All Features
Morten Bennedsen
In January 2009, when Toyota’s supervisory board named Akio Toyoda president of Toyota Motor Co., the multinational car manufacturer was in crisis. After 14 years of strong sales and record profits, Toyota had found itself at the center of a perfect storm.
Oil prices were spiking, sending the…
Scott A. Hindle
Part two of this four-part series on process capability concluded with Alan just about to meet Sarah for a second time. He thought he was making good progress with his analysis of Product 874 data until he was asked to assess process capability, even though it can’t be assessed for an unstable…
James Warren
Creating a new material has long been either an accident or a matter of trial and error. Steel, for instance, was developed over hundreds of years by people who didn’t know why what they were doing worked (or didn’t work). Generations of blacksmiths observed that iron forged in charcoal was…
British Assessment Bureau BAB
There are hundreds of security breaches that happen every day but in the end, they fall into three main groups: malicious, intentional, or criminal; system glitches; and human error.
The IBM “2015 Cost of Security Breach Survey” conducted by Ponemon Research, catalogs 49 percent of the breaches…
NIST
(NIST: Gaithersburg, MD) -- The judges panel for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) chose 15 organizations to proceed to Site Visit Review, the final stage of the evaluation process for the nation’s highest award for organizational performance excellence.
The judges met this…
John Maxwell
Have you ever considered the time investment required of some of the world’s greatest achievements?
• It took 26 months to build the Eiffel Tower. • It took Da Vinci four years to paint the Mona Lisa. • It took Michelangelo four years to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. • It took Leo…
Scott A. Hindle
In part one of this four-part series, we considered the basics of process capability, as witnessed through the learning curve of Alan in his quest to determine the product characteristics of the powder, Product 874. We pick up with Alan here as he prepares for his second meeting with his colleague…
(Control Micro Systems: Orlando, FL) -- Control Micro Systems has recently participated in several collaborative laser material processing R&D projects with industry-leading clients in the aerospace, medical and consumer sectors.
In response to growing joint-venture opportunities with…
Harish Jose
Uncertainty is all around us. A lean leader’s main purpose is to develop people so they can tackle uncertainty. There are two ways to tackle uncertainty: One is genchi genbutsu (go and see, or seeing for yourself), and the other is to employ the plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle, a method for…
Gensler’s U.S. Workplace Survey 2016 is the latest in a series that builds on more than a decade of research. The company, an integrated architecture, design, planning and consulting firm, started that journey in 2005 by uncovering a link between a better-designed work environment and performance…
Society of Manufacturing Engineers
(SME: Dearborn, MI) -- FABTECH 2016, North America’s largest collaboration of technology, equipment, and knowledge in the metal forming, fabricating, welding, and finishing industries, has scheduled a comprehensive education program of notable speakers to present on a variety of topics at the…
Scott A. Hindle
In my August 2015 article, “Process Capability: How Many Data?” I discussed whether 30 data were the “right” number in an analysis of process capability. In this four-part series, the focus is on understanding what process capability is and the pitfalls associated with it, along with how it can…
Thinh Nguyen, Rachel E. Sherman
One question that product sponsors often ask the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is whether their medical product will be regulated as a drug, a device, a biologic, or as a combination product—and in the case of the latter, which FDA component will regulate it.
One way sponsors may…
Barbara A. Cleary
In a rapidly changing business environment, it’s sometimes hard just to keep up with everyday demands—never mind having time to develop new and better approaches to changing requirements, needs, or markets. Staying ahead of the curve sounds as if it might demand working longer hours, hiring more…
William A. Levinson
ISO 9001:2015 clause 4.2—“Understanding the needs and expectations of interested parties” requires the organization to determine the “requirements of these interested parties that are relevant to the quality management system.” The recent two-day conflict that Facebook lost to F.B. (Fluff Busting…
Wiley
(Wiley: Hoboken, NJ) -- Entrepreneur Nigel Collin’s book, Game of Inches (Wiley, 2015) dispels the myth that success must come from disruption, and provides an actionable blueprint for real-world business achievement. Collin interviewed more than 80 successful Australian entrepreneurs and leaders…
François Leclerc
Color is a big differentiator in the world of 3D scanning, but when it comes to inspection or reverse engineering, it’s usually not mandatory and sometimes not even important. However, color is paramount in applications such as heritage preservation, which is the 3D scanning and digitization of…
Marlene Chism
The world needs leadership, and there’s no better way to lead than to listen. A leader who listens controls the conversation, and has the power to build bridges instead of barriers.
Listening requires you to be present, to set aside your own agenda, to use discernment.
When someone says, “Black…
Bill Kalmar
T
hose of you at a certain age (meaning old) will no doubt remember the song, “Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour?” It was a single released in 1959 and sung by Lonnie Donegan. It’s an irritating song but not as irritating as the thousands of people who prefer to leave their chewing gum at the…
Jon Speer
Did you know that during the first six months of 2015, 69 percent of 510(k) submissions were rejected the first time? And that up to 75 percent of first-time 510(k) submissions are regularly sent back? I heard this and thought it was a crazy statistic. Is it really that high?
Then I spoke with a…
The Un-Comfort Zone With Robert Wilson
Running as fast as I could, I zigzagged across the field. I dodged and ducked, and stayed just out of reach from the grabbing hands. I stumbled and fell, but quickly rolled away from my pursuer and bounced back onto my feet before he could catch me. I charged toward a short stone wall and leapt…
Amir Grinboim
Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence recently released the latest system in its 3D optical scanner portfolio, the BLAZE 600M. The solution is similar to structured light but comprised of a blended combination of technologies that allow it to be faster and more accurate than traditional structured-…
NIST
A new publication from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) provides a basic model aimed at helping researchers better understand the internet of things (IoT) and its security challenges.
Examples of IoT systems include a smart electric grid, a home controlled by sensors,…
DeFelsko
(DeFelsko: Ogdensburg, New York) – DeFelsko Corp., a U.S. manufacturer of coating-thickness gauges and inspection instruments, has been selected to host five Society for Protective Coatings (SSPC) training events beginning in November 2016. at its headquarters in Ogdensburg, New York.
These…
Sensaphone
(Sensaphone: Aston, PA) -- Detecting vibration fluctuations in machinery early on prevents equipment failure and secondary damage. The 4–20mA vibration sensor from Sensaphone, designer of remote monitoring technology, can be permanently mounted on equipment to continuously monitor vibration…
