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Plastic material and process advances define new E/E frontier
Don Rosato EngineeringIn commercial applications, polymer material and process development advances are pushing plastic properties in response to ongoing demand for smaller electronic devices that call for smaller, thinner electrical components in hotter environments at higher electrical frequencies. High flow grades permit more intricate, miniaturized parts in electronic applications. Part cost reduction and faster production cycle times are increasingly the new norm.
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Europe building upon building efficiency
Andrew Gaved Facilities & GroundsEuropean policymakers and researchers alike are putting their collective minds to the challenge of reducing the energy produced by cooling and heating in buildings. The research funding comes in response to new momentum for efficiency improvement from the European Commission whose Energy Union framework policy aims to transform both energy supply and consumption.
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Report highlights perils facing US manufacturing and distribution
Alan Kelsky ManufacturingChicago-based business services provider McGladrey recently released its annual Manufacturing and Distribution Monitor Report for 2015. The report covers the manufacturing and distribution industry based on information from 1,660 manufacturing and distribution executives across the globe.
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Plastics advances pushing broad-based electrical device trends
Don Rosato EngineeringThe electrical and electronic (E&E) market ranks as the third-largest plastics end-use market, only exceeded in volume size by packaging and building and construction. Yet the E&E sector uniquely crosses over all of the 20 major plastics markets, namely packaging, building and construction, automotive, electrical and electronics, appliance, medical, consumer products, toy, recreation and leisure, furniture, office products, lawn and garden, marine and boat, aerospace, industrial, agriculture, waste management, government, export, and other and emerging.
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Staying cool: Clean air versus dirty diesel
Andrew Gaved Distribution & WarehousingThis week another report on diesel emissions — and, no, we're not talking about Volkswagen and their test-defeating software. Thankfully, this report is about the potential for liquid nitrogen and cryogenic processes to supplant traditional diesel-driven transport refrigeration units (TRUs) with a zero-carbon emission alternative.
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The great truck debate: Is bigger better for our infrastructure?
Ryan Clark Distribution & WarehousingThe trucking industry is a vital element of our nation's economy. But unlike air and rail, truck transport requires these large 18-wheel behemoths to share the road with regular citizens, and this can become problematic as large trucks have been suspected of causing damage to the roads and highways that we all travel.
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What is the true state of manufacturing in the United States?
Alan Kelsky ManufacturingExperts in manufacturing hold differing opinions about how well the sector is doing since the Great Recession. In fact, the same sources tend to be schizophrenic about the manufacturing sector's progress.
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Airbus aircraft production goes Mobile
Matt Falcus Transportation Technology & AutomotiveEuropean aircraft manufacturer Airbus has made history with the opening of its new facility in Mobile, Alabama, at the former Brookley Air Force Base. The company should see its first aircraft delivered early in 2016 and thousands of jobs created in the production chain.
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Solar energy expanding plastic application development
Don Rosato EngineeringFinancial incentives, government renewable energy targets and technology cost reductions remain the three forces driving the adoption of solar power. Photovoltaic (PV) energy devices produce electricity that requires little or no maintenance, causes no pollution and does not deplete natural resources. Let's take a look at a few new solar energy plastic application developments.
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Pressure mounts on UK cooling industry
Andrew Gaved ManufacturingI have written before about the sort of pressures the revised F-Gas regulations are putting on the European cooling industry, as F-Gas requirements start to change the way the industry works. Prime among the pressures is the cost and availability of the higher-GWP refrigerants that the program of proposed refrigerant bans and phasedowns aims to ultimately remove from use. These are pressures that will ultimately be faced by the U.S. as it undergoes its own cap and phase-down program.
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