Assembly - December 2008 - (Page 37) Not only will appliance manufacturers spend less in the coming year, but they didn’t spend as much as they planned this year. Twenty-four percent of appliance assemblers spent less than 40 percent of their 2008 capital budget, compared with 16 percent for all U.S. plants. Quality continues to be a major concern. Twenty-three percent of assemblers in NAIC 335 will buy equipment next year to improve the quality of their products. That’s the highest percentage of any industry, and it’s the fifth time in the past six years that this industry has held that distinction. Miscellaneous Manufacturing In October, ACIST Medical Systems opened a new headquarters and assembly plant in Eden Prairie, MN. The 75,000 square foot facility will manufacture equipment for injecting contrast media into blood vessels for diagnostic imaging procedures. The company expects to spend $120 million over the next three years to develop and manufacture a string of new products. Is High-Volume Assembly Coming Back? 60 51 50 40 Percent of plants 32 30 25 20 10 0 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 High volume Medium volume Low volume For years, the number of high-volume assembly plants in the United States dwindled, as OEMs moved such production overseas. Now however, there are signs that high-volume assembly is returning. Since 2005, the percentage of plants performing high-volume assembly has gradually increased. 49 49 47 52 50 44 45 41 41 32 39 35 46 44 43 46 35 32 48 29 27 24 19 24 29 24 26 24 19 18 17 15 16 19 20 As welcome as that news is, it may not necessarily be the norm next year among companies classified under Miscellaneous Manufacturing (NAIC 339). According to the NAIC system, ACIST and other medical and dental Kistler Process Sensing Separates Fact From Fiction and Good Parts From Bad ±600 με 0.01 Nm … 20,000 Nm 0.007 lbf-ft 14,750 lbf-ft 1 mN … 20 MN 0.0002 lbf 4.5 Mlbf detailed signature evaluations Kistler sensors for process monitoring of force and torque are synonymous with technological leadership in piezoelectric and piezoresistive measurement. Coupled with versatile Kistler process monitor/ control units, zero defect goals are met. For more facts and less fiction, call Kistler. www.kistler.com Kistler Instrument Corp., 75 John Glenn Drive, Amherst, NY 14228 Tel. 1-888-KISTLER, Fax 716-691-5226, sales.us@kistler.com www.assemblymag.com December 2008 / ASSE M B LY 37 900-964a-05.08 Material Strain Torque Force Process Monitor http://www.kistler.com http://www.kistler.com http://www.assemblymag.com
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