume of matter can be precisely controlled electronically, which brings many advantages.
Applications.
The rapid increase of temperature at the location of impact can quickly melt a target material. In extreme working conditions, the rapid temperature increase can even lead to evaporation, making an electron beam an excellent tool in heating applications, such as welding. Electron beam technology is used in cable-isolation treatment, in electron lithography of sub-micrometer and nano-dimensional images, in microelectronics for electron-beam curing of color printing and for the fabrication and modification of polymers, including liquid-crystal films, among many other applications.
Furnaces.
In a vacuum, the electron beam provides a source of heat that can melt or modify any material. This source of heat or phase transformation is absolutely sterile due to the vacuum and scull of solidified metal around the cold copper crucible walls. This ensures that the purest materials can be produced and refined in electron-beam vacuum furnaces. Rare and refractory metals can be produced or refined in small-volume vacuum furnaces. For mass production of steels, large furnaces with capacity measured in metric tons and electron-beam power in megawatts exist in industrialized countries.
Welding.
Since the beginning of electron-beam welding on an industrial scale at the end of the 1950s, countless electron-beam welders have been designed and are being used worldwide. These welders feature working vacuum chambers ranging from a few liters up to hundreds of cubic meters, with electron guns carrying power of up to 100 kW.
Surface treatments.
Modern electron-beam welders are usually designed with a computer-controlled deflection system that can traverse the beam rapidly and accurately over a selected area of the work piece. Thanks to the rapid heating, only a thin surface layer of the material is heated. Applications include hardening, annealing, tempering, texturing, and polishing (with argon gas present). If the electron beam is used to cut a shallow trough in the surface, repeatedly moving it horizontally along the trough at high speeds creates a small pile of ejected melted metal. With repetition, spike structures of up to a millimeter in height can be created. These structures can aid bonding between different materials and modify the surface roughness of the metal.
Additive manufacturing.
Additive manufacturing is the process of joining materials to make objects from 3D model data, usually by melting powder material layer upon layer. Melting in a vacuum by using a computer-controlled scanning electron beam is highly precise. Electron-beam direct manufacturing (DM) is the first commercially available, large-scale, fully programmable means of achieving near net shape parts.
Metal powder production.
The source billet metal is melted by an electron beam while being spun vigorously. Powder is produced as the metal cools when flying off the metal bar.
Machining.
Electron-beam machining is a process in which high-velocity electrons are concentrated into a narrow beam with a very high planar power density. The beam cross-section is then focused and directed toward the work piece, creating heat and vaporizing the material. Electron-beam machining can be used to accurately cut or bore a wide variety of metals. The resulting surface finish is better and kerf width is narrower than what can be produced by other thermal cutting processes. However, due to high equipment costs, the use of this technology is limited to high-value products.
Lithography.
An electron lithograph is produced by a very finely focused electron beam, which creates micro-structures in the resist that can subsequently be transferred to the substrate material, often by etching. It was originally developed for manufacturing integrated circuits and is also used for creating nanotechnology architectures. Electron lithographs uses electron beams with diameters ranging from two nanometers up to hundreds of nanometers. The electron lithograph is also used to produce computer-generated holograms (CGH). Maskless electron lithography has found wide usage in photomask making for photolithography, low-volume production of semiconductor components, and research and development activities.
Physical-vapor-deposition solar-cell production.
Physical vapor deposition takes place in a vacuum and produces a thin film of solar cells by depositing thin layers of metals onto a backing structure.
Electron-beam evaporation uses thermionics emission to create a stream of electrons that are accelerated by a high-voltage cathode and anode arrangement. Electrostatic and magnetic fields focus and direct the electrons to strike a target. The kinetic energy is transformed into thermal energy at or near the surface of the material. The resulting heating causes the material to melt and then evaporate. Temperatures in excess of 3500 degrees Celsius can be reached. The vapor from the source condenses onto a substrate, creating a thin film of high-purity material. Film thicknesses from a single atomic layer to many micrometers can be achieved. This technique is used in microelectronics, optics, and material research, and to produce solar cells and many other products.
Curing and sterilization.
Electron-beam curing is a method of curing paints and inks without the need for traditional solvent. Electron-beam curing produces a finish similar to that of traditional solvent-evaporation processes, but achieves that finish through a polymerization process. E-beam processing is also used to cross-link polymers to make them more resistant to thermal, mechanical or chemical stresses.
E-beam processing has been used for the sterilization of medical products and aseptic packaging materials for foods, as well as disinfestation, the elimination of live insects from grain, tobacco, and other unprocessed bulk crops.
Electron microscopes.
An electron microscope uses a controlled beam of electrons to illuminate a specimen and produce a magnified image. Two common types are the scanning electron microscope (SEM) and the transmission electron microscope (TEM).
Medical Radiation Therapy.
Electron beams impinging on metal produce X-rays. The X-rays may be diagnostic, e.g., dental or limb images. Often in these X-ray tubes the metal is a spinning disk so that it doesn't melt; the disk is spun in vacuum via a magnetic motor. The X-rays may also be used to kill cancerous tissue. The Therac-25 machine is an infamous example of this.


Spare part

A spare part, spare, service part, repair part, or replacement part, is an interchangeable part that is kept in an inventory and used for the repair or refurbishment of defective equipment/units. Spare parts are an important feature of logistics engineering and supply chain management, often comprising dedicated spare parts management systems.
Spare parts are an outgrowth of the industrial development of interchangeable parts and mass production.
In an industrial environment, spare parts are described in several manner to distinguish key features of various spare parts. The following describes spare part types and their typically functionality.
1. Capital parts are spare parts which, although acknowledged to have a long life or a small chance of failure, would cause a long shutdown of equipment because it would take a long time to get a replacement for them. Capital parts are typically repaired or replaced during planned overhauls/scheduled inspections.  As description implies, these Capital Parts are typically expensive and are depreciated over time.
Examples of capital parts include pumps and motor sets used in industrial plants, or impeller or a rotor required for a pump or motor. This “spare” requirement would be determined by redundancy of equipment used in the industrial processes.
2. Consumables can be divided into two groups:
3. Inspection spares or outage spares typically refer to those spare parts used in conjunction with Capital Parts during planned overhauls/scheduled inspections and maybe reused but typically are not repairable and are discarded after removal from use if Inspection Spares are damaged. These Inspection Spares are sometimes mis-characterized as Capital spares (vs Capital Parts) and are also confounded with Inspection Consumables, which must be replaced at every inspection/outage.  (an example of inspection spares would be bearings and mechanical seals, large bolts and nuts.)
4. Operational spares typically refer to those spare parts that are used during operation of equipment and would not require planned overhauls/scheduled inspections to replace. In an industrial setting, operational spares would be gages, valves (solenoid, MOVs that are in redundancy), transmitters, I/O boards, small AC/DC power supplies, etc.) (for a car, it would windshield wiper)
Classification.
In logistics, spare parts can be broadly classified into two groups, repairables and consumables.
Economically, there is a tradeoff between the cost of ordering a replacement part and the cost of repairing a failed part. When the cost of repair becomes a significant percentage of the cost of replacement, it becomes economically favorable to simply order a replacement part. In such cases, the part is said to be "beyond economic repair" (BER), and the percentage associated with this threshold is known as the BER rate. Analysis of economic tradeoffs is formally evaluated using Level of Repair Analysis (LORA).
Repairable.
Repairable parts are parts that are deemed worthy of repair, usually by virtue of economic consideration of their repair cost. Rather than bear the cost of completely replacing a finished product, repairables typically are designed to enable more affordable maintenance by being more modular. That allows components to be more easily removed, repaired, and replaced, enabling cheaper replacement. Spare parts that are needed to support condemnation of repairable parts are known as "replenishment" spares .
A rotable pool is a pool of repairable spare parts inventory set aside to allow for multiple repairs to be accomplished simultaneously, which can be used to minimize stockout conditions for repairable items.
Consumable.
Parts that are not repairable are considered consumable parts. Consumable parts are usually scrapped, or "condemned", when they are found to have failed. Since no attempt at repair is made, for a fixed mean time between failures (MTBF), replacement rates for consumption of consumables are higher than an equivalent item treated as a repairable part. Therefore, consumables tend to be lower-cost items.
Because consumables are lower cost and higher volume, economies of scale can be found by ordering in large lot sizes, a so-called economic order quantity.
Legislation.
There is no UK or EU legislation which states that spare parts have to be available for any set period of time, but some trade associations require their members to ensure products are not rendered useless because spare parts are not available. The 'six year rule' in the UK Sale of Goods Act 1979 relates to the time period for enforcing claims that goods where defective when sold, not to whether spare parts are available to repair them, and section 23(3) of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 states that a consumer cannot require a trader to repair or replace goods if "the repair or replacement is impossible", implying that if spare parts are no longer available the consumer's Right to Repair (or to have a spare part supplied) would be lost.
Repair cycle.
From the perspective of logistics, a model of the life cycle of parts in a supply chain can be developed. This model, called the repair cycle, consists of functioning parts in use by equipment operators, and the entire sequence of suppliers or repair providers that replenish functional part inventories, either by production or repair, when they have failed. Ultimately, this sequence ends with the manufacturer. This type of model allows demands on a supply system to ultimately be traced to their operational reliability, allowing for analysis of the dynamics of the supply system, in particular, spare parts.
Inventory management.
Cannibalization.
When stockout conditions occur, cannibalization can result. This is the practice of removing parts or subsystems necessary for repair from another similar device, rather than from inventory. The source system is usually crippled as a result, if only temporarily, in order to allow the recipient device to function properly again. As a result, operational availability is impaired.
Commercial.
Industrialization has seen the widespread growth of commercial manufacturing enterprises, such as the automotive industry, and later, the computer industry. The resulting complex systems have evolved modular support infrastructures, with the reliance on auto parts in the automotive industry, and replaceable computer modules known as field-replaceable units (FRUs).
Military.
Military operations are significantly affected by logistics operations. The system availability, also known as mission capable rate, of weapon systems and the ability to effect the repair of damaged equipment are significant contributors to the success of military operations. Systems that are in a mission-incapable (MICAP) status due lack of spare parts are said to be "awaiting parts" (AWP), also known as not mission capable due to supply (NMCS).
Because of this sensitivity to logistics, militaries have sought to make their logistics operations as effective as possible, focusing effort on operations research and optimal maintenance. Maintenance has been simplified by the introduction of interchangeable modules known as line-replaceable units (LRUs). LRUs make it possible to quickly replace an unserviceable (failed) part with a serviceable (working) replacement. This makes it relatively straightforward to repair complex military hardware, at the expense of having a ready supply of spare parts.
The cost of having serviceable parts available in inventory can be tremendous, as items that are prone to failure may be demanded frequently from inventory, requiring significant inventory levels to avoid depletion. For military programs, the cost of spare inventory can be a significant portion of acquisition cost.
In recent years, the United States Department of Defense (DoD) has advocated the use of performance-based logistics (PBL) contracts to manage costs for support of weapon systems.


White Family Rotary

The White Family Rotary or White FR, later White Rotary or White Rotary Electric, was the first rotary hook sewing machine produced by the White Sewing Machine Company, introduced circa 1900. It joined the successful White Vibrating Shuttle on White's expanding product line and eventually eclipsed it. It was originally sold as a treadle with cabinet or as a hand-crank with carrying case. Later, add-on electric motors with foot or knee control were available pre-installed or as a field upgrade. Typical cost for this machine as a treadle with a cabinet was US$65 in 1909, which is about US$1532 adjusted.
The White Rotary was sold under multiple brands, including Domestic, Franklin, and Kenmore. A White Rotary Electric Series 77 machine was placed in the Crypt of Civilization.
White reused the White Rotary name in the 1950s and 1960s, applying it to a machine manufactured by Juki (White model #659). This machine had a rotary-driven thread takeup instead of the more common takeup lever. The Rotary name was later used again on a stretch stitch-capable sewing machine.


Russel Metals

Russel Metals Inc. is a Canadian metals distribution and processing company. It is one of North America's largest metal distribution companies, with operations across Canada and the United States.
History.
The company was originally established in 1929 as Federal Grain Limited, through a merger of several grain-handling firms. In 1972, the company sold its grain assets to several grain pools, and it then renamed itself as Federal Industries Ltd.
After 1978, under the leadership of CEO John Fraser, the company expanded into a diverse range of industries, including bookstores, trucking and airplane parts. One of the businesses acquired was metals firm Hugh Russel & Sons Ltd., which had originally been founded in 1785 as John Russel & Co. in Montreal by Scottish-born merchant John Russel. The company also acquired the narrow-gauge Yukon and White Pass Railroad, which shipped freight between Whitehorse, Yukon, and Skagway, Alaska (eventually sold in 1997).
The company's expansion into diverse business lines was not successful, and it experienced significant losses during a recession in the 1990s. As a result, it sold off many of its non-core assets to focus on metals distribution and processing. As part of this process, the company renamed itself as Russel Metals Inc. in 1995. After a 1997 proxy battle involving businessman K. Rai Sahi, John Fraser and CEO John Pelton resigned, and the company narrowed its focus on metals under new CEO Bud Siegal.
In 2007, Russel acquired JMS Metal Products, a U.S. metals distributor, for $125 million. In 2009, the company experienced significant losses as part of the great recession and laid off 500 of its 3,000 employees. In 2012, the company acquired Apex Distribution, a Calgary-based metals distribution business focusing on the oil and gas industry.
Business.
Russel Metals primarily operates metal distribution and service centres for customers in the oil and gas, manufacturing, and construction industries. It has three business segments: metals service centres, energy products, and steel distributors. As of 2017, 49% of revenue was from the service centres, 39% was from energy products, and the rest was from steel distribution. It has sites in both Canada and the United States, with most sites located in Canada, and derives roughly 30 per cent of its revenues from the United States.


Automation engineering

Automation engineering is the provision of automated solutions to physical activities and industries.
Automation engineer.
Automation engineers are experts who have the knowledge and ability to design, create, develop and manage machines and systems, for example, factory automation, process automation and warehouse automation.
Automation technicians are also involved.
Scope.
Automation engineering is the integration of standard engineering fields. Automatic control of various control systems for operating various systems or machines to reduce human efforts & time to increase accuracy. Automation engineers design and service electromechanical devices and systems to high-speed robotics and programmable logic controllers (PLCs).
Work and career after graduation.
Graduates can work for both government and private sector entities such as industrial production,
companies that create and use automation systems, for example paper industry, automotive industry, food and agricultural industry, water treatment, and oil & gas sector such as refineries, power plants.
Job Description.
Automation engineers can design, program, simulate and test automated machinery and processes, and usually are employed in industries such as the energy sector in plants, car manufacturing facilities or food processing plants and robots. Automation engineers are responsible for creating detailed design specifications and other documents, developing automation based on specific requirements for the process involved, and conforming to international standards like IEC-61508, local standards, and other process specific guidelines and specifications, simulate, test and commission electronic equipment for automation.