BSA elects 2008-2009 officers
During its 2008 annual convention held April 26-29 at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort, the Bearing Specialists Association (BSA) elected the following slate of officers for 2008-2009:
President: Steve Durston, Jamaica Bearings Co. Inc.
First Vice President: Eduardo Bichara, Baleromex, S.A. de C.V.
Second Vice President: Ellen Holladay, Motion Industries Inc.
Treasurer: Howard Gainey, Bearings and Drives Inc.
Chairman of the Board: Cam Lawrence, BDI Canada Inc.
Joining the BSA Board of Directors are Hal Allen of Allied Bearings and Supply Co., Bill DuComb of W.C. DuComb Co., John Timble of Bearing Headquarters Co., and Geoff Filker of Eastern Bearings Inc.
BSA is an international service and educational organization of authorized distributors representing nearly 100 companies that distribute factory-warranted ball, roller, and anti-friction bearings and invited manufacturers of bearings and related products.
For more information, visit www.bsahome.org.
ElectroCraft debuts motion control lineup
ElectroCraft Inc., Dover, N.H., recently announced the release of its new line of CompletePower motion control products including servo drives and speed controls. The new product line will power the company's entire range of PMDC, BLDC, and stepper motors. Based on technology obtained through the acquisition of e-Motion in November 2007, the complete drives line is built with the same form factor and uses identical accessories to make them easy for OEM engineers to apply to a variety of applications. The new line includes:
- Three 4-quadrant brush-type (PMDC) servo drives, 11 to 70 Vdc, from 18 to 60 A peak and 9 to 30 A continuous
- Three 4-quadrant brushless (BLDC) servo drives, 11 to 70 Vdc, from 18 to 60 A peak and 9 to 30 A continuous
- Two 2-quadrant brushless (BLDC) speed control drives, 11 to 70 Vdc, from 18 to 36 A peak and 9 to 18 A continuous
- Two micro-stepping stepper motor drives, 11 to 50 Vdc, with phase currents of 5 and 10 A
For more information, visit www.electrocraft.com.
Misumi adds blog to web site
Misumi USA Inc., Schaumburg, Ill., recently added an engineering blog to its web site, www.misumiusa.com. The blog focuses on mechanical component trends for assembly automation and will give engineers a place to share opinions and ideas about today's machine design/build industry. Misumi engineers will post regular content to the blog on topics such as geometric tolerances and fits, materials, surface treatments, and hardness, calculations, components, and frequently asked questions. Chris Blaszczyk (pictured), mechanical engineer and Misumi's resident expert on configurable components, will also make regular postings. Readers are encouraged to offer feedback through either the “Contact Us” form or by posting comments to the blog, which can be searched by date, category, or recent posts.
For more information, visit www.misumiusa.com.
Bosch Rexroth develops lean podcast series
A new episode, “Applying Lean to the Engineering Process,” has been added to Bosch Rexroth's “Lean Manufacturing” podcast series. The episode features lean manufacturing expert Jamie Flinchbaugh discussing how lean techniques and principles can be used to improve engineering processes and productivity. Flinchbaugh is cofounder of the Lean Learning Center (www.leanlearningcenter.com) and coauthor of the book The Hitchhiker's Guide to Lean. Developed by the company's Linear Motion and Assembly Technologies group, each episode presents guest experts and information to help manufacturers and OEMs understand and apply lean principles and practices. Future podcast topics include tips on designing equipment for a lean environment, ways to make lean part of everyday operations, and lean case studies.
Podcast episodes are available at www.boschrexroth-us.com/leanpodcast.
Cicoil receives quality award
Cicoil Corp., Valencia, Calif., recently became the first U.S. company to receive “Ship-to-Stock” quality certification from Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, based in Israel. The cable assemblies Cicoil supplies to Rafael form the electrical backbone of Rafael's “Litening” navigation and targeting pod. The Litening Pod, jointly manufactured by Rafael and Northrop Grumman, is used on fighter jets for the United States Air Force, as well as by the Israeli, German, Dutch, and Hungarian Air Forces. It is equipped with day and night sights and a multiple sensor array that enables high confidence target selection, identification, and precise strike and damage assessment. Litening enables fighter aircrews to carry out detection, recognition, identification, and laser designation of air-to-ground and maritime targets.
For more information, visit www.cicoil.com.