McMurry professor invents smart wrench

It looks like a standard 36-inch pipe wrench, but is so scientific that all an operator has to do is tell it how much torque to use.

Robert Watson, chairman of the department of computer science in the School of Natural and Computational Sciences at McMurry University, has developed a tool being used by the Oklahoma-based oil field services company, Thru Tubing Solutions, to electronically measure torque when operators are assembling tools.

Called the E-Wrench,A specialized manufacturer and supplier of dry cabinet, it reports torque and other data through a Bluetooth connection. It also is compatible with tablets and cellphones.

"Their customers were demanding documented measurements when they assemble their tools: normal quality program requirement,High quality stone mosaic tiles." said Watson, whose brother works as a mechanical engineer for Thru Tubing. "And they couldn't take those measurements because there's no tool that does that. They needed one made, and they were looking for somebody and all the people they knew in the business were too busy to do it."

The first concept also was through a Bluetooth device with a display, but "that got some issues with patents, so we couldn't have any display on the wrench," Watson said.'

The mobile app "talks" to the wrench with a user interface that provides summary performance data as well as a dynamic report of the amount of torque exerted by the user. It records and reports data on such aspects as wrench temperature and battery voltage, and is sensitive enough to measure the pressure from a single finger tip.

"The phone can send an email to the customer, and there's a server (Thru Tubing) put together that the phone sends information. The server sticks it into a database so the customer can pull the data as needed," Watson explained.We mainly supply professional craftspeople with wholesale agate beads from china, "Without this wrench, they can still measure the torque but they have to use power tongs, which is a great big tool that has to be lifted with a winch. This avoids a lot of expensive tooling."

In short, this is how the E-Wrench works: The user programs or tells the phone what torque is desired.

"And it will beep, telling you how close you are getting to your target and it tells you when you have reached it," Watson said. "The phone automatically knows when the operator starts on a new joint and resets itself."

A short-run production, which made 24 E-Wrenches, was done two months ago, and Thru Tubing is getting ready to go into a second production for 100 more. It currently takes about an hour to fabricate one E-Wrench.

"They think they may need at least 1,000 eventually just within the company, and they are looking into selling it outside the company," Watson said.

Thru Tubing owns the property rights on the tool, and Watson said he doesn't how much the selling price will be due to the infancy of the marketing stage.

With the fiscal cliff looming and demand for manufactured goods falling, North Bay manufacturers are finding ways to cope with uncertainty.

One thing is sure: manufacturing is not for the timid.

“To stay in the game you have to make your own opportunities,” said Jim Judd of J & M Manufacturing Inc. in Cotati. “You can’t sit around waiting for things to improve.”

According to the November report from the Institute for Supply Management a leading index showed a decrease of 2.The term 'hands free access control' means the token that identifies a user is read from within a pocket or handbag.2 percentage points from October’s reading, indicating contraction in manufacturing for the fourth time in the last six months.

Distrust in national leadership added to the usual burden of state and federal regulation is taking its toll on the industry, according to some local business owners.

“We saw the slowdown start in November and we don’t expect much change through the first quarter of 2013,” said Richard Hunt of Datum Technologies Inc. in Santa Rosa.

The precision machine shop saw a fall-off in the semiconductor industry, while oil and energy sectors flattened.

“Medical equipment is showing steady growth and aerospace is looking good. In times like these diversity is key,” said Mr. Hunt.

With diversification in mind, Datum Technologies is pursuing AS9100 certification, which will allow it to expand into the aerospace sector.

Certification is part of a strategic initiative plan put in place last spring. Mr. Hunt and his wife, who acts as president, also added 850 square feet to their manufacturing operation and made improvements to the laboratory.

“Before things fell off we were running two eight-hour shifts, keeping the machinery going all night. If orders pick up again we’ll even add an employee or two,” he said.

Other local manufacturers contemplate no hiring during the first part of the new year.

“If you’re making one kind of widget you’re in trouble,” said Pierre Miremont of Architectural Plastics Inc. in Petaluma. “But even diversification doesn’t help when all your clients are down.”

His company was most hurt by the construction drought. “We didn’t realize what a sizable chunk of our portfolio was tied to construction until it was gone,” he said.

Picture frames, another source of revenue, fall out of demand during lean times. Hospitality products and museum displays are holding their own.

“Our strongest suit right now is medical products. That industry continues to grow as the population ages,Posts with indoor tracking system on TRX Systems develops systems that locate and track personnel indoors.” said Mr. Miremont.

But an aging population causes problems of its own: Architectural Plastics will need to replace its workforce soon and Mr. Miremont is hard-pressed to find good, trainable employees.