Michelle Froese

As an essential manufacturer, PennEngineering has remained operational during the COVID-19 pandemic that closed down many businesses. A mechanical fastener expert, the company manufactures several key products that support medical and life-sustaining applications. To this end, PennEngineering has kept its Danboro, PA headquarters open and operating. “Typically, the automotive industry is one of the larger…

Ramco, a provider and producer of critical components, is committed to meeting and exceeding expectations. This means supporting customers with fastener choices and manufacturing to ensure the ideal part is used with the correct application. The company’s quality and testing process includes functional checks, material testing, and steps to maintain 100% quality assurance for each…

  Written by Tarick Walton Global Product Manager, Ultrasonics for Assembly Technologies Emerson (All images courtesy of Emerson) Ultrasonic welding is a fast, energy-efficient, and permanent fastening method used to join plastic parts and materials. Different variations of this technology are used to bond rigid plastics in automotive components, medical devices, electronic products, and many…

  Written by Miles Budimir Senior Editor, WTWH Media Like all other welding processes, such as gas, electric arc, and ultrasonic systems, laser welding (or laser beam welding, or LBW) joins two pieces of material together. Materials are typically metals or different types of thermoplastics. Each of these welding methods differs in the heat source…

Southco, Inc., a global provider of engineered access solutions, announce the relaunch of a completely redesigned and refreshed website — southco.com. Through this launch, Southco is delivering an improved user experience to its customer base, enabling mechanical engineers to find solutions to their design challenges faster than ever before. The new and improved site features a…

Written by Jody Muelaner Combi head screws, also called combination head or combo head screws, are externally threaded fasteners with torquing heads. They feature a socket designed to engage with two or more types of internal drivers. These are not to be confused with combi screws, which are fasteners designed for more than one application.…

Bulten, a supplier of fasteners to the automotive industry, has launched a new fastener product family, “BUFOe”, which drastically reduces carbon dioxide emissions — and, at the same time, halves energy consumption during the manufacturing process. Bulten’s ambition is to create and deliver the most innovative and sustainable fastener solutions. “Our newly launched BUFOe product…

Shimtech Industries, a group of aerospace manufacturing companies in North America and Europe, will become Avantus Aerospace. After 50+ years in the industry, Avantus companies have evolved to manufacture products beyond shims. Today, they boast a wide range of C-class and specialty machined components, including: fasteners, brackets, shims, detail assemblies, and clips, as well as…

With a workshop of sorts set up in his garage, K.A. Swanstrom developed a revolutionary product in the early 1940s — one that would reduce time, labor, weight, and inventory on many assembly jobs. This new self-clinching fastener was easy-to-install and provided load-carrying threads in the metal sheets that are too thin to be tapped. …

In any type of vehicle – whether a car, motorcycle, construction or farming equipment, or even an airplane — there can be severe consequences if critical fasteners loosen or fail during operation. If this occurs, it not only affects the function of the equipment and likely causes downtime and costs for repair but for the…