One of the most important indicators of a strong economy is the manufacturing sector. If the overall economy is doing well, people can afford to buy manufactured products, leading to growth in that sector.
Often, a result of that growth is innovation in manufacturing. When profits are good, companies can afford to develop new techniques and materials that lower costs, improve efficiency, or benefit the environment.
Laser engraving is one such process. By using lasers to create imprints on materials, manufacturers can reduce the damage to sensitive materials, increase accuracy and quality of those imprints, and do many other things that were previously not practical.
Other innovations are on a bigger scale and actually begin outside the manufacturing facility itself. It has long been assumed that manufacturing equipment should be built out of high-quality steel, but even that top material has proven to have its flaws.
When used in areas of frequent movement on a piece of equipment, ordinary steel wears out quickly. It loses rigidity and causes the machine’s movement to become less efficient. The machine must work harder to compensate, consuming more energy. In addition, because its parts are not moving true to their designed path, the quality of work declines and the product may even fail to meet standards, specifications, and required tolerances.
Further, the general wear of a piece of steel will finally cause it to fail, leaving the machine inoperable until repairs can be made. This wastes lots of production time, generates repair costs, and can even cause an accident that injures workers or damages other equipment.
It is this need that has led The A.J. Weller Corporation to develop new alloys. These specialized materials have been developed with an eye toward preventing all the shortcomings of standard steel. They have greater rigidity, allowing them to withstand more movement. They also have a higher tolerance for heat, making them ideal for heavy manufacturing applications.
What results from this innovation? First, the movement of mechanized equipment follows the correct path. That means that the product is cut, bent, extruded, or otherwise manipulated into its final form in a way that is more consistent with the expected result. It also means that the machine doesn’t have to work harder to complete its operations, which lowers energy consumption and yields benefits to the environment. Finally, the machine is less likely to break down, which improves worker safety and cuts repairs costs and downtime.
Laser engraving and improved steel alloys are just the beginning, though. Both of these processes involve innovations that came years before, specifically the development of computer technology that allows the manufacturing system to operate more accurately than it ever did in the earliest days of mass production. A computer can more accurately and consistently command a piece of machinery than a person can, so the output becomes much more uniform and more humane to produce.
Computers don’t just build the product, either. They also design it. Computer-aided design (CAD) is a field of technology in which workers are able to create three-dimensional models on a computer and then produce detailed, precise designs that can be carried over to architecture, manufacturing, engineering, and countless other fields. CAD and all other forms of computerized industry are creating amazing new ways of making things, and there appears to be no end in sight.
Manufacturing has long been recognized as a reliable indicator of a strong economy, but through its innovation, it has become a tool for driving the economy into positive territory. New technologies that reduce costs, cut downtime, reduce energy consumption, and increase quality are making products more affordable to customers but more profitable to producers. This win-win arrangement provides the financial power to develop even greater innovation, fueling the economy and creating jobs and wealth.
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