All Features
New River Kinematics
(NRK: Williamsburg, VA) -- New River Kinematics (NRK), producer of SpatialAnalyzer (SA), announces a record business year in 2012 with a 17-percent growth in orders over the previous year. During the past six years, NRK has had an average of 20-percent year-to-year growth.
Continued worldwide…
NIST
(NIST: Gaithersburg, MD) -- The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), through its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, invites small businesses to propose solutions to specific challenges in the fields of cybersecurity and manufacturing.
SBIR Phase I awards provide…
BuildIT
(BuildIT: Montreal, QC) -- Build!IT 3.2.5 is now available, with more than 250 improvements and new features, including improved process automation, Windows 8 compatibility, and a new customizable interface. The 3D metrology software enables quick and easy dimensional inspection of manufactured…
A failure modes and effect analysis (FMEA) is a reliable tool for improving products and processes while reducing engineering workload. A good FMEA can also improve machine and resource availability by identifying, analyzing, and improving high-risk components. However, an FMEA's value is often…
Tripp Babbitt
The rhyme we all learned as children rings in my ears: Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall / Humpty Dumpty had a great fall / All the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again. I like to use Humpty Dumpty to describe companies that have functionally separated their work.…
Norman Bodek
Afew years back, I visited Toyota’s plant in Georgetown, Kentucky, with the group of executives from various construction corporations. One member of our team asked Gary Convis, the first American to head a Toyota vehicle plant in North America, “What do you expect from your workers?”
“Only two…
John Flaig
There are many different process control methods and procedures available to the quality practitioner. A popular but problematic visual technique employs the traffic light analogy.
As discussed in the article, “Stoplight Charts With SPC Inside,” by Steven Prevette (Quality Progress, 2004), the…
Bill Kalmar
Now that Super Bowl Sunday and all the hoopla associated with it has come to a conclusion, we sports fan can look forward to the opening of baseball training camps and of course March Madness, the annual National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) basketball tournament. For many of us, though,…
Metrologic Group
(Metrologic Group: Wixom, MI) -- Metrologic Group, designer and manufacturer of 3D inspection software and dimensional control systems, announces a breakthrough in metrology software suitable for all industrial robots. The X4i-Robot system provides truly accurate and reliable measurement and…
Qualtrax Inc.
(Qualtrax: Christiansburg, VA) -- Qualtrax, a leading provider of electronic document and process management for a variety of industries, has released the latest version of its software that now includes language options for Dutch and Mandarin, reflecting the software’s international use.
Version…
Harry Hertz
According to a recent PBS report based on information from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United States’ healtcare expenditures are 2.5 times greater than that of the most developed nations around the world. Depending on which report you read, our healthcare…
IntraStage
The first production Model T auto in 1908 ushered in a new era of transportation by shrinking dramatically the time it took for people to move from place to place. Like the Model T, communication technologies such as email, mobile phones, and the Internet are dramatically shrinking the time for…
Keith McDavit
I recently received several bids for a small concrete project on the side of my house. The lowest bid was $1,400. Relying on the finest traditions of economy and scientific thought I had learned in college and as a quality professional, I decided to do the job myself. I figured it could be done…
Daniel Brown
“A 3D scanner collects distance information about surfaces within its field of view,” says civil engineer Mostafa Abdel-Bary Ebrahim. “The ‘picture’ produced by a 3D scanner describes the distance to a surface at each point in the picture. This allows the three-dimensional position of each point…
Creaform Inc.
(Creaform: Leinfelden-Echterdingen) -- Creaform, leader in portable 3D measurement solutions and 3D Engineering Services, announces the installation of probing optical technology and noncontact 3D measurement systems at the BMW plant in Munich, Germany. The TRUaccuracy technology, which is…
Belinda Jones
Two major acquisitions were announced in early January 2013, and it is not surprising that both companies were software developers and long-time players in the industrial measurement sector.
3D Systems announced it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire Geomagic Inc. This acquisition is…
Curt Oswald, Donald L. Reynolds, John J. Casey
Do you want to know a secret? It’s one that lean experts often overlook because nobody told them about it. However, before revealing it, we need to answer a couple of questions first.
• What is 5S? • Why is 5S important to implement? • Why do so many U.S. companies fail in 5S implementation?
5S…
Bill Kalmar
Have you noticed the number of people with the flu, or flu symptoms, or an upper-respiratory infection? It is the time of year when America succumbs to the current illness bug, and millions of people will be coughing and sputtering and sneezing. The people who get flu shots may be immune from all…
Taran March @ Quality Digest
You’ve gassed her up, you’re behind the wheel, with your arm around your sweetheart in your Oldsmobile… —Tom Waits
If you were in the business of selling a popular dream—say, freedom, status, and mobility—and you began to notice your customers’ dreams shifting elusively, as dreams do, into…
Drew Locher
There are many well-documented lean successes in manufacturing applications. However, service organizations and administrative processes within manufacturing companies often struggle with applying these concepts. A big problem is that companies tend to focus strictly on lean “tools” and fail to…
Jack Dunigan
In part one of this column, we learned about Robert, who seemed to succeed at everything the business world could throw at him. His responsibilities became greater than one person could manage, yet he mostly worked alone, by choice, except for support from his clerical staff. There were several…
Eston Martz
Subcultures have languages all their own. Teen gangs, statisticians, gamers, music buffs, sports nuts, furries—all use terminology that baffles outsiders. The arcane language helps identify kindred spirits: Using the correct phrase proves you belong. The proper buzzwords can gain you admittance to…
Jack Dunigan
Robert’s second-floor offices are crowded with papers, files, memos, phone messages, charts, and project plans. On his belt hangs a smart phone. A secretary in a front office handles the business telephone, which rang a dozen times in the few minutes I sat with him.
He is a busy, busy man, and…
MIT News
The MIT Forum for Supply Chain Innovation has released a report, “U.S Reshoring: A Turning Point,” based on the results of its 2012 U.S. reshoring survey.
In total, 340 participants completed the survey, of which 198 were manufacturing-only companies. Out of those 198 companies, 156 were U.S.…
Matthew E. May
Recently I had a conversation with a friend who was upset about some directional shifts and a looming job shuffle within his company. As I listened to the lament, I recognized that the changes he described focused on the symptoms of the issue. All of his reactions and proposed courses of action…
