Wow.  Loose connections…now that’s a “loose” term if ever there was one! 

Connection problems are indeed responsible for many non-functioning electronics of all sorts. 

Note the key words are connection problems because the problem may very well NOT be looseness at all.  So step away from the torque wrench or worse-yet the screwdriver. 

What seems like a “loose” connection could be just that, but electronic problems are more often the result of bad connections caused by:

• Oxidation of contacts
• Corrosion of contacts
• Dirty contact surfaces
• Cross threading
• Wrong bolt or screw

 “Shocking” Info Bites: 

• Almost 500 people die each year from electrical accidents, mostly in the workplace, putting it among the top 10 causes of accidental death in the U.S.
• Approximately 80% of all injuries and fatalities caused by electrical accidents are not caused by the electric shock itself, but by the intensive heat, light and pressure blast caused by electrical faults. 
• The blast made by vaporizing metallic components can break bones and damage internal organs.

Do you consider plant maintenance to be a necessary evil?  You are not alone.  According to a poll by Plant Engineering, 44% of you feel that way.  And, 30% of you consider it the first place to cut money out of the budget. 

I get that.  Maintenance is not glamorous, not nearly as cool as getting shiny new equipment, sometimes kinda boring, and occasionally, expensive.   Rather stick a hot poker in your eye? 

We can help.  Send us your huddled masses of electronic equipment needing maintenance or repair. 

Like pie?  Me too!!! Cherry, peach, key lime, shoofly, apple…. with ice cream…without ice cream.  All pies!  Today is International Pi Day….3/14….Pi…get it?  As most of you are of the engineering mindset, I’m sure you got that. 

If you didn’t, Pi is the number expressing the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter and used in engineering, science and statistics.  It begins with 3.14 and goes on into infinity….hence March 14 is International Pi Day. 

Stop by your local bakery on the way home tonight and surprise your family with a pie to celebrate Pi Day – no one will complain about this celebration of math!  No flash cards, calculators, or slide rules (anybody remember those??) required – just pie!!!

Excitement is in the air! Spring is almost here and  it’s time for…wait for it, wait for it….no, not spring flowers, no, not baseball… it’s time for the Annual Science Fair!

This weekend I will be spending quality time with the youngest and smallest of my three buffalo, oops, I mean sons measuring and graphing the heat dissipation of various types of metal.  This will require a great deal of focus, patience, frequent snacks for the buffalo as all the brain-work will surely make him more hungry than usual, and some electronic  test equipment (not that I would ever borrow tools from work).

We won an Academy Award Oscar for customer service!!  Well, it feels like we did.

Oh, we like to consider ourselves smart, clever, problems-solvers…and we are.  But most of all ACS Industrial is a collaboration of customer-centered, skilled people who listen.  Why?  Because it matters.  A lot.

When we get letters like the one below we share them with our entire staff to make sure they know how important true customer service is and to show our appreciation…

2010 Flashback:  Remember the massive Toyota recall that kept getting shockingly worse, the inspiring Chilean miner rescue, BP’s devastating Gulf Oil Spill, the Tea Party, Mark Zuckerberg (who knew the name Mark Zuckerberg (besides his mom) before 2010?  Now it’s everywhere! ), Facebook, Wikileaks, Twitter, Android phones, the Apple iPad, oh, and remember the ash cloud from the Iceland volcano and all the trouble that caused?  That seems like forever ago but it really was 2010. 

In case you missed it, Swiss-based ABB will acquire Baldor Electric Company  beginning December 2010 in an all-cash deal.  The $4.2 billion deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2011.

Why?  For ABB, this transaction fills in a gap in ABB’s automation offerings by folding in Baldor’s successful NEMA motor line and will better position the company as a major player in the industrial motor market, including high-efficiency motors.  It will also bump up ABB’s mechanical power transmission business and will significantly broaden ABB’s access to North American industrial customers.

 Does it seem like your maintenance staff is constantly putting out “fires?” Or that your production equipment is always running to failure requiring industrial electronics repair and causing unplanned work stoppages? 

Lean manufacturing may be the answer.  Lean manufacturing concepts aren’t new but they are gaining momentum…and for good reason. 

By implementing some lean manufacturing strategies, you can track equipment breakdowns, schedule preventive maintenance, and anticipate needs for maintenance parts.   Benefits include:

• Waste elimination
• Defect reduction
• Productivity maximization
• Engaging  your work force as a team

Considering wireless?   There are lots of reasons to consider wireless remote I/O systems and we’re hearing more about it every day – you probably are too.  You might be considering adding a remote I/O to an older PLC, PLC repair or upgrade, or installing an entirely new system.  Our customers say they want control solutions that are easy to implement, reliable, and cost effective. 

As of the moment, there are five wireless solutions to consider:

Bluetooth – good for short distances up to 100 meters and small numbers of devices (up to 8).

WiFi - standard for fixed short distances up to 160 meters.