On the move

The art of shifting stuff about has posed a perennial challenge for manufacturing. From the precision placing of electrical components to the moving of large items such as whole ships, the methodologies have revolved around guiding systems such as rails, and some means of moving the product along the system, such as belts and ball bearings.

Many everyday items have to be moved about at some point. Even the signs at McDonald's rely on bearings to change menus.

Every morning, in McDonald's restaurants around the world, the menu changes from a breakfast to a daytime meal. The power-driven menu boards use

bearings to guide the boards to show whatever is being sold: the bearings need to cope with chassis manufacturing tolerances and misalignment caused during shipping and installation of the finished menu board assemblies to place the signs.

Even reading

, whether the online or print version, would be impossible without motion technology. For example, the online version relies on computers, which are generally made on production lines relying on a flow of components and products delivered automatically. The print version has to have a system for moving paper and ink heads to the right part of the press so the four colours are printed in the same place.