When engineers specify a tolerance on a drawing, they are defining how much variation is acceptable. But tighter tolerances don't come for free. The tighter the dimensional requirement, the more difficult it can become to manufacture, measure, inspect, and maintain that dimension consistently. Understanding the relationship between tolerance and manufacturing cost is an important part of design for manufacturability. What Is a Manufacturing Tolerance? A tolerance defines the allowable...

A conveyor can run perfectly and still create a major production problem at the point where material transfers from one conveyor to another. Transfer points are often where material changes direction, speed, elevation, or containment. That makes them mechanically and operationally important. Poorly designed transfer points can cause material buildup, spillage, excessive wear, dust generation, belt damage, and inconsistent material flow. Why Transfer Points Are Difficult Material moving along...

A failed bearing is usually treated as a maintenance event. Remove it. Install a replacement. Put the machine back into production. But a bearing can provide valuable information about the condition of the equipment around it. The damage pattern on the bearing may help identify the actual mechanism that caused the failure. That makes bearing failure analysis a useful tool for improving equipment reliability. Don't Throw Away the Evidence Before disposing of a failed bearing, inspect it. Look...