Saturday, November 18, 2006

Preparing for the Best Trade Show

The more the merrier. This is an idiom that best defines the purpose of a trade show exhibit. When you put it in plain words, this simply implies that the more customers who stop at your booth, the greater your sales leads will be; thus greater chances of hitting the big time.

But what’s really the purpose of a trade show? Why do businesses should participate in exhibiting? A trade show is a great avenue for increasing the customer’s brand awareness. It’s a good means to market new products and services to different consumers. Proven and tested by many, indeed it is ideal to exhibit at trade shows for it gives businesses especially the newly established ones to generate leads, obtain suppliers and make an impact in the industry.

Many things should be considered when preparing for the trade show. However, the safest way to meet your targets is through careful planning. Plan in advance. Fewer mistakes can be made when you make your plans ahead of time. How will you do the planning? First and foremost, you have to think about the basic elements of the show namely: the kind of show, the purpose, the exhibit booth and the marketing aspect.

Here are some of the basic steps you have to follow in order that you come up with a winning trade show booth:

1. Plan, prepare and present. Ideally, it is best if you would do the preparations 18 months before the trade show event. It’s important to have a full understanding of what your goals are before you put your mind, heart, soul and money into the show. List the objectives you want to accomplish at the end of the show. It’s better if you only have one main objective. The objective should correspond to the show’s general objectives. Focus on only on objective and work hard to attain that goal. Also think about how you will make your presence felt by your target market.

2. Go for the most suitable show. Ask yourself if the show is to your advantage. Does it match your objective? Does it give you benefits? Does it cater to the right audience? If the answer to all these questions is yes, then it’s the one you’re looking for. Get some information regarding the trade show. You can ask some past exhibitors to check if the show is of good reputation and if it’s reliable.

3. Check out the space, location and the opportunities. The space and location of the booth is critical in trade show marketing. If you want to get noticed, you should consider where your booth will be located. Choose the area where the customers can easily see you. Keep away from areas with low ceilings, poorly lit spaces, columns and dead-end aisles.

4. Hand out some giveaways. A trade show giveaway is one way of getting your message across your prospective customers. It is a way of enticing your customers and convincing them to patronize your products and services.

Career In Scuba Diving Your Future Being A Dive Instructor

Scuba Divers are made of many people that are tired of the usual tedious workday, followed by the nerve-racking task of driving; add all the noise pollution it instigates. That's before everything else scuba divers encounter in these fast paced times outside of scuba diving.

Some scuba divers go even further by finding a career in scuba diving. Some become diving instructors themselves. They find their career in scuba diving rejuvenating compared to many other choices.

Scuba diving doesn't usually start there though. It usually starts where many other's scuba diving began; with the open water course. Then they move onto the advanced course and learn much more and realize they really enjoy all that scuba diving has to offer. They see diving underwater in a whole new way, and really want to share that with others as well. Often this leads them to work towards a career in scuba diving instruction.

It's not all simple courses and then going to work with your new career in scuba diving. You need to be a master at it. This of course means a lot of diving time in a variety of situations and an instructor or more. You need to know how to dive and survive well. With that, as a scuba diving instructor you will be able to bring others up to scuba diving. You need to know what they have to, to dive safely. This is quite a worthy career!

Many look up to the diving instructor assuming they know it all about scuba diving. Since the potential to inspire them can be great or potentially heartbreaking, you really do need to know anything they need to know, and more! When you don't, you need to admit that as well! If your journey is endlessly learning more when diving in many situations, you should seriously consider a career in scuba diving as an instructor.

Though also consider that you need to deal with people, and follow timelines. You need to be able to teach your students in a short time, how to remain safe and alive when scuba diving. This is quite a responsibility. If you feel this is for you, it's time we look further towards your career in scuba diving instruction.

To become a diving instructor you must first be a Dive master. With that out of the way, then you have to take the Instructor Development Course (PADI IDC). This extensive course will take you deeper into diving than you have been. It will educate you on diving standards, safety, students, the PADI system, and relevant law. To be all you can be you will definitely want to master every bit of it. That way when you begin your career in scuba diving instruction, you will be well versed from the start. Of course beyond that, experience will follow that will truly make you a complete export in your craft.

As with anything these days, while working on your career in scuba diving, you can expect much product marketing information, as well as sales literature too. While it's not wise to buy everything, you should understand the market, as it does affect your students as well.

Friday, November 17, 2006

A Guide for Coupons online offer supers savings

You don't have to pay retail prices on most major brand names any more. Now you can rack up huge savings on popular stores such as Walmart Jc penney's and even many of those super expensive prescription drugs with just a click of the mouse when you visit www.gogoshopper.com . Gogoshopper Makes finding and saving on the cost of goods and products a snap with our real time coupon savings system that allows you to quick find just what you are wanting to purchase.

So why use internet coupons? You just might be thinking, and the answer is really simple. Millions of people want to buy certain things that are really just a bit to expensive for their budget like a new computer for dell. Normally the cost would be a big stumbling block but thanks to dell coupons it slashes down the cost and people who are coupon clippers can save even hundreds on dell products.

Additionally offering these coupons really boost product sales for most companies and that is why the concept of discount coupons is good for both the seller and the buyer alike. These coupons offer a discount of nearly 25 to 50% concessions on your purchase. With these coupons in hand, even a person making his living on undersized pay packets can also fulfill some of his desires.

There was a time when discount coupons were only offered through newspapers, magazines, etc. however, these days; internet coupons have become very much popular. These are usually found on the websites of the companies. These require you to fill some personal information in order to obtain the discount coupon. Another advantage of using online discount coupons from gogoshopper.com for the customers is that they can test a new product using coupons at super discounted savings.

With the reach of the internet expanding day after day, it is now the best method to reach out to your customers. Every second there is a customer searching for product coupons for stores like Target jcpenneys Walmart. Did you know there are even Amazon coupons and you can get overstock coupons as well?

Smart people are always looking for ways to minimize their expenditure and save some money. So by providing free online discount coupons, your product and your company will come into the view of the customer and hence your business flourishes. It is a very good way to increase your clientele. This is such a fun and innovative way to promote one's business. All the top retailers advertise savings for their customers online. Small businesses are finally grasping the concept.

Let's recap some of the advantages why discount coupons are so popular. Using our select coupons is easy and hassle free for buyers to save plenty of money on name brand items. Unlike the coupons from magazine and newspapers which can be used only once, online coupons can be used any number of times. Customers can download coupons easily from the company website and this increases the popularity of the company.

It is easier and cheaper to obtain discount coupons on the internet as you don't have to buy newspapers or magazines to get them.

A Prada Bag Sale Is A Futuristic Fashion Experience

Italian fashion outlet prada have an intuitive appreciation for what makes women tick, but perhaps you wouldn't assume that ticking to come in the form of a shopping assistant that is computerized. You're right, the next time you pop into a Prada bag sale you could be forgiven for thinking you'd stepped into the future, with so many futuristic inventions ready and waiting to improve your exquisite shopping experience. Bag shopping has turned futuristic for Prada, and for some fashion journalists and fashion aficionados, it's just in time.

In a new era populated by internet connections, artificial intelligence and wireless technology, it is no surprise that Prada, often the innovators in terms of fashion, are growing their expertise in the direction of technology. The clear, liquid-crystal doors on Prada changing rooms were the very first step, dimming for privacy as soon as a lady enters. But that's the stylish, mindful side of the bargain.

Today, the inventiveness is a lot more obvious and, some may say, intrusive. Yes, the next Prada bag you acquire in the sale could well have been decided upon for you, via communication between the sales tag and the sales associate's hand-held computer. That communication also signals the back-stage warehouse, and consists of many things from sizes and colouring, to your past purchases, purchasing habits and indeed the refunds you got (not to mention many a intricate detail which the Prada shop assistants chose to note own about your last visit to the store).

So today, a prada bag sale consists of 'radio frequency identification', which is the name for the technology found in the tag on the items for sale. This tag is where data about sizing, colour, colour-matching and style is stored. Your helpful, smiling sales colleague is then prone to whipping out a hand-held computer, placing it against the tag and downloading all of the information that forms your commercial fingerprint.

The sales staff will be able to tell what kind of Prada bag appeals to you, and administer a sale dependent on the other items in your shopping history, very efficiently building up 'virtual wardrobes' by which your interests, likes and disliked can be properly indexed. Based on this information, you will also be invited - and this is where a multitude of the concerns about the supposed benefits of this new technology begin to mount - to take out a contract for a store card which will help them and you keep tabs on your relationship and dealings with Prada.

One Prada bag you may not be disinclined to be convinced to buy is the famous messenger bag, with its exterior zipper pocket, stunning Prada logo monogram on the interior lining. One card you won't mind the sight of can be the essential Prada authentication card, confirming that lasting statement of fashion excellence and haut couture styling.

Whatever we believe about the benefits of this new technology, the likelihood is, as with all Prada inventions, that they will shortly become the norm for many a retailer, keen to make that added push towards comfort and availability for its shoppers. One thing's for sure, shopping in the Prada bag sale will never be the same again.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Enterprise Asset Management

Asset management involves not only the management of the capital and physical assets of the company, but also the management of its back office system. This, simply put, means effective management of all processes of a set-up—manufacturing, logistics, distribution, inventory, and shipping. It is obvious that enterprise asset management deals will all processes involved within the company. It does not take into account its customers and sellers. Therefore enterprise asset management is called the back office system.

Utilizing automated software to keep a track, manage, and analyze all these processes is an answer that can manage all assets in the enterprise. Aptly called the Enterprise Asset Management software, people can get it implemented directly through software vendors or third party consulting companies.

Any business activity involves the processes of procuring assets and investing capital. Once this is done, there is the hiring of human resources who then use the infrastructure to produce goods and services. This done, there are additional activities including sales, deliveries, billing, and inventory management. All these processes can be controlled with the help of EAM. An effective implementation results in the optimum utilization of resources, cutting down on waste or unnecessary investments, thereby resulting in maximum returns.

Given the wide scope of its activities, an enterprise asset management system consists of the largest bodies of software ever written. This, in turn means that implementing such a system will take up a lot of the company’s resources and time. This said, the advantages of the software are many and in due time the returns justify the cost of its implementation.

Also, given the complex nature of the software, it is better to seek professional advice both at the business and technical level. This is very important because if there is a mismatch between the software chosen and the organizational needs, adverse consequences will result. Some of the benefits of the enterprise asset management software include lower inventory costs, lower ordering costs and lower products and transportation costs.

EAM software has a vide range of application and is beneficial for service sectors like banks, hospitals as also manufacturing industries and government departments like defense.

Keeping your business profitable with opt in email marketing

Since the advent of the information technology, the Internet had been a valuable commodity to most people. Here, they find ways on how to earn more money even without having to spend more capital on building a business.

Nowadays, many business people are realizing the importance of email marketing. Through emails, an online business can market their product directly through their customers.

Generally, the main purpose of email marketing is to reach their target audience as quickly and as direct as possible. They need to reach their target market so as to promote their products and services that would benefit their customers.

However, some businesses use email marketing in order to maintain their contact and relationship with their customers.

The reason why email marketing has grown in such unprecedented rate is based on the fact that people in the virtual community are always hungry for information. They subscribe to information that they are interested in.

On the other hand, not all people are willing to subscribe to such information. They may be interested on your products once but may no longer be interested to buy again. Moreover, when you continue to send those emails that do not have their permissions, you can be accused of spamming.

Today, spamming is a serious offense especially in the world of information technology. Because the Internet is such a wild place, most authorities regard the privacy of each person as valuable and they continue to uphold this thinking even on the Internet.

With this, the creation of opt in list had gained tremendous acceptance. Because of its viability and feasibility to most online businesses, a lot of people have realized how important opt in lists are in email marketing.

Basically, opt in list refers to the list of email addresses of people who have agreed to subscribe to your mailing list. In this way, you can freely send emails that entail promotions, brochures, new product announcements, and every aspect of your marketing campaign.

When you build an opt in list, you do not only increase the probability of being successful in email marketing but also boost your sales and profits as well. This is because building an opt in list will give you the chance to stay in contact with your customers by getting their email address.

In this manner, you can continue to promote your products and services in which they are interested in because they have opted to subscribe in your mailing list. Hence, whatever it is that you feed them, chances are, they will most likely respond positively.

In reality, building an opt in list is actually letting the people realize the charisma and magic of email marketing. In this way, spams will be avoided, if not eliminated, and will not ruin the positive image of email marketing.

With spamming, email marketing becomes a disgraceful activity in the Internet. But with opt in list, online businesses can continue to boost their businesses through email marketing without having to worry about being accused of spamming.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

How to get your subscribers to beg for more info from your opt in online newsletter

Just as an experiment, a friend of mine subscribe to ten different opt-in e-mail marketing lists to see which ones are effective. Many websites and online businesses have resorted to sending promotional materials to people who have subscribed to them in an effort to boost their sales or traffic. Opt-in email marketing sends newsletters, catalogs updates and many more promotional materials to website visitors who have agreed to be updated whether monthly, weekly or semiannually.

Through e-mail, an internet user that is on the list will receive their updates through email. If a promotional material piques their interest they will go to the site to learn more or to purchase outright. For the website operators or owners, this is a chance to remind their list of their existence and parlor their wares. With the numerous sites in the internet that offers the same products or services in one way or the other, the competition can get pretty tight and it is easy to be forgotten.

Back to my experimenting friend, he tried to find out which opt-in marketing strategies grabbed a person into begging for more. Some would send in very simple fashion, some would very outlandish while there are some that would just lie in between. The differences could easily be noticed and some have gotten the idea of an effective opt-in marketing strategy. He dubbed them effective because he felt like he just couldn’t wait to go their site and learn more, the more persuasive ones even got him halfway to reaching for his wallet and to his credit card before he realized this was only for an experiment.

Many companies and site present their promotional materials in a wide variety of concepts. Each has their own distinctive style and designs, but more than the outline and the presentation, the content and the articles are what keeps the attention of your potential customer locked on to your opt-in marketing medium. Creativity is the key here.

From talking to many satisfied opt-in list subscribers and forums, I have learned of what is essential in opt-in marketing and what makes the subscribers begging for more instead of lining up to unsubscribe.

Keep your promotional materials light, creative and original. Many people are stressed out as it is. Getting a stuffy business proposal rather than a light hearted e-mail may just agitate them more. A warm friendly smile or banter is always more welcome than a serious business meeting or proposal. While you do want your customers to take you and your products and services seriously, you also want to show them that you know how to have fun.

Splash some color in your emails as well as provide some photos and articles that can be related to you but show good news or good light hearted images as well. Provide a newsletter or promotional materials that will keep them in a light mood. Make your materials eye catching and grabbing that they wont be able to take their eyes of them. Pique their interests.

Wholesale Art Supplies

Wholesale means great savings and discounts. Art supplies can be obtained at amazing discounts of 47-90%. In many stores, the minimum discount offered is around 35% and the average discount on art supplies works out to 47%.

Just think of the savings, but be smart and work out how much of the materials you will actually use. Will any paint, paper, or canvas go unused? Saving at the buying end and then throwing away a substantial quantity because you cannot use it is no savings at all –it is just complete wastage. So before getting carried away by the lure of discounts, make an attempt to find out what quantity of art supplies you are likely to use.

Find a good wholesaler by researching. Go through the business directory of your area, the yellow pages, magazines devoted exclusively to art supplies, and surf the World Wide Web.

Once you have located a few possibilities go through their inventory or catalogue –find out whether they stock the kind of supplies you need. You would also need to judge where they source the stock from, are they located within commutable distance, do they ship out, and do they charge for delivery.

Find out what quantities they accept orders for. Then get together a group of artists who use the same kind of supplies and order together with a group or bulk-order discount.

Be sure to check the catalogues and price list of different wholesale depots who stock the material you need—comparison shopping is a must. Visit the wholesaler’s website to see if he has any special offers and what range of discounts is being offered. Look for year-end sales.

It is advantageous if you visit the wholesaler, meet his salespeople, explain your needs, listen to their ideas and suggestions, and build a lasting relationship with them. If you stick to one or two wholesale distributors throughout the year you will find the best deals and prices.

Nothing in life is easy or free. To benefit financially on art supplies you will need to put in concerted effort. As you sow you will reap.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

How To Make Sales After the Craft Show

There are a number of ways that you can do this – from setting up a website to setting up a weekly garage sale during the summer. We'll take a look at four ways you can continue making a profit when the doors of another craft show close for the weekend.

1.) Set up a website – Studies have shown that more people are becoming comfortable and actually prefer to do their business online. Essentially you could have a craft show that goes 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Taking the time to set up a website that showcases your crafts and also provides people an avenue to purchase the crafts can be a huge seller for you in the long run.

2.) Have an e-mail list – What is the next best thing to having a website? Why not set up an e-mail list top contact people that are interested in your crafts? These could be people that were at a craft show where your products were displayed, and they took a liking to them and wanted to be informed when new and different crafts would be available. You can even take it one step further and inform them of where you are going to be for your next craft show, what new products you have, and other interesting news. All you need to do is set up a sign up list in your booth at any craft show.

3.) Sales list – You will all likely have it happen at one point or another – someone sees something of yours on display at a craft show, and you are all out of that craft. What do you do? This person really wants your craft, and you don't have one. This is where a sales list comes in very handy. You can write down the names and addresses of people that want one of your crafts. Essentially, you have the beginnings of an ordering system on your hands. Soon, your order list becomes a funnel of after-craft show sales that you had never even thought of!

4.) A weekly sale – Who needs a craft show to be set up for them, when they can set up a mini-craft show themselves? Many crafters will spend one weekend day a month in the comfort of their own garage – displaying and selling the crafts they have put together. You don't have to pay for the craft show fee, because you are on your own property and the only thing you might have to splurge for is a pot of coffee and some fresh donuts for potential customers! This is a great time to work on your sales list and e-mail list too!

The craft show profits don't have to end when the craft show is done for another weekend. The enterprising crafter will always find a way to market and sell their craft as much as possible – generating more income for their business!

6 ways to make money just using your online list

An opt-in list can be quite crucial to any site or internet based company. Even for a small venture such as a niche profit site an opt-in list can make a world of difference and also add some extra income for your pocket. Rarely would you see an e-commerce site, big or small, that is without an opt-in list.

An opt-in list allows for a company to market their wares and site via an e-mail. With an opt-in list, a site and a subscriber consents to sending and receiving a newsletter from your company. Through this, you can keep your subscribers abreast of what is currently available in your site as well as whatever is coming out.

And because there is mutual consent between the two parties, any mail sent to the list is not considered as spam mail. There is a great number of successfully read promotional materials such as catalogs, newsletters and such that are sent because the subscribers themselves have signed up for them, meaning, they do want to be sent those items.

Building a list is crucial, only a small percentage actually subscribes for an opt-in list. Many people find promotional mails annoying but of you provide a good newsletter or promotional material, you will see your list build up and grow. You can also achieve this by having good content on your site. If people like what they see and read on your site, then they surely would want more. Newsletters would be a way to attract them back to your site. A little teaser or appetizer if you will.

But other than marketing your wares and your services, an opt-in list can also be used to earn extra profit. Not all lists can be used though. It would be good to first build a successful list with a huge number of subscribers. The more subscribers you have, the more money you can get. Here are seven ways to make money using nothing more than your list.

1) Place advertisements. There are many corporations who will be willing to pay to put their banners and ads on a list with many subscribers. Selling or renting out lists is not a good idea so rather than doing that, many companies would just rather place ads with lists that have a huge subscriber base. Your newsletter could be placed with many ads and each one spells money.

2) Have affiliations with other companies that have at least a semblance or relation to what your site is about. Here other companies will provide links and brief descriptions of what they offer, products and services. With every click made on the link that directs or leads a subscriber from your list to their site, the company will pay you. This P4P or pay for performance.

3) Make deals with other companies by asking for a small percentage of sales done through your list. With every sale done by customers that have come from your list and have gone there because of your newsletter, the other company will pay you a small percentage of your sales. The more people who buys from them, the more earnings you get.

4) You may also get products from other sites on a consignment basis and sell them to your list via your newsletter. Place descriptions, articles and photos of the product in your newsletter. There will be those who will buy from you and when that happens, you can order the product from the other site and sell it to your buyer.

Monday, November 13, 2006

Get Parts Fast - GE Fanuc sells CNC parts online

GE Fanuc (Charlottesville, Virginia) is offering CNC parts ordering online. Users of this service can order parts, check order and warranty status, request repair assistance and submit price and availability queries. The site is designed to provide quick part turnaround and contains a broad range of the most requested CNC parts services. The site features a variety of other CNC parts services, including spare parts analysis, a stock list for spare parts and inventory levels to help reduce downtime.

From Manual To CNC Mills A Three-Phase Transition - V & G Dynamic Machine & Tool Inc

V & G Dynamic Machine & Tool, Inc. of Marble Falls, Texas, uses high-end VMCs and CNC mills and employs skilled machinists and CNC operators to support the development of new instrumentation and technology for the semiconductor industry.

When Volker Steffen founded V & G Dynamics in 1988, the company was doing mainly repair work using two manual mills. Mr. Steffen knew that if he had CNC there was the promise of longer runs and production of complex parts--giving access to new markets and increasing sales and profitability. But these benefits come with a cost in terms of capital, training and learning. Mr. Steffen was looking for a way to implement GNC gradually--a transition that took the characteristics of his shop and people into consideration.

He discovered an opportunity at an open house held by his local dealer. "I was at an open house at a machine dealer one weekend, and I saw a manual mill with some sort of external motors mounted on the table," Mr. Steffen says. "The dealer showed me how the mill was doing CNC work by having the power feeds move the table, under the control of a PC. Best of all, I didn't have to start using a computer right away. I could just use the power feeds in the 'Teach Mode.' You move the table to a desired position, press 'set' on the pendant, move to the next position, press 'set' again, and so on. At the end of the sequence you press 'run,' and the machine plays back exactly the moves you told it to execute. It's that simple."

On seeing this, Mr. Steffen first began considering doing more than just manual mill work. V & G had grown to include a lot of small-volume (1 - 500 piece) production work, but Mr. Steffen was not at the point where he needed to spend tens of thousands of dollars on a single CNC. So in 1993, he decided to first retrofit one of his manual mills with the "intelligent power feeds"--a basic two-axis Servo II automated control system with the "Teach" pendant, made by Servo Products Company of Pasadena, California--which he mounted himself on a Summit manual mill with a Sargon digital readout. The cost of the retrofit was well within his reach, and the promise of increased production made the whole deal attractive. Within days, production was at levels he had never seen before, and both he and his machinists were using the "Teach Mode" feature without problems.

Such use of a basic retrofit package makes sense for shops where owners and operators don't have prior experience with CNCs. In the case of V & G, its manual mills had essentially become three different machines with one simple retrofit: one that still does manual work, one that uses the Teach Pendant and one that can perform CNC work (when connected to a dedicated PC). The DRO interface adds accuracy to the Acme lead screw by using the scale for positioning accuracy instead of the encoder on the motor, In addition, the DRO enhances the machinist's productivity.

With the Servo II control system used for the retrofit, one-of-a-kind or production run parts can be machined, and the table can be moved either using the pendant or handwheels. The "taught" programs are limited to straight line and angle cuts. The system cannot be taught to machine a circle. Subroutines can be called up, and program steps can be changed, added or inserted. It's easy to delete entire programs from pendant memory, or delete a subroutine call--which is useful when "programming" on the fly. An operator also can set, clear or drag axes travel limits (for example, reset limit beyond current position) and can playback a program held in the pendant's memory.

The Servo II control system can be made more productive by hooking up a PC, which simply can be used to transfer programs between the PC and the pendant; with Servo CNC software and a dedicated PC, the machine has full CNC capabilities. This comprises the second step in the gradual conversion to CNC machining. Programs "written" on the pendant can be transferred to the PC for storage and for re-use at a later time. The transferred pendant programs arc converted to common CNC codes. Conversely, programs can be written and edited on the PC and transferred later to the pendant, though only a limited set of CNC codes are available. This means two things: Operators can generate CNC code without knowing programming, and they can execute previously written CNC code without using the control (it's done via the pendant). Production goes up, and accuracy and repeatability improve. The absence of a steep learning curve makes training the operators brief and inexpensive.

V&G began by doing most of its CNC work using the conversational mode programming on the control. By going through a step-by-step process, the operator answers simple questions about the current job, and the control automatically develops a program, which is then seamlessly translated into G-code that can be used on any Servo CNC machine. Even if the operator makes a mistake in the programming, he or she can easily edit the specific line that needs correction.

Sunday, November 12, 2006

No further injuries for Stewart after MIS crash.

Defending Nextel Cup Champion Tony Stewart suffered no adverse affects to his previously injured shoulder after crashing out of Sunday's rain-shortened 3M Performance 400 at the Michigan International Speedway.

Three weeks on from his Busch Series crash at the Lowe's Motor Speedway that left the Joe Gibbs Racing driver nursing a fractured right scapula Stewart suffered his second hard brush with the wall in the last four Cup Series races on Sunday but was pleased to report that his shoulder stood up to the impact well.

After qualifying for the 15th round of the 2006 season in 17th place, the driver of the #20 Home Depot backed Chevrolet was trying to work his way towards the front of the field when he was tapped into the outside wall in turn three by Jeff Green on the 23rd lap of a race originally scheduled to run

Adaptive machining shows its mettle in manufacture and repair.

The dimensional variability and complex shapes found in gas turbine components pose challenges for conventional automated machining. One solution is adaptive machining, where a toolpath unique to each component is generated using digitised data.

Surprisingly, the manufacture and repair of gas turbine blades is still largely being carried out in the traditional way, by people wearing leather gloves and hand-held grinding, finishing and polishing devices.

The problem lies with the fact that individual blades and vanes that make up full engine-sets are not geometrically identical and therefore are not completely interchangeable. While the more crucial dimensions are tied down .