In this episode of MBT’s Manufacturing Newswire, we’ll discuss villagers attacking a factory, as well as some toilet humor gone wrong. We’ll also talk about the taxi of tomorrow, and take a look at a hybrid vehicle designed for land and water.
Check out the full interview with Steve Leavitt, General Manager of U.S. Cloud Solutions at Exact Online, here.
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Toilet Humor
Donald Adams III was left paralyzed from the shoulders down when his relatives tipped over a portable toilet while he was inside it. He has now settled a Pennsylvania lawsuit against the toilet manufacturer, his relatives and the installer for $5 million.
The relatives backed their truck up to the toilet to lock Adams inside as a prank. However, they inadvertently knocked the toilet over when they banged on it and shook it, the lawsuit said. The lawsuit faulted the manufacturer for not providing ground spikes with the unit, despite holes designed for that purpose on the base, and the installer for resting the unit on a hill, and propping it up with wood.
Environmentalism
Residents of Baha, a village in Yunnan province in southwestern China infuriated by a factory that was polluting the environment smashed its offices and equipment, and later clashed with police, underscoring the potential for such concerns to trigger violent unrest.
Villagers had grown increasingly angry over a local metalwork factory that had been coughing up black smoke and discharging polluted wastewater. When the factory's boss refused to meet with villagers about the issue, they smashed cars, equipment, offices and dormitories.
Gas Prices
The price of gasoline held steady into early February, but an increase is almost inevitable this time of year. Pump prices have gone up an average 31 cents per gallon in February over the past three years.
Refinery output is expected to slow down as refiners conduct typical seasonal maintenance. Refiners will soon switch to making more expensive summer gasoline that is formulated to meet clean air rules, and they don't want to be stuck with unsold winter gas.
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Face to Face
In this week’s Face to Face, we’ve invited Steve Leavitt, General Manager of U.S. Cloud Solutions at Exact Online to talk about technology in manufacturing.
Steve, how is technology playing an increasing role in the manufacturing success?
To see Steve’s full response to this question, please visit the multimedia section of mbtmag.com or click on the link above.
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Technology News
The New York City taxi cab is one of the most iconic taxis in the world and the city wants to make some changes to that cab. Take a look at Nissan’s “Taxi of Tomorrow”. New features like charging ports and crash-tested passenger dividers makes the new taxi a safer and more tech-savvy way to get around.
The modified Nissan NV Vans have an entertainment system, large sunroofs and you can even set your own climate control while you ride. Taxi companies are impressed and are already buying them, bringing the taxis of tomorrow to the road today.
Commercial Drones
Grand Forks, North Dakota is home to the military's Predator drone and is one of six FAA approved test sites for unmanned aircraft systems. They’re testing drones to track down criminals, find and rescue people and now commercial companies want to see what they can do with them.
Amazon has talked about package delivery, and one company jokingly wanted to use them for beer delivery to ice fishermen, but for now, the FAA has grounded such ideas until it can figure out a safe way to conduct all that overhead traffic safely.
Customer Service
British Experts think that humanoid robots could soon become part of our daily life at retailers, airports, and sport stadiums. These robots at a lab in Cornwall are equipped with cameras, depth perceptions, and face and voice recognition.
There are 50 of these robots already roaming around museums and visitor centers around the world at a price of about $90,000 each. Right now scientists are working on more technological leaps for these robots so they can run and jump like us, but don’t worry they won’t outsmart humans.
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Clip of the Week
The Canadians are at it again. Canada’s Interconn Development has crossed a hovercraft, an airboat and a pontoon boat all-in-one.
The ATASD can move on water and land, but is officially classified as a pontoon inflatable boat. Although Interconn no doubt welcomes inquiries from private individuals, the ATASD's intended applications are things like search and rescue, research, security, surveying and tourism.
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