FALL 2014

88 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S

88 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK MW Industries, Inc. 2400 Farrell Rd, Houston,Texas 77073 Toll Free: 1-800-875-3510 Tel: 281-233-0448 Email: sales@mwindustries.com www.mwindustries.com TEXAS COMPANY THRIVES Around the ever-expanding manufacturing facility of MW Industries one would never know there has been a recession in American since 2007. While many companies thorough out the nation were struggling, decreasing operations and/or pulling back on spending, MW Industries was forging ahead with clear direction, executing plans for growth. In the past twelve years they have made significant expansions in their facilities, adding equipment and increasing staff. With strong resilience, MW is at the top of their game and it shows with the addition of another 500-ton press and an increased work area of 3500 sq.ft. For thirty-eight years, MW Industries has practiced the art of putting the customer first. As a result, they have a binding long-term relationship with their customers who experience MW’s dedication to the industry on a regular basis. This devotion to the industry has created an intense trust and gained MW a reputation as an industry leader. MW Industries has an ingrained passion for superior quality in all they manufacture; from the materials used through the final production. The versatile and knowledgeable employees are a vital part of the quality assurance MW provides customers. From the inception of MW Industries, their mindset has been one of continued growth in order to have a strong presence in the industry. MW has and will always put the customer first through continued investment and dedication to their business. The MW promise remains the same: to provide the highest possible quality washers and fasteners on time to customers both big and small around the world. Visit MW Industries at NIFMSE Vegas - Booth #1645. GM USING SMART BOLT TO PREVENT NEXT-GEN ENGINE ERRORS General Motors is taking a high-tech approach to preventing problems in engine assembly. After spending 0 million to upgrade its factory in Tonawanda, NY, the automaker recently started using a new generation of smart bolt as part of a new “track-and-trace” system that utilizes radio-frequency-identification (RFID) technology to track the assembly process. When manufacturing its new line of Gen 5 six- and eight-cylinder engines, GM installs a threaded data bolt with an embedded passive RFID tag in the hollow bolt head. The tag consists of a memory chip with a coiled metal filament to serve as an antenna. The tag stores data on every process the engine block or cylinder head undergoes. Altogether there are roughly 50 different points in the By John Wolz editor@globalfastenernews.com production line where data from the bolt is shared with onsite servers. This allows each assembly machine to detect whether the previous process was successfully completed and, if not, shut down to alert operators that a problem has occurred. For help with its manufacturing process, GM turned to Balluff, which offers an RFID tag in the form of a customized bolt with a proprietary thread type to fit the proper hole size. The bolt includes a Balluff BIS M-series 13.56 MHz tag built into a recess in the bolt's head. Once an engine has been assembled correctly, the bolt is retrieved and the data wiped from its memory before the bolt is reused on another part. The technology has reportedly prevented several costly errors since being implemented, ensuring that GM’s use of the data bolt will likely spread to other production lines.