How It's Made (2001) s01e08 Episode Script

1
--Captions by vitac--
captions paid for by
discovery communications, inc.
Narrator:
Today on "how it's made"
Trucks -- we'll tell you haul
[All]
You need to know about them.
Adhesive bandages --
we'll stick to the facts
in this report.
Computer circuit boards --
letting the chips fall
where they may.
And liquor --
we distill the whole process
for you.
Whether your rig of choice
rides on 8, 10, or 18 wheels,
trucks have got the goods,
and they get them
to where they have to go.
Trucks not only transport
most of today's consumables,
they're the undisputed kings
of the road.
Fabricating these massive trucks
requires many
highly complex steps
since the parts are usually
heavy and tricky to handle.
Assembly begins
with the fabrication
of the bearing frame,
the main part on which
the truck's cab, motor,
and transmission will rest.
They begin by assembling
these tempered-steel stringers,
beams varying in length
between 25 and 43 feet.
The chassis is made
as a huge meccano set.
The stringers are solidly
attached together
with nuts and bolts
and tightened with powerful
pneumatic tools.
Once assembled,
the main chassis is transported
to another stage
of construction.
Now they're going to install
the mechanical parts.
They start
with the differential,
the axle,
and the Springs' leaves.
The brake mounts
are then put in place.
The plates installed in the
mounts allow the truck to brake.
They install the wheel hub
onto which the wheels
will be attached.
Then the transmission shaft,
which will power
the driving wheels, is inserted.
They finish
the rear-wheel assembly
by mounting the heavy brake drum
made of cast iron.
To facilitate the mounting,
everything is assembled
upside down.
With an overhead crane capable
of lifting a 26,000-pound load,
they then turn the part
right-side up.
Next step,
the motor-propulsion elements.
The transmission is bolted to
the motor, seen here in yellow.
The motor-propelling elements
comprise the clutch
and the transmission,
installed at the front end
of the truck chassis.
A truck has between 6 and 10
wheels 22 inches in diameter.
The tire and wheel together
weigh about 120 pounds.
Because of this heavy weight,
the wheels are installed with
the help of this powerful tool.
This bolt fastener allows
tightening of all the wheel nuts
at the same time.
The mechanical part is ended,
and they now proceed
with the cab assembly.
This begins with painting.
The cab is moved
toward the front
to facilitate the installation
of various components.
This worker attaches
the support for the horn
to the roof of the truck cab.
Now for the cab's interior.
They begin by installing
the dashboard,
which weighs about 80 pounds.
Following this,
they attach all the wires,
the turn indicators,
the speedometer, and the pedals.
The seats are then installed.
The cab work
is now all completed.
It is bolted onto the chassis.
Now for the motor's hood.
They finish off with the lights,
the exhaust pipe,
and the mudguards.
The truck is now almost ready
to hit the road.
They start it up and verify that
everything's operating properly.
And it's now ready
for delivery to the customer.
It requires
95 to 100 hours of work
to assemble a truck like this.
In spite of their
11,000-pound weight,
these trucks can move along
at a top speed
of 75 miles per hour,
and they can carry a load
of some 30 tons.
Narrator:
Cut your finger?
Well, you've got a couple
of first-aid options.
You can wrap it up
in bulky gauze
or you can apply a flexible
adhesive bandage.
If you're like most people,
you'll take the bandage
and save the gauze for your
mummy costume next Halloween --
from boo-boo to boo.
Adhesive bandages are made
of various materials,
among which is the main support
called E.T.S. --
a fabric that's elastic
in only one direction.
It's a fabric that will become
the adhesive portion
of the bandage.
This 6,000-foot roll of fabric
can make 1.8 million
small bandages
or 300,000 large bandages.
A thin coating of glue
is applied
to one surface of the fabric.
Then it's heated
to 120 degrees in an oven
to puff it up, creating holes
in the glue coating.
Then the fabric
is newly rolled up
into around 1,000-foot lengths.
Bandages are different sizes.
These blades cut the glued rolls
into strips of varying widths.
These rolls are taken away
and stacked,
ready for the next step --
application of the little
cushioned protective pads.
The material used for the pads
is shown here
as a large roll of fabric
which will have to be cut.
Here, a machine
cuts the fabric pads.
These extremely sharp blades
have to be sharpened
every six months.
The cushioned fabric is
separated into narrow strips
which will later be glued
to the E.T.S. Fabric.
The strips of cushioned fabric
are now ready to be applied
to the bandages.
This is the machine
that fabricates the bandages.
The roll of bandage components
is unrolled.
The machine assembles them,
then cuts
and individually wraps them.
The bandages are wrapped
one by one.
This machine applies the
unprinted white wrapping paper
that protects the bandages.
And now they proceed
to packaging.
Packaging speed depends
on the product,
varying between 300
and 1,500 bandages a minute.
This roller perforates holes
that allow the bandages
to be easily separated
from one another.
Strips of bandages
are then placed into boxes.
Here we see other small bandages
that are made
in a different way.
The cushioned strip
is positioned
at the center of the e.T.S.
Fabric strip.
The cushioned pad isn't sterile
at this stage.
They will have to be sterilized
right at the end
of the fabrication process.
Next step, applying two
plastic paper protectors
over the glue-covered ends
of the bandage.
This done, the bandage is drawn
by suction with a robotic arm
and placed between
two wrapping papers.
In slow motion, we see
the wrapping action better.
This machine is much faster
than the eye.
At full speed, it can wrap
300 bandages a minute.
The bandages exit the machine
perfectly wrapped.
Certain types of bandages
have to go through a sequential
bandage machine
to have aeration holes
pierced in them.
These holes allow air
to circulate
and thus help promote healing.
These bandages are now ready.
Sometimes
they print instructions
on bandage wrappers.
This paper-printing machine
is used with bandage machines.
Two polymer plates receive ink
from a series of rollers
in order to reproduce
the desired design.
The bandages pass through
at high speed.
Before being packaged,
the bandages are finally
sterilized 10,000 at a time.
Bandages are automatically
counted here,
placed in a chute, and fall
into the packaging box.
The large role of e.T.S. Fabric
seen at the beginning
will have allowed them to make
nearly 2 million bandages.
Each year,
this facility produces
a staggering 4 billion bandages
in 65 different models.
Narrator:
Computer technology changes
quicker than just about
any other industry on earth,
so watch fast.
Electronic circuits have shrunk
from miles of wiring
to the size of
a computer circuit board,
and they're still
getting smaller.
An electronic circuit board
is a computer component
that can produce spectacularly
realistic scenes.
Animating this particular
three-dimensional graphic
took four months of work
by artists and programmers
with the aid of a g400
graphic processor by matrox.
A printed circuit board
can be compared
to a building composed
of fiberglass floors,
copper passageways,
and stairs that link the floors
between them.
Cards are assembled
with two technologies --
surface wiring
and wiring through the card.
The components are placed into
the holes and soldered in place.
A stencil is used to apply
soldering paste onto the card.
This paste will solder
the surface components.
Here they place the stencil
into the printing unit.
It is through these holes that
the soldering paste will run.
The machine spreads
the soldering paste,
which contains, among other
elements, a tin-lead alloy.
The printing blades
go into action.
They spread the soldering paste
onto the stencil.
This paste runs through
the stencil holes
and covers the metallic surfaces
of the printed circuit board,
which will establish
the electric current.
Here's the difference
between an unprinted card
and another printed one --
the unprinted card's surface
is much more shiny.
Now they're going to install
the surface-wiring elements.
They're automatically positioned
by this rapid-placement machine.
About 36,000 components
are installed per hour.
That's about 10 per second.
This incredibly
sophisticated machine
is equipped
with a viewing camera
which verifies the alignment
and dimensions of each part
before installation,
and it unerringly positions
the part at the exact spot.
Another machine, slightly less
precise than the previous one,
installs parts where the space
between two placement points
is less than 2/100 of an inch.
It can install 8,000 parts
in 60 minutes.
The card continues on its way
toward the oven,
which accomplishes
an essential operation.
Once the parts are secured,
the card goes into
a convection oven,
where the heat will solder
the parts to the card.
Different circuit connectors
through the card
are inserted
into their respective holes.
This operation requires
great dexterity
and is entirely done by hand.
The metallic placement points
need to be soldered to the card.
The soldering of the circuit
components through the card
is done with a bath
of molten tin-lead alloy
at a temperature of 465 degrees.
Now everything is installed.
They have to do
an initial electrical test.
The card is placed on a bed
of electrified pegs.
These pegs make contact with
the card's connecting points,
allowing them to check
for short circuits
or open circuits in the card.
And then a final test --
a computer-aided operating test
to see if the card
is functioning perfectly.
This company fabricates 200
different circuit board models
and produces about 4,000 cards
each week.
Narrator:
The secrets behind
the world's finest spirits
and liquor
all boil down to one
simple recipe --
mix grain and water,
then ferment and distill.
Add a few hundred years
of tradition,
and you begin to understand
why these bottles
are worth their weight in gold.
The principle of distillation
was known to ancient romans
who mastered the process.
However, we still don't know
the precise ingredients
they used.
In the middle ages,
stills produced the first
alcohols from wine.
The 7th century saw people
making ethyl alcohol,
and by the 15th century,
the process was further refined,
leading to the production
of today's Brandy,
bourbon, cognac, and whiskey.
Dried corn kernels are the main
grain used in making spirits.
Every day, 7 truckloads
empty out 230 tons of it.
This corn will produce the basic
ingredient for spirits
such as whiskey, gin,
crème d'amande, and amaretto.
The kernels are stored
in these 80-foot-high silos,
which can hold up to 275 tons.
This is the distillery
control room.
They're going to make a recipe
that's 95% corn
and produces a neutral alcohol
to which they will add other
grains for color and flavor.
We see here the first step
on this screen --
the milling of the grain.
Some 9 tons of corn flour
and 5,000 gallons of water
are introduced
into this autoclave
and cooked with live steam
for 90 minutes.
Enzymes transform starch
into sugar.
Then they add the yeast, which
converts sugar into alcohol.
Fermentation lasts 60 hours
at 100 degrees.
The bubbling we see is created
by the action of the yeasts.
This cone removes
the carbon dioxide,
a natural by-product
of fermentation.
Nearly 80 tons of carbon dioxide
are drawn off daily.
Everything is monitored
by computer.
Some 24 hours have now passed
since the start of fermentation.
When this stage has ended,
corn oil will come
to the surface
and is clearly visible
by its reddish color.
The fermented mash
has a 13% alcohol content.
They now move on to the next
step -- distillation,
which condenses the vapors
of the mix.
It's in this three-column
distillation system,
at a temperature of 185 degrees,
that the mash ferments
and is distilled by live steam
to separate the alcohol.
All the distillation columns
are continually monitored.
During distillation,
they dry the grains used in the
recipe in this rotating drum.
The resulting product
is called draff,
and it will be used
to make animal feed.
Distillation is now ended.
To aromatize certain gins,
they add dried lemon skins,
some cinnamon, or coriander.
Rum and whiskey will be aged
in these 350,000 oak barrels.
While aging,
these spirits will lose
about 3% of their
alcohol content annually
through evaporation.
Also, the color
gradually darkens.
They're now ready to draw out
the liquid from the barrels
and put it into bottles.
But first they have to verify
the quality of the spirits.
They compare the standard
product with the new production.
This test is highly important
in order to assure the quality
of the final product.
Bottling begins.
Here, 140 750-milliliter bottles
of rum and spirts
are filled every minute.
Clean bottles circulate
continually on the conveyor,
leading them
to the filling machine.
Bottles are then filled
automatically by this machine.
It allows an exact quantity
to flow into each bottle.
The next step, a capper
places caps on the bottles
and crimps them onto the necks.
Then the sealed
and labeled bottles
head for
the packaging department.
This other machine
fills 120 bottles
with 1.14 liters of
Canadian whiskey every minute.
In this distillery, some 20
different spirits are produced.
With 37,000 tons
of corn kernels,
they produce 44 million
750-milliliter bottles
of spirits annually.
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