Manufacturers producing equipment that may be exported outside of the United States fall under the rules set forth in ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations). Breaches of ITAR can incur substantial penalties, even if those breaches were unintentional.

What Is ITAR?

ITAR was first enacted in 1976 in order to limit arms exports to Eastern Bloc countries. Items or services on the United States Munitions List (USML) were under strict regulations and companies had to receive authorization from the US Department of State before exporting them. In the last ten years, government enforcement of ITAR has risen dramatically and American manufacturers have had to be more diligent about ITAR compliance.

Manufacturers who produce equipment listed on the USML must register with the US Department of State before exporting this equipment to a foreign customer. That customer can be a government, retailer, distributer or even an individual. The company must operate in accordance with ITAR requirements to export the equipment. However ITAR compliance requirements extend outside the company itself.

Are Your Components ITAR Compliant?

A problem can arise when a company is registered and compliant with ITAR, but uses components such as custom silicone keypads from a non-compliant supplier. Even if the manufacturer was unaware of the noncompliance, ignorance is not a valid defense and the manufacturer can be held liable for the breach.

Some manufacturers are unaware of this requirement. ITAR regulations are purposely vague in order to give federal authorities flexibility in prosecution, but that can lead to misinterpretations of the law. A manufacturer might think that because custom silicone keypads are not explicitly listed on the USML they are exempt from ITAR. However if those custom silicone keypads are used on USML-listed equipment, then they become subject to export regulations.

Choosing American Components

It is common for manufacturers of USML-listed equipment to stick with domestic vendors for their components. Although high quality custom silicone keypads or other components may be available from foreign suppliers, using them complicates the ITAR process.

Foreign vendors themselves are not subject to ITAR. Some that deal with American manufacturers may implement training and other procedures to be in compliance to ITAR, but these procedures may not be satisfactory. Other vendors may have an office in the US but be headquartered in another country, which again complicates the definitions under ITAR. A company of this nature could be considered a "US person" or a "foreign person" depending on how they are incorporated and how one interprets the ITAR definitions of these terms.

The safest bet is to buy custom silicone keypads and other components only from American companies who are registered with the US Department of State and actively maintain ITAR compliance. A twenty-five cent component on a million dollar piece of equipment could jeopardize the manufacturer's ITAR compliance and their ability to do business.



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Knowing what type of process engineering equipment is best for your manufacturing operation is crucial to maximize productivity and quality of product yield. With a wide range of high tech process engineering products to choose from, it's crucial to do the research regarding the performance capacity and task-specific features each has to offer. Read on to learn important information about the functional application of process equipment used in manufacturing operations.

Bioreactors: Bioreactors are a type of process equipment intended for use in chemical manufacturing processes that involve biochemically active substances and the byproducts rendered from these substances. In short, bioreactors are appropriate for use in a process engineering manufacturing environment that is biologically active. These particular products are generally shaped like a cylinder. Often made of stainless steel material to ensure durability, bioreactors are available in a range of sizes, from liters to cubic meters, depending on the requisite volume of the process engineering task. Bioreactors are categorized as batch, fed batch, or continuous, based on its regular operational utility. Some special features of these process engineering equipment mechanisms include self-cleaning tanks, biological odor control, pH controls, and the ability to consume hydrocarbons and eliminate wax, soaps, or organic chemicals.

Centrifuges: These process engineering instruments are used to separate solids from liquids as a means of extracting or washing products and materials. Centrifuges have a broad application in process engineering across a range of industries, as they fulfill an essential production task. Depending on their industry-specific application, process equipment models range in size, speed, and several other variables. Chemical, pharmaceutical, textile, and wastewater treatment process are just a few industries in which centrifuges are fundamental pieces of process equipment. The way they work is by using a motor to rotate materials around an axis using force rendered by centripetal force. Centripetal acceleration separates substances of greater from those of lesser densities.

Coating: Coating is a process used in biopharmaceutical process engineering production; after tablets such as pharmaceutical drugs are pressed, they are generally coated to congeal into a transportable form. The process of coating must be carefully performed as it is intended to satisfy a number of different stipulations. Coating must provide a certain degree of durability to ensure that the product will stand up to handling processes; at the same time, however, coating cannot cause tablets to stick together and cannot obscure the embossed letters on the tablet. The coating process is used to mask unpleasant tablet taste, as well as to make certain tablets easier to swallow. Biopharmaceutical process engineering relies on coating to control the rate of dissolution of certain drugs into the body during digestion; therefore, coating machines are play a critical role in many production process, so they must be built to sustain a high performance level in terms of consistency and meticulousness.



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It seems that robotic parking structures are the wave of the future, and in many high-rent downtown business districts or high-rise apartment complexes where space is at a premium and parking is absolutely out of control when it comes to the cost, these robotic garages become the perfect solution. Still, today everyone is concerned about energy usage, and everyone is trying to cut back, and become a more green company; thus, reducing their carbon footprint.

So, this presents a Catch-22 as the downtown area real estate becomes more and more valuable, (after this current recessionary crisis in the commercial real estate market) and the costs for parking become a premium. However, one should also understand that robotic parking structures use a lot of hydraulics, and therefore the energy usage, while it is significant, is not nearly as much if you might expect or believe it to be, at least on most of these systems.

When shopping for robotic parking garages, equipment, and structures a company should ask lots of questions such as the energy use per the parking of each individual car and that should be divided by two, because retrieving the car also takes energy. However lifting a car up takes more energy, then bringing it back down, and some robotic systems of this type are engineered in such a way to save money (money = energy in this case) on the return trip.

Therefore, if you are considering an automatic parking system of this type that is fully robotic, then you should shop around, and also consider the construction and equipment costs amortized over a 20 year period, then add in the estimated costs for energy, and divide that up amongst the number of business days. After you do that you'll have a better understanding of the cost structure between the different types of units available. Please consider all this.

****Update: I am advised by Mary Lou DeWynGaert, that there actually is a robotic parking structure company that is different; I wanted to correct a misconception. The automated garages built by Robotic Parking Systems use NO hydraulics. http://www.roboticparking.com/. Indeed, I see some benefits to this too, as when hydraulic lines break the fluid goes everywhere and ruins cars, so this would solve that issue, perhaps of interest?

** Additional Update; The FATA Skyparks system does not utilize hydraulics either and there seems to be a tend occurring here. Martin Mattia writes; "many suppliers are moving away from hydraulics due to their performance characteristics at various temperatures." And he also points out that regenerative energy systems, similar to the concept used in hybrid cars, is becoming more common, although cost is a consideration.

The climate and temperature issue issue is quite a common problem. If you will recall in the aviation sector, the FAA changes the requirements for hydraulic fluid due to environmental concerns, but then nose landing gears were having issues. Remember those wheel wells in aircraft get very cold and are not pressurized, see that issue with hydraulics? Also Sunlite Bus in the California desert was using Hydrogen Fuel cell buses and ran into cooling issues with the already extremely hot coverters. So, temperature does matter regardless of industry; Martin's comments are indeed well founded.

And too his point I'd like to add a comment to the regenerative braking systems, similar systems are now being used at the Ports to offload containers, which is saving vast amounts of energy considering some of these late model cargo ships have 20,000 plus containers on them, think about it. Robotic Parking is innovating, and using what works.

Why not consider robotic parking structures? It only makes sense.



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A barcode scanner performs an important role in reading particular documents. Not all people know it but this industrial output is also essential in tracking vehicle parts. Each form of barcode reader is packed with features ranging from one-dimensional and two-dimensional to multiple elements. Several of its kinds are the pen readers, 2D cameras, laser scanners and CCD readers.

You may be interested at how the entire system works. Thinking of how you see the system works in some businesses, it would be easier for you to conclude that it has a very simple mechanism. An important encounter you have with the tool is when you pass through grocery stores where items are passed through the machine. From there, you will see that the price will show on the computer. With this, you cannot help but wonder if a barcode scanner works as uncomplicated as that.

The procedures that make a barcode scanner operate

Typically, barcodes comprise of white bars and black bars. When you handle two-dimensional systems, however, spaces stand in for these bars. Examples of patterns are seen in the Morse code like UPC codes where thick and thin bars are observed. The 2D matrix examples are said to be more composite than the UPC.

Before the barcode or digital signals are sent into the software for data translation, there are other fundamental processes behind barcode scanners and their applications. First, LED or laser light goes over the barcode. The reader's sensor is capable of emitting the light in order to transform it to a more readable signal. Black bars are used to attract light whereas the white bars are employed as code reflectors. The sensor will then convert these bars of light into its analog waveform versions.

The software takes its work once the analog waveforms are introduced. It is a device used in order to convert the mechanism code to its digital counterpart. This leads to the process of signal translation and decoding. The machine will program the digital information so that the reader will serve its functions later.

Functions for barcode scanners

It was cited that the barcode scanners will then be able to provide its use once the barcodes are transformed to digital signals. This means that the industry will now truly derive the purpose of the gadget. Examples of industries that relies upon the device are those that need to track store supplies.

A barcode scanner also has other uses aside from what was cited. It may be utilized by postal companies to manage with its basic contracts like tracking of packages and shipments. Libraries see better communication and dissemination of books and other printed media with these tools. Moreover, financial establishments see the good of barcode readers while classifying and automating company files.




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