All Features
Verisurf Software Inc.
(Verisurf: Anaheim, CA) -- Verisurf Software Inc. and select resellers worldwide have introduced the 3DGage coordinate measuring machine (CMM). “The new 3DGage enables manufacturers to quickly implement lean model-based inspection right on the shop floor that yield real improvements in production…
MIT News
MIT researchers have developed a new technique for magnetically separating oil and water that could be used to clean up oil spills. They believe that, with their technique, the oil could be recovered for use, offsetting much of the cost of cleanup.
The researchers will present their work at the…
Knowledge at Wharton
Has international trade come to a standstill with the crisis that started in 2008? Things are not that simple, says Pascal Lamy, the director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO), during a recent joint interview with ParisTech Review and Knowledge@Wharton. Although protectionist pressures…
NIST
A refined method developed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for measuring nanometer-sized objects may help computer manufacturers more effectively size up the myriad tiny switches packed onto chips’ surfaces. The method, which makes use of multiple measuring instruments…
Miriam Boudreaux
When implementing a new management system based on ISO standards, experts usually invoke the grandfather clause as a way to relieve the enforcement of some requirements. When, where, and how often can the grandfather clause be invoked?
The grandfather clause is a statement that an organization…
Cognex Corp.
(Cognex: Natick, MA) -- Cognex Corp., a global leader in industrial ID, has integrated advanced 2DMax+ code-reading software technology into the compact DataMan 100 and 200 fixed-mount barcode readers. With 2DMax+, the readers can now identify and decode severely damaged or poorly marked 2D matrix…
NIST
The United States already has one of the highest direct fire loss rates among developed nations, and progress in reducing this tremendous burden is slowing.
Fires claim more than 3,000 lives a year, injure more than 90,000 firefighters and civilians, and impose costs and losses totaling more than…
Joel Smith
Admit it; if you follow the National Football League (NFL), both of the following statements are likely true: When talking about the preseason with friends, you say that the preseason doesn’t matter and doesn’t mean anything for the regular season, so you’re not really worried or excited about your…
Bill Lee
I want you to see your customers in a (lucrative) new light. The old paradigm works like this: Your company produces goods and services that help customers get a job done. In return, the customers pay you money. You take that money and invest a good portion of it in traditional sales and marketing…
Paul Naysmith
I’m back, writing about another Toyota dilemma of mine. In part one, interestingly titled “My Toyota Dilemma,” I wrote how I, as an avid fan and supporter of the Toyota Production System (TPS) have never owned a Toyota. I ended that column vowing I would use Toyota’s greatest gift—the 5 Whys—to…
Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence
(Hexagon: North Kingstown, RI) -- Hexagon Metrology has released the new Brown & Sharpe TWIN-CAL IP67 calipers with an innovative built-in output connection, which are on display this week at Hexagon Metrology’s booth E-5202 at IMTS 2012, Sept. 10–15, at McCormick Place in Chicago.
This…
Joseph M. DeFeo, Brian Swayne
Joseph M. Juran was a seminal 20th-century figure in the field of quality; his many contributions broadened the field from its original, narrow, and statistically-based focus. As early as the 1970s, he recognized the value and importance of regularly reviewing a business system and its ability to…
Bruce Hamilton
Our Northeast Region Shingo Conference, held Sept. 25–26, 2012, is all about sharing information, ideas, problems, plans—all of those things that can make the sum of the parts greater than the whole. So a story about the power of sharing ideas seems appropriate.
As a new vice president of…
NIST
Sometimes the chain of measurement traceability—the unbroken series of links between a calibrated instrument and the official NIST standard—can get pretty long. But 250 million kilometers is remarkable, even for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
That’s the current distance…
The Un-Comfort Zone With Robert Wilson
My title this month is a funny metaphor for a common opinion I saw written on a bathroom wall. The gist of the graffiti was that the first mouse must die springing the trap before the second one gets the prize.
After observing big failures, it’s human nature to be a little wary of trying new…
Colleen Coyle
At creative werks (cw), a manufacturing and co-packing business in Illinois, production is nonstop. Lines run 24/7 and data constantly accumulate. Accuracy and timeliness are crucial, but without an automated quality control system, the quality team relied on manual auditing for weight checking,…
Pinpoint Laser Systems
(Pinpoint: Peabody, MA) -- Pinpoint Laser Systems, designer and manufacturer of measuring and alignment tools and solutions, is exhibiting this week, Sept. 10–15, at the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) held at McCormick Place in Chicago.
Pinpoint’s booth (No. E-4769) is featuring…
Siemens PLM Software
(Siemens: Plano, TX) -- Siemens PLM Software, will release in October 2012 the latest version of NX software, the company’s integrated computer-aided design, manufacturing, and engineering analysis (CAD/CAM/CAE) solution. NX 8.5 includes customer-driven enhancements and new capabilities that…
LVMC
(LVMC: Chester, UK) -- The Large Volume Metrology Conference and Exhibition 2012 (LVMC) is accepting submissions for presentations for this year’s show, which is being held Nov. 28–29 at the Chester Racecourse in Chester, United Kingdom. The LVMC is the only European event dedicated solely to the…
Institute of Medicine
America’s healthcare system has become too complex and costly to continue business as usual, according to the report, “Best Care at Lower Cost: The Path to Continuously Learning Health Care in America” from the Institute of Medicine.
Inefficiencies, an overwhelming amount of data, and other…
Alan’s Apothegms with Alan L. Austin
My mother started teaching piano when she was in her teens. She still does as a matter of fact, even though she is about to celebrate her 91st birthday.
When I was a boy she thought I should learn to play. Don’t get me wrong; I love the piano. I grew up listening to my mother play classical pieces…
Mark R. Hamel
In many ways, visual controls are a 24/7 mirror of leadership’s competency and credibility. That’s pretty scary if you think about it. It’s like voluntarily living in a fishbowl, not that everyone truly understands the gravity of that.
It reminds me of the Spider-Man quote (allegedly borrowed from…
Timothy F. Bednarz
The saying, “The devil is in the details” is true in all organizational and business environments. Often when leaders take the time to empower their employees and teams to handle minor details and problems, major problems are avoided or at least minimized.
The process of transformation and change…
Patrick Stone
During a debate with then-President Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan famously asked Americans if they were better off than they were four years previously. It worked for Reagan, so we’re going to try a variation of it here.
Is the Food and Drug administration (FDA) better off than it was four or five…
Kyle Toppazzini
Another transformation initiative has been announced in your organization and you think to yourself, “How much change are we expected to undertake?” In a lean Six Sigma engagement, it is imperative to take into consideration the number of ongoing and past change initiatives. This article explains…
