Where Results Are Only as Accurate as the Sample Amount Dispensed From food science and controversial GMOs to pharmaceutical development and medical research, to the routine tests that are part of an annual checkup, liquid dispensing systems play a largely unseen but critical part in everyday li

Pull It, Seal It, and Forget It With the invention of the incandescent light bulb and vacuum tubes more than a century ago, the vacuum became a major tool in manufacturing. Today, the lowly light bulb is being challenged for supremacy by CFLs and LEDs. And thanks to the cost-effectiveness, compact s

How Tubing Characteristics Affect the Process and Its Accuracy Within the fields of biotechnology and laboratory automation, the global in vitro diagnostics (IVD) market is expected to reach $96 billion by 2025 according to research firm MarketsandMarket™. It makes sense that the use of automate

Special Considerations for High-Pressure Applications Part 2 of this blog series on precision tubing in liquid dispensing systems mentions that the inside diameter (ID) of the tubing determines how evenly the liquid samples are dispensed. Imperfections in the ID surface finish can result in swir

Where Precision Meets the Road Today’s automobiles are incredibly complex, and even a single system within an engine can have almost mind-boggling intricacy. Take, for example, fuel injection systems. Long ago gasoline-powered automobiles have gone the way of diesel trucks in using fuel injection to

Did you know? Metal tubes help put the “air” in airbags! Of all the systems within an automobile that utilize metals parts, perhaps the most important are the various automotive safety systems. In addition to the basic vehicle features — from the mirrors, headlights, reflectors, and turn signals to

If the future of LEDs is now, why are incandescent lamps still used for automobile turn signals? In today’s automotive systems, even relatively “simple” applications such as headlights, taillights, brake lights, and turn signals are prime targets for innovations in technology. But while people c

The right choices can help to optimize manufacturability. Since the early days of the twentieth century, stainless steel has played an essential role in the design and production of medical device tubing. With advances in the technology used to make stainless steel tubing over the years — for

Aluminum sheet is famously difficult to weld, attempts often resulting in feedability problems, weak welds, and defects such as craters or cracking. Automakers face a production challenge each time a new aluminium intensive vehicles or hybrid battery pack is developed. Will they bond it with adhesiv

It’s commonly understood that high conductivity electrode materials (Classes 1 and 2 under the ISO 5182 system) are ideal for welding low conductivity workpieces. And conversely, high conductivity metals require electrodes with lower conductivity, such as refractory metal electrodes referred to as t

Unlike pure copper resistance welding electrodes, whose properties and design cause them to conduct heat, the pure refractory electrodes are selected precisely because they will retain heat. Tungsten (W) is notable for the fact that it has the highest melting point (3387°C) among metals and its hard

We received a number of questions about two main topics in our posts about resistance welding electrodes: Dissimilar metals with regard to high conductivity electrodes and low conductivity work pieces and vice versa Friction stir in the construction of an electrode in a holder Welding Dissimilar M

Is shearing right for cutoff of simple shapes? For simple cutoff of metal parts, the metal shearing process is a very tempting option. It’s fast. It’s easy. It’s cheap. However, It’s important to understand the advantages and disadvantages of the metal shearing process — or any precision meta

Sure, it’s precise — but is it right for 2-axis precision metal cutting? On the spectrum of precision metal cutting method, it’s easy to understand the allure of laser cutting. Versatile and precise, it produces tight tolerances and small kerfs. And perhaps thanks to science fiction, there is a

While the goal of producing tight tolerance, burr-free metal rods, tubes, or extrusions, precisely cut to a specific length, sounds simple enough, the task can be surprisingly challenging. That’s because the efficiency of any precision metal cutting method can vary greatly depending on the job param

Where Do You Really Need Tight Tolerances? The fundamentals of small parts sourcing — dimensions, tolerances, and materials — have a lot to do with whether a part is optimized for manufacturability. Tolerances affect product design, manufacturing, and quality control,

The Surprising Complexities of Conversion One of the fundamentals of small parts sourcing is the ability to convert between different units of measurement — for example, creating a metric tolerance chart by converting tolerance figures between millimeters and inches. It’s a task that is

Avoiding a Blame Game over Part Tolerances Tolerances are one of the fundamentals of small parts sourcing that have an impact on optimizing for manufacturability. Specifying tolerances requires striking a balance between cost and the need for accuracy.  By distinguishing between critical and

Pin Gages vs. Optical Measurement for Small Parts Tubing One of the fundamentals of small parts sourcing is that making informed decisions about specifications has a huge impact on optimizing manufacturability. For instance, by taking a part’s end use into consideration, you can determine which t

Is Calibrated Measuring Consistent Measuring? Across our industry, it’s a given that customers, suppliers of materials, and parts manufacturers all use calibrated devices to take measurements. A device is calibrated in order to: Ensure that readings are consistent with other measurements — that is,