Tractors Can Be Safer With ROPS

Tractors Can Be Safer With ROPS

Tractors can be safer with seatbelts and rollover protection are important because tractor rollovers are common. With a ROPS, or a Rollover Protection Structure and your seatbelt, your the odds are in your favor.


(ARA) - Tractor rollovers are all too common among both professional operators and rural lifestyle families alike. In fact, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) reports that overturned tractors are the leading cause of occupational agricultural deaths in the United States.

So what can you do to help keep yourself and your family safe? Follow good safety practices and make sure that your tractor is equipped with a Rollover Protection Structure (ROPS) and a seatbelt. As the weather gets warmer, people often head outdoors to finish last year's project or to start a new one. But before firing up the tractor, operators should ensure that it is equipped with a ROPS and seatbelt.

"A ROPS and seatbelt saved my life. I was coming up the highway on my Kubota tractor with a large round bale on the back. One car approached from the front and another from the back, so I moved to the side to avoid the possibility of an accident. The shoulder gave way, and the tractor rolled over," says Jeffrey L. Tucker of Raindance Farms in South Range, Wis. "I always keep the ROPS up and I wore my seatbelt. As the tractor began to roll, the seatbelt locked me in place and made sure I was situated under the roll bar. I'm here today because of that."

All tractor operators should take Tucker's real-life story to heart each time they climb on to drive any moving equipment. Fastened seatbelts and rollover protection structures are a critical combination for safe operation that can save your life.

Should a rollover occur, the combination of a ROPS and a fastened seatbelt are intended to keep the operator within a protective safety zone. In addition, a ROPS also absorbs energy if there is a turnover, helping to limit subsequent rolling. All operators should ensure that their tractors are equipped with this combination of safety features - and fasten their seatbelt each and every time they drive the machine.

Most tractor manufacturers include a ROPS and a seatbelt on new tractors; however, many older tractors did not come with standard ROPS and seatbelt. Tractor owners who have an older tractor model are encouraged to visit their local authorized tractor dealer to get a ROPS retrofit - many dealers or manufacturers run promotions to retrofit older tractors to meet today's safety standards. The NIOSH estimates that fatality rates due to tractor overturns could be reduced by 71 percent if all tractors in the U.S. were equipped with ROPS.
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"Safety is a high priority, and we recommend that all tractors are equipped with a ROPS and seatbelt," says Greg Embury, vice president of sales and marketing, Kubota Tractor Corporation. "This combination can help to prevent major injury and could save a life."

Kubota is reinforcing important recommendations and safety rules to help keep tractor operators safe with the following tips:

* If removing a ROPS to store a tractor, always have the structure re-installed before operating.

* A ROPS and fastened seatbelt should always be used together. If doing specialized work, check with your dealer to be sure that the ROPS matches the job functions.

* Never use a homemade ROPS. All ROPS should be manufactured and engineered to performance-match the tractor.

* Don't try to install a ROPS by yourself - always have your ROPS installed at a certified tractor dealership to ensure proper and secure application. An incorrectly installed ROPS could be a hazard.

* An authorized manufacturer's dealer is the best place to find experienced technicians ready to help provide additional safety information and details about a ROPS retrofit for older models.

"When we work together to reinforce safe equipment operating practices, we not only protect ourselves, but also the ones we love in the process," says Embury.

Visit www.kubota.com for additional safety information including the "Ten Commandments of Tractor Safety," a tractor safety coloring book and an informational safety video, "It's a Family Affair."

SRZero Electric Sports Car

SRZero Electric Sports Car
Not for the Mimes - The Radical SRZero Electric Sports Car. This is not another wimpy electric vehicle out there. This car is almost as fast as the 2010 Lamborghini Murcielago...a Lamborghini! An alternate propulsion vehicle that's fun to drive. Check it out.

Like so many mimes performing a trapped-in-a-box routine, people remain locked in a prison of their own making. Ignorance has created a cage where white-faced robots mouth the latest “news” and whine, “Why are electric cars so weak? They can’t go more than 100 miles on a charge. They are not practical.” And so they lounge dejectedly on the floor, surrounded by open space, convinced there is no way out.

Andy Hadland, team spokesman for the SRZero design team, states, “The perception still exists that EVs are somehow inferior to their fossil fueled counterparts … These are all perceptions that we want to change.”


Hadland is no mime. He is a realist, and co-creator of the astonishing machine known as the Radical SRZero electric sports car, “the world’s most focused, fun-to-drive alternative propulsion vehicle.”
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Developed by Radical Sportscars in conjunction with the 11-student Imperial College London’s Race Green Endurance (RGE) team in the Energy Futures Lab, the SRZero means to erase the term “wimpy” from EV vernacular.

Based on the SR8, Radical’s former fastest world champion, the SRZero imports the SR8’s 2.6-liter V8 engine but steals the gearbox and differential and replaces them with two EVO Electric AC synchronous Axial Flux motors. These two ultra-light, ultra-efficient motors are powered by three sets of Thunder Sky lithium ion phosphate cell batteries. The entire power-train sports a whopping 400-bhp. Regenerative braking captures energy at up to 50% efficiency during city driving.

The propulsion system is seamlessly controlled by LabVIEW’s CompactRIO control system, which integrates and organizes the multitudes of systems.

This hefty power- and drive-train enables the SRZero to rocket its 2,420-lb body to 60-mph in a mere 3.5 seconds. That’s almost as fast as a 2010 Lamborghini Murcielago. The SRZero tops out at 125 mph, and sports an impressive range of nearly 300 miles.
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How does this astonishing range number come to be? The SRZero’s creators drove their wonder child to the London M25 circuit in an attempt to best the former range record set by the Tesla Roadster at one lap. The SRZero cruised around the M25 twice at an average speed of 55-mph and still had 14% power capacity remaining. That’s 264 miles with room to spare.

But Radical means to put their protégé to a more extreme test. Begun on July 8, 2010, the SRZero is attempting a mind-blowing 16,000-mile trek from Ushuaia, Argentina, to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska along the Pan-American Highway. Radical hopes this feat will raise awareness about the capabilities of electric vehicles.

EVs are often billed as the saviors of ozone holes and the like. Nigel Brandon, director of the ICL Energy Futures Lab, agrees and notes, “To meet current [UK] government [carbon emission] targets by 2050, we need to refine a range of technologies including electric vehicles.” Enter, SRZero.
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But the SRZero is about more than going green. This car makes a statement: EVs rival their petro-hogging siblings in power, speed and driving. A 300-mile range, 400 horsepower and 3.5-second dash prove just that.

By Gary S. Vasilash, Editor-In-Chief Gary's Bio Write Gary "A.M"

By Gary S. Vasilash, Editor-In-Chief Gary's Bio Write Gary






When most people think of the Toyota Production System, they undoubtedly—and understandably—think of Camrys and Corollas. But forklifts?




Yes, those, too. In fact, 95% of the forklifts that Toyota Industrial Equipment—which is, interesting enough, a division of Toyota Motor Sales, the same organization that markets the Camrys built in Georgetown, Kentucky, and the Corollas produced in Ontario and in California—sells in the United States are built by Toyota Industrial Equipment Manufacturing (TIEM) in Columbus, Indiana. Production began in the Indiana plant in 1990.




TIEM operates with some 450 people who work in a facility that measures just under a half-million square feet. In the plant they produce four different product models: three-wheel electric trucks, four-wheel electric trucks, and two different ranges of internal combustion (gasoline, LPG, diesel) forklifts. This equipment is produced on three different lines in the plant, with the majority—about 75%—being built on the internal combustion engine line. The main processes performed in the plant are welding, painting and assembly.




Although the majority of units built by TIEM have internal combustion engines, they do build electric-powered forklifts, such as this, which has a 6,000-lb. capacity.




"Specials" are Common




Forklift with 6,000-lb. capacity

Although the majority of units built by TIEM have internal combustion engines, they do build electric-powered forklifts, such as this, which has a 6,000-lb. capacity.




Not only does that line produce an array of forklifts that range in size and capacity (one may have a 7,000-lb. capacity and another a 10,000-lb. capacity), but, according to Bruce Nolting, vice president of Purchasing, Production Control & Sales at TIEM, as many as 25% of the units built—or every fourth truck—could be a completely special unit. As Nolting explains, "We feel we're rather unique in that our competitors may make a vanilla truck and take it off line and to a separate line, building or town and add what it takes to make it a special unit." This could mean special seating, lighting, or a variety of other elements. "We do it in line." He adds, with what would seem like a huge understatement with regard to most companies but not Toyota, "As you can well imagine, it takes a significant amount of coordination and planning—getting the right components in the right place at the right time."




The manufacturing strategy at TIEM—which, of course, utilizes the Toyota Production System—is one-piece production. "We have a pull system," Nolting says. "We receive raw materials on one end and `pull' product through final assembly and on to the customer." Facilitating this is the use of kanban cards. When one of the associates on the line takes the first part out of a container, he or she pulls the kanban card from the box, which is a signal that more parts need to be delivered. The cards are collected five times a day; part deliveries are made five times a day. Many of the larger components are kitted and delivered sequentially.




Assuring that parts are ordered and ready is only one part of having the ability to produce the required forklifts. Having the wherewithal to do it is another. In order to assure that the end of the day (they run one shift at TIEM) the necessary number of forklifts has been built, takt time is calculated. By way of example: there are 20 processes on the main line. So, given the number of processes, the number of forklifts that need to be built, the number of people to do the work, and the number of hours available to do the job, the takt time is calculated for the work that needs to be done. Each process has a takt time. This is the number of minutes that is available for the job to be done, whether this is a standard unit or a Toyota Special Design vehicle.




The ability to flex with increases in demand can be accomplished in two ways: either work more hours or add more people. They do work overtime at TIEM. And they do hire people. Nolting observes that it is a fine balance that must be struck: on the one hand, they absolutely do not want to over work the associates; on the other hand, they don't want to add people so that should the market drop there are more people than are needed to perform the work.




Training for Quality




To help assure that there are quality builds each and every time, the people at TIEM are well trained. During an associate's first week with the company, all 40 hours are spent in training, both in the classroom and at the actual work site (a practice that's called "assimilation"). The training starts with safety, which is the number-one concern, then moves to achieving quality through the Toyota Production System. Then there is on-going training of associates at all levels of the organization either with internal classes or at nearby educational institutions.




counterweights

According to Bruce Nolting, the painted items on the forklifts built by TIEM—especially the counterweights (the back end, which keeps the vehicle stable when the front is loaded)—have what he describes as "an automotive finish." In order to assure the quality of the paint, there are more counterweights in the system at any given time than there are frames, which can be produced more readily.




Although the work isn't performed by teams of workers per se, the supervisory structure is organized so that there are groups of associates that are managed by an "assistant team leader" and groups of assistant team leaders under a "team leader." What's more, there are groups of volunteers who are called "TIEM Improvement Groups," which set out to identify and resolve problems and to make overall improvements in the plant.




Workers are cross trained in order to maintain flexibility. The approach is for an individual to first learn the jobs of the people who work on either side of him or her—the supplier and the customer in the sequence. Assistant team leaders must be capable of filling in for any of the people who are within that particular grouping.




A hard schedule is set eight days in advance of production. What this means is that given an order, changes can be made to it up to the eighth day before it will be produced. This doesn't mean that everything can be changed, but literally several hundred things can be modified. (And Nolting admits that they'll even accommodate late changes, but this would undoubtedly require having to move the vehicle off the line to handle it.) The reason why it is eight days and not seven or nine is simply based on being able to provide the suppliers with a sufficient time frame in which they can meet the orders. They are working on reducing that amount of time.




Crucial Elements




Once a vehicle is to be built, then all of the items (with the exception, of course, of things like nuts and bolts) that go in to making that vehicle are numbered. There is one-piece production in the sense that all of those items are going to come together to make the indicated unit. Which means that (1) equipment uptime, (2) the availability of people, and (3) quality are crucial.




According to Bruce Nolting, the painted items on the forklifts built by TIEM—especially the counterweights (the back end, which keeps the vehicle stable when the front is loaded)—have what he describes as "an automotive finish." In order to assure the quality of the paint, there are more counterweights in the system at any given time than there are frames, which can be produced more readily.




Although there is a preventive maintenance (PM) program in place, with each piece of machinery having its own schedule for PM, let's face it: things break. When this happens, things don't come to a complete halt. In fact, when there are problems it should be that the next process in the sequence doesn't even notice the stoppage. Nolting explains that it is a matter of keeping track of what happens in the various processes: how much downtime has there been; how much time has it taken to repair? Given that historical information about process capability, things are scheduled accordingly.




For example, in the case of the mast assembly line (the unit on the front of the forklift), given the takt time, the amount of time required to produce a mast, and the time that repairs have taken in the past when things have gone gone, they'll keep 40 to 45 minutes of finished products ahead of final assembly. Consequently, if something goes wrong on the mast line, the final assembly line wouldn't notice it unless the amount of time needed to repair the broken equipment exceeded the number of finished masts on hand (which is statistically unlikely). This is not buffer in the traditional sense, because, as mentioned, each major element that goes into the build of a vehicle is numbered—one particular mast is to be mated with one particular frame and so on.




The availability of people issue is addressed through the cross training of the associates, the abilities of the assistant team leaders to take on tasks of any of the associates, and by a restriction of the number of people within a given area who can take vacation at any one time.




As for quality, it is paramount. Each vehicle produced undergoes a comprehensive inspection. Each and every flaw is identified, listed, and repaired. The issues are collected on a Completed Vehicle Inspection (CVI) board. Where a problem occurred is determined. The assistant team leader responsible for the process where it came from must talk to the person responsible for the defect no later than by the start of work the day after the issue gets on the CVI board. There are daily meetings at the start of work each day to review the previous day's work and to plan what will happen that day so interactions between people are a matter of course.




In fact, meetings are critically important to the success at TIEM. Nolting says that every week there is an Associates' Meeting. Each area of the plant sends a representative to a one-hour meeting with the executive staff. They can voice complaints, recommendations, ideas, suggestions, and so on. "This lets us find out what's going on—what we need to be doing in order to improve," Nolting says.




In a lean organization like TIEM, everyone has to be involved in getting the job done right.

Honda, Toyota Dominate New Consumer Reports Reliability Survey "A.M"

Honda, Toyota Dominate New Consumer Reports Reliability Survey

Published Oct 27, 2010

   

YONKERS, New York — Honda and Toyota were singled out for making the most reliable vehicles sold in the U.S., according to the 2010 auto reliability survey from Consumer Reports. The consumer watchdog said that Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz vehicles are "among the worst" in terms of reliability.

Ford came out on top of GM and Chrysler in the new survey and now "ranks just below Lexus," noted Consumer Reports. GM was praised for making strides in reliability since shedding "models with subpar reliability when it shut down the Saturn, Pontiac and Hummer brands," the survey noted. But Chrysler was criticized for its "dated models."

"The Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep brands are saddled with dated models," said Consumer Reports in a statement on Tuesday. "Twelve of the 20 models that CR had sufficient data for rated below average in reliability. None of Chrysler Corporation's models scored above average."

Surprisingly, Toyota's massive recalls did not seem to hurt the Asian automaker much. Consumer Reports said that Toyota models, including those from Scion and Lexus, "remained among the most reliable and earned top scores in five vehicle categories." They include the Toyota Yaris, Toyota FJ Cruiser, Lexus LX, Toyota Sienna and Toyota Tundra V6. The Lexus GS and Lexus IS 250 convertible are below average, while the 2010 Toyota Prius was "hurt by anti-lock-brake problems on early vehicles and scored only average," the survey said.

European reliability has "stalled," said Consumer Reports.

"All Porsche and Volvo models are rated average or better," it said. "But Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz are among the worst automakers overall in terms of reliability. BMW had a bad year, with five of its 11 models scoring below average."

Almost all of the Audi models were "below average."

"The A6 with the new supercharged 3.0-liter V6 was tied with the Jaguar XF for the worst new car prediction score," it said. "The Porsche Boxster has the best predicted reliability score in Consumer Reports survey, while the Audi A6 3.0T and Jaguar XF have the worst."

Inside Line says: Critical information as you shop for a new vehicle this fall. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent

2010 Toyota Corolla "A.M"

2010 Toyota Corolla

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Despite a torrent of high-profile recalls that have tarnished Toyota's once stellar reputation, a study published Wednesday reveals that the automaker actually gets fewer customer complaints per car than the majority of its competitors.

Edmunds.com reviewed more than 200,000 complaints filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) over the last decade and found that Toyota ranked 17th among the top 20 automakers in the overall number of complaints per vehicle sold.

The results come amid a series of recalls totaling more than 8.1 million Toyotas worldwide, including 400,000 of the popular 2010 Prius hybrid for problems associated with sticking brake pedals, software glitches and faulty floormats.

The study was based on the percentage of complaints each automaker received versus the total number of vehicles they sold in the United States between 2001 and 2010.

MORE AT CNNMONEY.COM



As a result, British carmaker Land Rover had the highest proportion of complaints relative to the number of cars it sold. The company received 0.6% of the total complaints in the database, while its sales amounted to only 0.1% of all new cars sold in the United States.

Meanwhile, Toyota had 9.1% of all the complaints in the database. But the company was number 17 on the list because its sales made up 13.5% of the U.S. market.

According to the study, Toyota had fewer complaints than its American rivals. Ford was number 10 on the list, while General Motors came in at number 11.

The only automakers to receive fewer complaints than Toyota were Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and the Mercedes-made Smart Car.

Among the other automakers that ranked high on the list were Suzuki and Isuzu, which came in at numbers 2 and 3 respectively. German automaker Volkswagen came in at number 4.

The complaints lodged against Toyota ranged from minor problems with lighting to more serious issues such as sudden acceleration and difficulty steering. But the study did not rate the reported incidences for severity.

Edmunds.com said that it found some unreliable reports in the database, including one complaint indicating that 99 people had died in one vehicle as a result of an accident. It also said that about 10% of the complaints appeared to be duplicates.

Quality control: Not just Toyota's problem

While the issues raised by Toyota's recent recalls shouldn't be overlooked, quality control concerns are apparent across the entire automobile industry, said Jeremy Anwyl, Edmunds.com chief executive.

"A broader view shows that consumer complaints reflect an industry issue, not just a Toyota issue," said Anwyl. "It is no longer an option for car companies to dismiss consumer complaints, even if the event is difficult to replicate or diagnose."

Some automakers assume that customer complaints are the result of driver error and not necessarily a reflection of design problems, said Jeannine Fallon, an Edmunds.com analyst.

"It depends on the culture of the car company," she said. "But it's clear now that Toyota has not had very many conversations with NHTSA."