All Features
Jim Frost
Regression analysis generates an equation to describe the statistical relationship between one or more predictor variables and the response variable. After you use Minitab Statistical Software to fit a regression model, and verify the fit by checking the residual plots, you’ll want to interpret…
Dawn Bailey
Picture in your mind the classic Texas burger—juicy, mouth-watering, topped with the perfect fixings (apologies to vegetarians).
Now assume that your key products are hamburgers, and that a picture of the perfect burger is used consistently in your social media activities. It’s simple. It’s…
William A. Levinson
Renaissance engineer and artist Leonardo da Vinci is well known as the intellectual father of the modern tank, submarine, and helicopter. He reputedly introduced a deliberate design flaw into his tank’s locomotion system because he never wanted anybody to actually build this terrible weapon.
The…
Bruce Hamilton
Padding factory performance has become a best practice at one company I visited recently. As I walked the floor with the site manager, I was impressed by the level of improvement activity I saw.
“We’ve been at this for about eight years,” said the site manager. “But it’s only in last couple years…
Alan Nicol
Statistical process control (SPC) is generally a Six Sigma tool. A few people and organizations will use SPC as a stand-alone methodology. Generally, it is not a tool found in the lean toolbox because conducting SPC is considered, by some, to be a nonvalue-added process.
However, there is a…
Steven Weeks
Due to globalization and advancing technology, today’s manufacturing environment is increasingly competitive. Therefore, the accuracy and quality of machined durable goods is extremely important if a company is to stay competitive. Of course, having the necessary equipment to perform the…
Gallup
In the intense competition to attract and retain top talent, U.S. employers are vying to offer the most alluring perks imaginable to their workers. Companies such as Google are leading the trend, hoping that happy employees are more productive, creative, and passionate workers.
On the surface, it…
Kevin Meyer
Electronic manufacturer Jabil’s website promotes its commitment to lean, especially its report showing the following:
• 13,000 kaizen events so far in 2013 • 322,000 completed in 2012 • 9,500 Lean Bronze practitioners • More than 200 Six Sigma Black Belts
That truly is impressive, and I happen to…
Chad Crisostomo
Editor’s note: FARO is offering a free webinar on portable arms and software on Tuesday, July 16, 2013, at 11 a.m. Pacific. Click here to register.
Articulating arms, also known 3D measurement arms, are portable coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) that determine and record the location of a probe…
Ryan E. Day
They did it again—ruined my scoop. I pride myself on what I consider a natural ability to read between the lines and then find information and facts to fill in that void. Like the void created when companies wax verbose about some altruistic subject like “trust,” but keep mum on their motivation…
Kimberly Egan
What do China, Maine, Connecticut, Chipotle, and Whole Foods have in common? They all think you have a right to know whether the food you are eating contains any genetically modified organisms, known as GMOs.
I like that. Why do I care? Because the genes in GMO plants have been altered in a…
Michael Ray Fincher
For me, a quality professional with 20 years experience in manufacturing—producing everything from garbage bags to luxury ski boats—my transition to the service industry was a shocking experience to say the least. It was not without challenges, I must confess.
When I was asked to join the…
Bruno Scibilia
All processes are affected by various sources of variations over time. Products that are designed based on optimal settings will, in reality, tend to drift away from their ideal settings during the manufacturing process.
Environmental fluctuations and process variability often cause major quality…
Bull Wranglers
There are more than 1,100 textbooks referring to “short-term process capability,” as distinct from “long term.” Surely 1,100 textbooks can’t be wrong? Let’s apply the first Bull Wrangler test. Does short- and long-term process capability make common sense?
What is capability?
According to ISO…
Mike Richman
Trend conferences are all the rage these days. For those of you who have never attended one, this is an event in which corporate managers gather together their colleagues, their customers, and assorted media types willing to work the rubber-chicken circuit. During the course of a day or two, you’…
Akhilesh Gulati
Editor’s note: This article continues the series exploring structured innovation using the TRIZ methodology, a problem-solving, analysis, and forecasting tool derived from studying patterns of invention found in global patent data.
Belinda started the My Executive Council (MEC) meeting with the…
Jamie Ambrosi
With summer and family vacations coming up, I feel compelled to publicly reveal a vacation-related personality quirk of mine (one of many, to be completely honest) and then to invite you to play a fun, though slightly geeky, game that will reveal this quirk in action.
First, the revelation: My…
NIST
Researchers working at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a new microscopy technique that uses a process similar to how an old tube television produces a picture—called cathodoluminescence—to image nanoscale features. Combining the best features of optical and…
NIST
A technique developed several years ago at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for improving optical microscopes now has been applied to monitoring the next generation of computer-chip circuit components, potentially providing the semiconductor industry with a crucial tool…
Jack Dunigan
Editor’s note: This continues Jack Dunigan’s series about unsung heroes in the workplace, and the 16 traits they all share.
When I lived in the Virgin Islands, I learned that almost all luxury yachts in the world are finished by women… and the reason is not that they will work for less money.
No…
Bruce Hamilton
Some time ago, while giving a presentation titled “Organizational Obstacles to Lean,” I displayed a slide captioned “It’s not about culture.” My point was that “culture” is a bad analogy because it places the burden for change on the shoulders of employees rather than on management where it…
Richard Chambers
I recently spoke at a conference where one of the sessions was called “Four Most Dangerous Words in Finance.” It reminded me of a blog I wrote a few years ago called “Ten Things Not to Say in an Audit Report.” Beyond the categories of phrases or messages that I explored in that blog, however, lie…
Alan Nicol
At the heart of lean methodology are the seven classic wastes (eight or nine if you subscribe to evolved methods). Waste is the enemy of lean. Strategies such as pull systems, first-in-first-out prioritization, takt time management, and kaizen are methods we use to minimize and eliminate waste in…
Matthew Littlefield
Editor’s note: There is a free recording of the QD/LNS webinar on enterprise quality management software (EQMS) which ran Tuesday, June 25, 2013, at 11 a.m. Pacific. Click here to view recording.
There are a number of costs and benefits when standardizing across the enterprise a process that’s…
InfinityQS
With cloud computing becoming the new norm in the market, manufacturing leaders would be wise to fully educate themselves on how they can benefit from its services. Following are six benefits you can expect from the cloud.
Cost flexibility. By using the cloud, manufacturing leaders can reduce IT…