All Features
Donald J. Wheeler
Management requires prediction. However, when making predictions it is easy to torture the data until they surrender and tell you what you expect to hear. Even though this torture may be unintentional, it can keep you from hearing the story the data could tell. This column is about how to avoid…
Taylor Brown
For medical device manufacturers, finding success means setting ourselves up for success with repeatable processes that not only ensure quality but also mitigate future risk.
This drive for quality is the reason we have such hyper-specific language in our standards. It’s what demands the stringent…
Quality Digest
(Configit: Copenhagen, Denmark) -- Configit, the global leader in Configuration Lifecycle Management (CLM), today announced a partnership with the auditing and consulting company PwC Germany (PwC). As part of the partnership, Configit will combine its proven solutions, technologies, and…
Emily Newton
Risks are inherent in the construction industry, and they come in various types. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) reports that more than one in three deaths happen in this sector because of falls. The data also show that companies with fewer than 20 workers had more…
Georgia Tech News Center
Untitled Document
In the last few years, a class of materials called antiferroelectrics has been increasingly studied for its potential applications in modern computer memory devices. Research has shown that antiferroelectric-based memories might have greater energy efficiency and faster read and…
Annette Franz
A few weeks ago, I wrote about Seth Godin’s concept of Finding Your Who, which is all about identifying who your products are for. The Who isn’t defined by demographics but by psychographics: Their (customer) beliefs, their dreams, their desires. It’s a reminder that developing personas is so…
Quality Digest
(Siemens) -- Siemens Digital Industries Software announced today that it has been named a “leader” in The Forrester Wave: Industrial Internet-of-Things Software Platforms, Q3 2021 report. The report researches, analyzes, and scores eight vendors against written and quantitative multidimensional…
(Schreiner ProTech: Blauvelt, NY) -- Schreiner ProTech, a Germany-based global leader in developing and manufacturing innovative functional labels with value-added benefits for the automotive and engineering-based industries, has developed a color laser film version of its paint masked label…
Karla Jo Helms
Covid-19 has changed America’s workforce in a fundamental and most likely permanent way, and not adopting the “new normal” can be the difference between success and failure.
According to the Pew Research Center, more than half of American workers surveyed have said that given a choice, they would…
Chip Bell
One of my favorite Halloween memories was decorating the annual giant pumpkin with my son when he was young. As a toddler, he was primarily an observer as he watched me sculpt the face of the pumpkin with a scrimp knife. However, his commitment to the pumpkin-carving process ramped up dramatically…
Mark Greevan
China’s dominance in manufacturing has made it the factory for the world. The subsequent economic growth enriched an ever-expanding middle class, and the country’s retail industry has quickly adapted to supply a growing appetite for consumption.
Some of these developments in the way people spend…
Quality Digest
(Thomson Industries: Wood Dale, IL) -- Thomson Industries Inc., a leading manufacturer of linear motion control solutions, is pleased to announce that its Electrak LL electric actuator has won the Bronze Award in the 2021 Industrial Design, Engineering & Automation (IDEA)! Awards Contest. The…
Bruce Hamilton
In 1996, the TSSC (Toyota Production System Support Center) began working with my company to create one-by-one production capability in our product assembly. Previous to TSSC’s assistance, we’d moved the furniture and machines into cells, creating the appearance of flow production, but we lacked…
Tim Mouw
Color accounts for 60 percent of acceptance or rejection in consumer products. Maintaining accurate and consistent color is critical. If a color starts to drift, this leads to rework, wasted materials, and added costs.
To avoid color drift over time, consider the following.
1. Are you using…
(Exact Metrology: Cincinnati) -- Exact Metrology: A Division of In-Place Machining Company and a comprehensive 3D metrology service provider and hardware sales company, recently reverse engineered an impact driver body.
Reverse engineering involves digitally deconstructing products to extract…
Corey Brown
Even with advancements in technology and automation, the frontline workforce remains essential to modern manufacturing operations. In fact, 72 percent of factory work is still performed by people.
This means that operators, technicians, and line managers are all your biggest operational risks.…
Bastin Gerald
It’s a great feeling for business leaders when they find a framework they know can change the way their company formulates and executes their goals. The feeling of possibility that comes with finding the right goal-setting framework acts as motivation to achieve more, more efficiently. Many leaders…
(NIST: Gaithersburg, MD) -- The Baldrige Performance Excellence Program (BPEP) is seeking applicants for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Board of Examiners for the 2022 award cycle.
The Examiner Application is now available online and will be open until 6 p.m. Eastern on January 10,…
Aron Solomon
The past few weeks I advised several entrepreneurs who are trying to bring a product or service to market. Each is struggling with whether the minimum viable product (MVP) they’re launching is too minimum and would therefore be nonviable. The notion of the MVP has always had its pros and cons, but…
Ian Williamson
Finding good employees has always been a challenge, but these days it’s harder than ever. And it’s unlikely to improve anytime soon.
The so-called quit rate—the share of workers who voluntarily leave their jobs—hit a new record of 3 percent in September 2021, according to the latest data available…
Quality Digest
(Patti Engineering: Auburn Hills, MI) -- Patti Engineering Inc., a leader in control systems integration, announces it has passed an intensive audit to successfully renew the company’s Control Systems Integrators Association (CSIA) Certification for a seventh consecutive time as required every…
Quality Digest
(AW-Lake: Oak Creek, WI) -- AW-Lake Company introduces a Water Inline (WIN) Ultrasonic Flow Meter for highly accurate and reliable flow measurement of cooling water, condensing water, and water/glycol solutions. Designed for process cooling applications including industrial cooling circuits, the…
(Configit: Copehhagen) -- Configit, the global leader in configuration life-cycle management (CLM), has introduced enhanced versions of its Configit Ace and Configit Quote solutions to make CLM integration easier, faster, and more efficient for manufacturers worldwide.
One of the biggest barriers…
David Gillum, Kathleen Vogel, Rebecca Moritz
The origin of SARS-CoV-2 remains a mystery. One theory is that the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 was transmitted from animals to humans—a fairly common occurrence. Another is that it came from a laboratory accident—a more infrequent circumstance.
Around the world, scientists conduct many kinds…
The Un-Comfort Zone With Robert Wilson
The other day I heartily congratulated a friend on her job promotion. She replied, “What if they made a mistake? What if I’m not really qualified, and it’s the Peter Principle in effect—that I’ve risen to the level of my incompetence?”
“You’re totally qualified,” I responded, “They wouldn’t have…
