I agree with R&D credits, and keeping technology here, but time and time again we have seen the public damaged by companies that will do anything in the name of profit. Sometimes fines aren't enough because the companies are willing to pay the fines if they still make a good solid profit. There was an earlier article on ethical software practices, and in the same vein there are more amoral people than there are dishonest ones. Companies may be willing to do something that the public finds distasteful, but they are less likely to cross the line and do something that will involve prison or a hefty fine.
Kudos, Alex, for bringing up the P-word, Politics and the R-word, Regulation in the same column. I suspect this thread will be teaming with comments in a short time. If a simple mathematical equation could be applied to calculate the perfect amount of regulation required to balance positive and negative effects on any system, we would be using it. But as with all NP-Hard problems, our system is multidimensional and non-linear. I hope we can agree that regulations that treat our manufacturing system as uni-dimensional and linear are not helpful.
I agree that R&D should be encouraged whenever possible, and protecting technology is a no brainer, but when you say that we should relax regulations and bureaucracy, slow down. 1: Businesses and Corporations want you to believe that we should get the government and regulations out of their way so they can be free to do business how they want and be free of government and bureaucreatic involvemnet. Sounds good on paper, but it has been proven that businesses can NOT be trusted, they only care about the bottom line, that is the nature of business and you can't expect any different. That is why we have these regulations. 2: Bureaucracy is defined as an "organization of non-elected officials of a government or organization who implement the rules, laws, and functions of their institution." Bureaucracy cannot be removed without losing the teeth of the regulations we have implemented to protect our citizen's health and welfare.
For 3D printing to make the jump from rapid prototyping to manufacturing, engineers will need to find easier ways to move products from their CAD screens to their printers.
Gigabit and PoE are two networking technologies moving ahead in tandem as industrial users power remote Ethernet devices such as IP security cameras at 1,000 Mbps over existing CAT5 cable.
New versions of BASF's Ecovio line are both compostable and designed for either injection molding or thermoforming. These combinations are becoming more common for the single-use bioplastics used in food service and food packaging applications, but are still not widely available.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
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