Category: Uncategorized

MJ ENGINEERING SAFETY PRACTICES

MJ Engineering has been improving our safety program and have now received qualification from PICS Auditing on our safety program. PICS provides contractor pre-qualification services for companies related to safe operating practices and safety training. The pre-qualification works by first determining the typical tasks that MJ employees will be involved with both at our facility and at the customer facility. From that task list a comprehensive list of requirements is developed that address both the required practices and training required. MJ then improved our safety program to meet these identified needs. The last step is a manual audit of our program by the PICS organization to verify we have met the needs and that we do have the appropriate safety program in place. The Manual Audit is a thorough review of a contractor’s policy and procedure manual. The review considers the services performed by the contractor and ensures that the manual complies with legislative requirements and industry best practices.

WWW.PICSAUDITING.COM

KUKA SYSTEM PARTNER

M J Engineering is proud to announce that we have accepted the offer from KUKA Robotics to join their system integrator program. “The KUKA System Partner program cements successful, long-term cooperative system partnerships with selected companies. In this way, KUKA Roboter GmbH combines its own specialist expertise in the field of robotics with the industry-specific know-how of each system partner.”

HEAVY LIFTING AND REPETIVE MOTION TASKS

REPETITIVE STRESS INJURIES (RSIs) Account for one in four lost-time injuries and illnesses
reported by employers to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

OHIO BWC Safety Grants – up to $40,000
“The program is available to any Ohio state-fund or public employer who wishes to purchase equipment to substantially reduce or eliminate injuries and illnesses associated with a particular task or operation. The program is designed to work and partner with Ohio employers to establish safety intervention best practices for accident and injury prevention.”
https://www.bwc.ohio.gov/employer/programs/safety/empgrants.asp

CONTACT MJ ENGINEERING TO SEE HOW WE CAN HELP!

AUTOMATED PACKAGING AND PALLETIZING

CUSTOM PALLETIZING AND PACKAGING: MJ Engineering can provide custom packaging and palletizing applications using robots for a wide range of products, including:

· Boxed product
· Bags
· Unique product shapes and sizes
· Non-standard pallet configurations
· Special packaging requirements
· Multiple products or package requirements

ADVANTAGES:

· Small footprint: We can provide cells that require less floor space than the competition
· Hi Speed: Pick and pack applications up to 90 parts per minute.
· Reliable: Industrial robots have a proven history of long term reliability.

ROI: quick return on investment, typically 12 months or less on a three shift operation.

AUTOMATION AUDITS / ROBOT SIMULATIONS

Do you know what the potential benefits of automation are for your assembly process?

Is there potential for increased production, improved manpower utilization or safety improvements?

MJ Engineering can work with you to review the current process, understand the goals and parameters to identify the potential benefits of automation for part or all of the process.

MJ Engineering can provide accurate detailed process simulations using Fanuc robots on your process. There are many aspects of an application that can be accurately validated with a software simulation such as:

1. Accurate simulated average process throughput. In many applications the robot performing the primary task runs much faster than the associated process equipment.
   • We can include the primary robot tasks and any directly related secondary tasks into the simulation to give an accurate
     average production rate.
2. The basics of reach and speed for the robot task(s) can be verified.
3. For applications that are higher speed or approaching the payload capacity of the robot the simulation provides an accurate model of the servo motor loading. This can also be used to fine tune the motion path to make it more efficient.
4. The simulation provides a video of the process. This is very helpful when reviewing the application and for presentation purposes.

CFD (COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS) ANALYSIS

CFD stands for computational fluid dynamics. A CFD analysis consists of a model which analyzes problems involving fluid flow (including air, water, or other). CFD analyses are commonly used to study such phenomena as air over plane wings, water through pipes or gas flow through orifices. MJ Engineering is now providing complete CFD analysis services using the SolidWORKS Simulation Premium Package.

• Drop Test Analysis
• Thermal Structural Analysis
• Plastic and Rubber Part Analysis
• Vibration Analysis
• Frequency Analysis
• Linear Strees Analysis
• Structural Analysis

MJ has been providing FEA and mechanical certification services for over 10years now for the mining industry, general manufacturing and amusement park ride industry. Feel free to call and ask about specific needs you may have.

AUTOMATED INSPECTION / IDENTIFICATION SYSTEMS

There are many reasons to automate an inspection or identification process including:

• Consistent quality control
  • Reduce re-work, returns and scrap
• Better utilization of manpower
• Ability to perform hi-spped inspections (at production rate)

MJ Engineering has provided a wide range of automated inspection systems for identification, verification and measuring purposes.

Do you have a process that requires?

• Reading and of a 1D or 2D code
  • Ask about the MJ Code Logging System!
• Measuring the size or verifying the correct size is present.
  • We can measure parts in a single dimension or all three.
• Verifying the correct color is present, and does not drift out of tolerance.
• Verifying that an assembly is complete.
• Logging of images and data to local or remote servers.

We have experience with all of the above and usually have vision systems in the shop to test on your application.

COLLABORATIVE ROBOTS

There has been a lot of hype about collaborative robots, these are robots that can work side by side with people “without the need for guarding”. MJ Engineering can provide both the functional and safety review to determine if your application is a good potential for a collaborative robot installation. There are five levels of collaborative robot installations defined and only the last one allows for no or very little physical guarding to be employed in the installation. It is actually a combination of the task, tooling and robot programming that can allow for this type of installation.

ANNOUNCING THE OPENING OF OUR SECOND LOCATION

MJ Engineering has opened a second office location in the Atlanta area – Peachtree City, Georgia. This office location will help us serve our southern customers better with easier direct access. For all of our southern customers, please feel free to contact Graham Wand at this office to discuss any engineering or machine design build needs.

Graham Wand P.E.
Sales Engineer, Vice President
Post Office Box 3198 • Peachtree City, Georgia 30269
Phone: 770-855-1430
Email: gtwand@mjengineering.com

MJ ENGINEERING – IN THE FIELD

This has been an interesting year in the field for the MJ team. Our field trips have ranged from watching rides we have helped on at amusement parks to measuring mining equipment in the snow. It is this great variety that keeps our jobs very interesting and sometimes also very challenging.

The manufacturing plants that we have been active in this year include: Foundries, Plastic and Rubber, Glass, Food, Steel, Packaging, Bakeries, Propane Tanks amp; Automotive suppliers.

ENGINEERING APPS

I have decided to focus this newsletter on the mobile devices many of us are using now. There are many APP’s available for both Apple and Android operating systems, some are actually useful to engineers. I have an Android phone that has many advantages and with 1000’s of Apps available it is hard to find all of the “useful” ones. The following is a short list of some that may be worth trying. (I have tried to be fair to both Apple and Android users.)

• Solidworks eDrawings for iPad—View Solidworks Files
• AutoCAD WS For Andriod and Apple—View Edit and Share DWG files
• My Measures for Android—All you have to do is take a photo of an object you wish to store dimensions of. Then you add dimensions: arrows and text.
• Engineering Cookbook app for Android—targets mechanical engineers, Heating and Cooling,Sound and Vibration.
• Slide Rule for Andriod and iPad—For those of us that started in engineering before calculators were “smart”.
• Wolfram Alpha for Android and iPad—Described as the Star Trek Computer for your Smart device. Lets you instantly compute answers to questions across thousands of domains—from finance and food to math and medicine to stocks and spacecraft to wordplay and weather …

2012 PROJECTS

MJ Engineering has been involved in many interesting and useful projects in 2012 ranging from consumer products to some we can’t talk about. The ones we are going to be publishing more information about are robot and manufacturing related.

For example we have provided robots to two local customers, one for palletizing and one for material sand blasting. In both cases the tasks were completed entirely by hand before the installation of the robot.

As we progress into 2013 more detailed information on our projects will be added to our website, we hope that this helps our customers see what we are capable of and how we can help to reduce labor and increase the production efficiency.

WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST EMPLOYEE!

We are pleased to have Jarrod Bichon join MJ this past fall as our Manager of Automation and Robotics. His responsibilities will include project evaluations, project management, product development and sales related to robotics and manufacturing automation applications. Jarrod has over 10 years of experience in robotic applications with a well known robotic supplier where he worked his way up from an applications engineer to the President of the company. We hope to provide him a very challenging position with extensive opportunities to further develop his experience in the custom machine design and robotic applications focus.

Jarrod also helps expand the technical expertise offered by MJ with his extensive welding experience backed by a Bachelor of Science in Welding Engineering degree from Ohio State

COMING SOON – NEW MJ WEBSITE

We are currently working on a completely new design for the MJ website with a goal of being easier to navigate and do a better job of representing our capabilities by highlighting past projects.
Our goal is to have it up and running early this year.

ANALYSIS SERVICES – FOR FUN AND “AMUSEMENT”

MJ has been providing design and analysis services for a wide range of industry including medical, heavy truck, mining machinery and fire truck industry for many years now. Over the past couple of years we have added amusement park rides to that list.

Primarily MJ is providing finite element analysis (FEA) verifications for ride capacities, verification of cables, sheaves, cylinders, chain, shackles, bolts, welded connections, bearings, etc, wind load calculations, basic ride kinematics, static and dynamic outrigger loads and blocking pressure on the ground, fatigue calculations, and assistance with Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA).

ENGINEERING SERVICES

Engineering Consulting services are a core service provided by MJ Engineering, these services vary from customer to customer and project to project. Some examples of these services are;

Finite Element Analysis:

• Failure Analysis
• Verification of a design to meet process requirements

Professional Engineering Services:

• Design and certification of lifting devices
• Wind load Certifications
• Canopy Certifications

Engineering Design Services:

• Engineering support for project staffing
• Complete engineering design team service

Engineering Consulting:

• Research and document process capabilities including new technologies
• System/process review – feasibility of automation studies
• Engineering Studies
  • Automated Inspection capabilities
  • Time Studies
  • Concept and Design reviews
  • Concept / product testing

CONTINUING EDUCATION

Like many companies we are constantly trying to improve, one of the methods we use is technical training. This can range from specific product training to training focused on a process or application. Some of the training attended by MJ staff this year includes; MICROSCAN Vision systems, Introduction to Pro-E Wildfire 4.0, Fundamentals of Hydraulics, Cognex Insight/Easy Builder, FANUC-(Intelligent Robot Options, Basic Robot Operations, New Product Training, iRVision, Force Control), Sensopart Vison Systems, SICK Vision systems, Professional Development and Time Management.