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KNF Invests Heavily in NJ Plant Expansion,
Innovative Design and Manufacturing Techniques
in 2009
November 2009 TRENTON - The newly expanded USA headquarters facility and
manufacturing plant for KNF Neuberger, Inc. introduces key industry innovations
in design and production enabling highly streamlined and efficient parts storage,
material flow, and product assembly. The facility in Hamilton Township,
NJ (near Trenton) manufactures standard and custom diaphragm pumps for air, gases,
and liquids as solutions for OEM, Process, and Laboratory applications. The
latest expansion increases the site’s total footprint by 56% to more than
50,000 sq. ft.
 KNF constructed the facility in 1994 and has expanded four times in response to business growth. Approximately 100 employees hold quality jobs at this location, and over 40% of them have been with the company 10 years or longer. All enjoy an excellent work environment, pay and benefits.
Among noteworthy innovations, a computerized “vertical parts storage” system
minimizes required floor space and maximizes access with sophisticated software
and controls; implementation of a lean manufacturing process flow for an array
of individual product lines allows for customization; and a range of improvements
in material flow contribute to enhanced inventory management and timely manufacturing. A
fully equipped machine shop, featuring several automated CNC machines, (left)
ensures that the highest parts quality is maintained in-house.
KNF Neuberger, Inc. is a wholly-owned operating company of parent KNF Neuberger
GmbH, whose world headquarters is in Germany’s Black Forest Region. KNF pioneered the design of solid PTFE resin pumps to handle applications utilizing aggressive gases or liquids, owns more than 300 patents, and remains the technology leader in air, gas, and liquid pumps.
KNF Miniature Pumps Blast into Space
On-Board NASA Students Rocket
Plantation High School (FL) qualifies for national contest
 Plantation High School's Space Technologies and Engineering program has been accepted by NASA to participate in the 2009 Student Launch Initiative (SLI). In this event, teams must engineer and construct a reusable rocket that reaches an altitude of 1 mile (5,280 feet) while carrying an experimental payload.
The main objective of our experimental payload is to determine what kind of baffle system is the most effective in reducing sloshing by measuring the amount of water pumped through various systems, explains Adam Sheikh, Payload Lead for the project. The main theory is that sloshing reduces the efficiency of pumps by allowing air to be pumped rather than water. Therefore, less water moved can be equated to a less efficient baffle system. This is similar in concept to the liquid fuel rockets that NASA uses in actual Space Flight.
 In order for the experiment to be considered successful, all pumps must initiate at the same time and the water must start flowing immediately. Additionally, each pump must not malfunction or pump a different volume than the others. Of the most importance, however, is the ability to clearly read and record the results of the experiment upon retrieval of the rocket.
In the experiment, the control will be in the form of a container with no baffle system at all. The variables will include a container with vertical baffles, and another container with a bladder-like baffle system. To measure the amount of fluid pumped through each system, each container's fluid will be pumped to a corresponding receptacle. The amount of fluid in each receptacle will determine the baffle systems' efficiency in comparison to the control, respectively.
South Plantation High School is now a NASA Explorer School – one of only 50 schools in the nation honored with the designation and one of only three high schools to be selected. The program will open many exciting opportunities for students, their parents and school staff by providing $17,500 in grant money and, more importantly, access to NASA resources. Students and teachers will have an opportunity to work side-by-side with top NASA engineers, scientists and astronauts. The goal of the program is to increase student interest in the STEM-G fields (science, technology, engineering, math and geography).
 Update:
May 3, 2009 Davie, VA - The rocketry club recently beat out more than 500 teams nationwide to qualify for the national finals of the Team America Rocketry Challenge. They prepped backup rockets Saturday for the May 16 competition in The Plains, Va.
Project students asked for KNF support to donate some small pumps to use for the experiment on-board their rocket.
http://www.sphsengineering.com
http://www.rocketcontest.org |
