10 YEARS AGO — 2002
Software lets aircraft fly through production: After Korea’s three major aerospace manufacturers — Samsung, Hyundai, and Daewoo — merged into Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), company managers took steps to improve efficiencies, reduce costs, and cut productdevelopment cycles. They tapped Tecnomatix eMPower to combine the aircraft manufacturer’s SAP R/3 enterprise resource-planning system, Metaphase product-data management, and an in-house CAD/CAM system.
“The goal is to get engineering and production working together so we can simulate products under development and the processes that will manufacture them,” said Kim Jung-Jin, a manager with KAI. The new infrastructure is already in place and will be used on a new helicopter project.
30 YEARS AGO — 1982
Safety button keeps plier jaws in place: Pliers have a spring-loaded safety button that keeps the tongueandgroove segments in the position which they were originally set, even if the pliers are dropped. Adjustments are made by pushing the button, letting the jaw move to a new position. Neverslip Tools Inc., Alvin, Tex., makes the pliers in 10 and 12-in. models.
50 YEARS AGO — 1962
A transistorized desk calculator, with no moving parts, is said to offer significant advantages over mechanical and electromechanical machines. Designed for engineering and business companies, the CC“1200 calculator from Computron Corp., subsidiary Electrosolids Corp., Sylmar, Calif., adds, subtracts, multiplies, divides, and reads out answers with up to 16 digits. Decimal point and sign are indicated automatically, and two problems can be worked simultaneously. A memory feature stores and calls up constants at the touch of a key.