All Features
Hubert Gatignon
There can be little argument that consumers are growing more suspicious of business. They question its motives, and increasingly, its marketing, which recently has been said to be manipulative. Consumers are ever more aware of the Internet pop-ups and exaggerated claims they receive in a targeted…
Evan Miller
Sponsored Content
PLZ Aeroscience is North America’s largest custom aerosol manufacturer and packager. It produces its own private-brand products and custom formulations, and provides contract filling for other customers. PLZ has been in business for more than 100 years and during the last six…
Takehiko Harada
Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from the book, Management Lessons From Taiichi Ohno: What Every Leader Can Learn From the Man who Invented the Toyota Production System, by Takehiko Harada (McGraw-Hill Education, 2015).
The phrase, “kaizen equals getting closer to the final process” was hardly…
Rachel E. Sherman, Robert M. Califf
In an earlier article, we discussed a pair of concepts—interoperability and connectivity—that are essential prerequisites for creating a successful national system for evidence generation (or “EvGen”). Here, we take a look at how we would apply these constructs as we go about building such a…
Harry Hertz
In 2013, the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence started asking questions related to an organization’s use of social media. An emphasis was placed on effective use of social media. In the early days of this criteria change, many users of the Criteria had limited engagement with social…
Quality Transformation With David Schwinn
The map is not the territory.
—Alfred Korzybski
This column is a tribute primarily to Jamshid Gharajedaghi, a long-time teacher, mentor, colleague, and friend. My wife Carole and I recently visited him while in Philadelphia doing a presentation for the International Society for Performance…
Sponsored Content
The portable measuring arm, or portable arm coordinate measuring machine (CMM) has become an important quality control tool at many manufacturing companies. With the flexibility to be used nearly anywhere on a manufacturing floor, from in-process checks to large-scale assembly to…
William A. Levinson
Colonel Paul M. A. Linebarger’s authoritative Psychological Warfare (Infantry Journal Press, 1948) defines propaganda as any planned communication with the purpose to influence behavior, but this definition is actually too narrow. Propaganda consists of any action or communication, whether…
Gwendolyn Galsworth
Visual scheduling is a plain, two-dimensional format that maps out which products, parts, or subassemblies need to be produced, and when, in what quantity, and in what order. Nothing could be simpler.
In companies where schedules aren't published in a single, centralized location for all to see…
CMSC
(CMS: Weatherford, TX) -- The Coordinate Metrology Society (CMS), in collaboration with University North Carolina, Charlotte, has announced that the PrecisionPath Consortium for Large-Scale Manufacturing will officially launch an industry-at-large survey on Monday, May 23, 2016, at its website.…
Superconducting (SC) magnetic and SC radiofrequency (SRF) devices designed for use in particle accelerators present challenging alignment problems. These devices are assembled and aligned at room temperature but operate at 2 Kelvin (K) to 4 Kelvin (K), with thermal offsets being large relative to…
Rina Molari-Korgel
On World Metrology Day this Friday, May 20, I ask that you pause a minute when you look at the alarm clock in morning, and then again as you set the thermostat or look at the weather report. World Metrology Day celebrates a link that binds humanity—the bond of a common measurement that is…
FARO
(FARO: Lake Mary, FL) -- The FARO Design ScanArm is a portable 3D scanning solution tailored for 3D modeling, reverse engineering, and CAD-based design applications across the product life cycle management (PLM) process.
As a limited-time promotional offer, the FARO Design ScanArm will be bundled…
ACQUIP
(ACQUIP: Miami Beach, FL) -- ACQUIP, a leading provider of laser alignment, metrology and 3D scanning services, announce today the issuance of U.S Patent No. 20150354750 for the MAGIE, an adjustable magnetic mount for metrology equipment. This patent confirms ACQUIP’s efforts to deliver quality…
InnovMetric Software
(InnovMetric: Quebec City, Canada) -- InnovMetric Software, a leading provider of universal 3D metrology software solutions, has launched PolyWorks 2016, the latest release of the company’s universal 3D metrology software platform. PolyWorks 2016 fully supports probing and laser scanning on…
Belinda Jones
When the PrecisionPath Consortium concluded its second working meeting on February 25, 2016, noteworthy progress was made in the roadmapping process for advanced, large-scale manufacturing. More than 20 members of the consortium participated in this pivotal "“Needs Assessment and Gap Analysis”…
Delcam
(Delcam: Birmingham, UK) -- During the past five years, German automotive toolmaker Konrad Schäfer Modell und Formenbau has switched all its static and portable CMMs, as well as its hand scanners, to Delcam’s PowerINSPECT inspection software. The results of standardizing on a single software have…
Creaform Inc.
(Creaform: Lévis, Canada ) -- Creaform, a global leader in portable 3D measurement solutions and engineering services, has unveiled its new 3D scanner for shop-floor operation, the MetraSCAN 3D. Re-engineered to address increasing manufacturing quality standards, it offers the best possible…
Automated Precision Inc.
(API: Tampa, FL) - EMS, one of the largest single-source providers of advanced 3D scanning and printing solutions, and API (Automated Precision) have agreed to a formal reseller partnership to distribute API’s advanced laser-tracker metrology products in the United States.
“API’s laser tracking…
CMSC
(CMS: Weatherford, TX) -- The Coordinate Metrology Society (CMS) has selected a slate of 25 technical papers and presentations for the 2016 Coordinate Metrology Society Conference (CMSC). The 32nd annual gathering of the CMS will be held July 25–29, 2016, at the Embassy Suites by Hilton in…
Basis Software Inc.
(Basis: Redmond, WA) -- Basis Software has introduced the Surphaser Model 10 laser scanner, the first in a new product line of compact lightweight scanners. The new model was presented April 2–5, 2015, at the SPAR 3D Expo and Conference in Woodlands, Texas.
The Surphaser Model 10 represents an…
ECM Global Measurement Solutions
In greater Downeast Maine, boat builder Hodgdon Yachts plans for the construction of the 100-ft racing yacht called “New3” (also known as “New Cubed”). Set to be constructed and finished toward the end of the year, the vessel will be shipped to Australia for its first race. As Tim Hacket, the…
Jim Benson
We are all cursed with “surprises” at work. We come in, sit down, get ready for the day. We select a task to start on, and about halfway through, it explodes on us. The seemingly simple task now has 30 subtasks all lined up, ready to destroy our day.
This is stressful. Since we’re likely already…
Davis Balestracci
I’ve mentioned that design of experiments (DOE) is one of the few things worth salvaging from typical statistical training, and I thought I’d talk a bit more about DOE in the next couple of columns. The needed discipline for a good design is similar when using rapid-cycle plan-do-study-act (PDSA…
Mark Esser
Depending on whom you ask, May (or August or April—it would be great if someone were to standardize this, but we’re going with May) is National Inventor’s Month. Lots of people have dreams of being a famous inventor. Even I’ve had “ideas” for inventions before.
For instance, during the 1990s,…
