Manufacturing excellence

Quality manufacturing is the sum of its thousands of parts, both human and mechanical. The best of both were on display at the Plant Engineering Manufacturing Summit, March 31 and April 1, at the Hotel Sofitel in Chicago.

By Bob Vavra, Editor April 15, 2008

Quality manufacturing is the sum of its thousands of parts, both human and mechanical. The best of both were on display at the Plant Engineering Manufacturing Summit, March 31 and April 1, at the Hotel Sofitel in Chicago.

The best new manufacturing products from around the world were honored Monday, March 31, at the 20th annual Plant Engineering Product of the Year dinner. At a breakfast on Tuesday, April 1, three manufacturing facilities received the 2007 Top Plant awards.

Built around those two awards events were in-depth discussions on three of the key issues facing manufacturers in the U.S. today: energy and sustainability, data management and workforce development. The two-day event put product managers in the same room with plant managers and industry leaders to discuss some of the key issues facing the plant floor.

One of those leaders was Dr. Bernhard Haas, vice president of manufacturing for Deere and Co., who delivered the keynote address at the Product of the Year dinner. More than 160 people attended the gala dinner.

Gold, silver and bronze trophies were handed out to the products judged as the best new products of 2007 by Plant Engineering readers.

Ramsay Corporation’s Online Testing System was presented with the prestigious Grand Award , having received the single highest reader vote total.

On Tuesday, representatives from the Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance, SEW Eurodrive and Spirax Sarco received the 2007 Top Plant award . Those three companies were honored for their commitment to manufacturing excellence, and in particular, their efforts to run fully sustainable, Lean manufacturing plants.

The sessions at the Manufacturing Summit amplified the the issues facing manufacturers today. Representatives from companies including IBM, which was the platinum sponsor of the Manufacturing Summit, discussed software and hardware innovations that help plant managers better gather data to understand how their plant floor is operating.

But these leaders also stressed the importance of acting on data to achieve measurable changes, and to create strategic plans to deliver real change in manufacturing.

The issue of workforce development was also a key topic. Presenters emphasized that an aging workforce requires new strategies to capture the knowledge of older workers, and to create innovative programs to develop the next generation of plant workers.

Manufacturing Summit sponsors included IBM, Schneider Electric, Square D, Ahlborn Equipment, and Molex.

Product of the Year Winners

Category Name Award Manufacturer Product
GRAND AWARD Ramsay Corporation Online Testing System
Automation and Control Gold Cognex Corp. Checker 200 Series Inspection Sensors
Silver Cooper Bussmann InVision Downtime Reduction System
Silver Eaton Corp. HMi Operator Interface
Bronze ProSoft Technology Ethernet IP Communications Module
Compressed Air Gold SULLAIR Corp. SRC Cycling Dryers
Silver Hitachi DSP Single Stage Oil Free Rotary Screw Air Compressor
Bronze Fluid Metrics, LLC Compressor Oil Purifier
Construction, Buildings and Grounds Gold JLG Industries Fork-Mounted Work Platform
Silver Cooper Crouse-Hinds Space Saver EMT Raintight Compression Connector
Bronze DL Manufacturing Cable Cop
Bronze Ericson Mfg. Company e-Cart
Bronze UltraTech International Ultra-Inlet Guard
Electric Motors, Drives and Controls Gold Woodhead Industries PROFIBUS USB Adapter
Silver Baldor Electric Co. Brushless Servo MTS
Silver SICK STEGMANN DFS 60 Incremental Encoder
Bronze Electro Static Technology SGR Bearing Protection Ring
Bronze Siemens Energy & Automation H-compact PLUS SH710 Motors
Electric Power Gold Eaton Corp. Powerware 9395 UPS
Silver Schneider Electric/Square D PowerPact Electronic Motor Circuit Protectors
Bronze Schneider Electric/Square D PowerLogic PM750 Power Meter
Environment, Safety and Health Gold Andax Industries LLC Spill Preparedness Control Center
Silver LPS Laboratories EVR Clean Air Solvent
Bronze Frommelt Products Corp. PitMaster Under-Leveler Seal
Fluid Handling Gold New Pig Corp. Waste Collection & Pumping Center
Silver Wilden Pump PX 1500 Diaphragm Pump
Bronze ITT Goulds Pumps X-DUCER Pumping Technology
HVAC Gold Goodway Technologies TFC-100 Tower Wash
Silver APC InfraStruXure InRow RP Air Conditioning Unit
Bronze AERCO Intl. Benchmark 3.0 Low NOx Boiler
Instrumentation Gold IDEAL Industries Inc. VoltAware Non-Contact Voltage Tester
Silver Purafil OnGuard 3000
Bronze IDEAL Industries Inc. Voltage Performance Monitor
Lighting Gold Woodhead Industries 400-Watt High Bay Light
Silver Philips Philips T8 Lamps with ALTO II Technology
Bronze Watt Stopper/Legrand Wall Switch Occupancy Sensors
Maintenance Products Gold Inpro/Seal Co Articulating Air Mizer-PS
Silver Neptune Research, Inc. Trident-Seal
Bronze Hilti, Inc. RE 500-SD Epoxy Anchor
Maintenance Software Gold Commtest Inc. Ascent 2007 Vibration Analysis Software
Silver Syclo Smart Task Tracker
Bronze Yokogawa FieldMate
Maintenance Tools and Equipment Gold LUDECA, Inc. Optalign Smart
Silver RIDGID SeeSnake micro Inspection Camera
Bronze Hawk IR International Ex CAM AP Pro
Bronze LoggerHead Tools, LLC Pro-Gear Bionic Wrench
Manual Material Handling Gold The Raymond Corp. Model 4200 Lift Truck
Silver Eriez ProSort
Silver New Pig Corp. PIG Drum Filling Shelf
Bronze Harrington Hoists, Inc. CX Mini Hand Chain Hoist
Material Handling Systems Gold Gorbel Inc. Gforce Q+iQ units
Silver Toyota Industrial Equipment 8-Series lift truck
Bronze Rite-Hite Corporation FasTrax Door
Power Transmission Gold Gates Corporation Poly Chain GT Carbon belt
Silver Baldor, Dodge, Reliance Right Angled Motorized Torque-Arm
Bronze Baldor, Dodge, Reliance MagnaGear
Productivity Software Gold GE Fanuc Automation Proficy HMI/SCADA Cimplicity 7.0
Silver Invensys Process Systems InFusion Condition Manager
Silver Schneider Electric/Square D PowerView Power Management Software
Bronze GE Fanuc Automation Proficy Tracker
Training/Education Products Gold New Standard Institute Three Phase AC Motor Training Software


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