A team of IAEA experts, reports Sean Ottewell, has published its preliminary findings and lessons learned following the 16th July 2007 earthquake that hit the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Japan. The failure of a piece of critical equipment in a manufacturing facility can be an extremely costly expense for the company. Increasing competition from the sizeable volume imports of low-cost products from Asian countries such as China is among the major challenges that are compelling domestic manufacturers in the European speciality films market to reassess their strategies to sustain profitability. Concern is growing about the impact on technological innovations and developments as society becomes more risk averse and tending towards legal redress. Now, for the first time, the societal, individual and practical dimensions of the engineering process have been viewed together in terms of risk. Surface temperatures are a good indication of whether your process and production equipment are running as specified. Variohm-Eurosensor is introducing the BEI Duncan model 5320 panel-mount potentiometer. This rugged, compact, low-profile unit is built to survive in even the harshest of environment. The Furtif AMX is a standalone non-contact coded safety switch with internal control. The unusual CFA/F from Elesa (UK) is an external multileaf thermoplastic hinge with inbuilt 90û stop. It is suitable for small equipment housings or for access doors where the opening angle must not exceed 90û.