All Features
Andy Henderson
This is the third part in a series about my perspective of what the future has in store for various aspects of manufacturing. I approached each aspect by imagining what is possible using what we know to be technically possible today. In part one I covered cutting tools for machining and in part…
Cole Cooper
A production part approval process (PPAP) is used by companies to establish confidence and rules in a production process. In a sense, it gives customers a view into their suppliers’ manufacturing capabilities.
A PPAP is required when there is a new part, engineering changes, tooling changes,…
Ryan E. Day
Handheld X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzers are proven analytical tools commonly used for the fast, easy, accurate, and nondestructive identification and analysis of metals and alloys. Common applications include metal alloy identification for quality control, scrap sorting and positive material…
Donald Hillger
This year, 2016, marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Metric Association (USMA). Our mission is to help the United States complete its transition to the metric system. Although we’ve always expected that the adoption of the metric system here was just around the corner, all…
Thomas R. Cutler
Manufacturers’ waste-reduction initiatives are rarely as effective as they could be. When reducing waste, inventory is often the main target. But how do you right-size inventory in an environment of constant variability? In a word: kanban.
Electronic kanban signals keep product moving throughout…
Paul Smith
It’s hard to turn the pages of any business or leadership magazine these days without coming across something about the value of storytelling. Whether it’s for leadership, marketing, sales, or some other purpose, the benefits of telling stories in business is well documented.
What’s more often…
Garry Oswald
If your company ships anything on a regular basis, you should know about freight invoice auditing. This is the method that shippers have used for 60 years to cut the costs charged by carriers and to make deliveries more efficiently to their end users.
Auditing does more than save on shipping…
Milan Kocic
Picture this: Your coordinate measuring machine (CMM) has crashed for the umpteenth time, and now it’s out of commission because you need to replace the probe head. Does this sound familiar? Across the world, manufacturers are facing the same problem: A situation occurs, you have to call the CMM’s…
American Customer Satisfaction Index ACSI
(ASCI: Ann Arbor, MI) -- Customer satisfaction with personal computers halts a three-year slide, according to new data from the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). The ACSI Household Appliance and Electronics Report 2016 includes desktops, laptops, and tablet computers, as well as…
Numerous industries need to measure the weight of goods at different stages of production and distribution. Accuracy, speed, and throughput rank high on their list. If you use outdated weighing systems, a number of challenges crop up that threaten safety, performance, and compliance with local…
Ryan E. Day
Sponsored Content
You might say what Henry Ford did for the automobile, GE, Siemens, and Mitsubishi have done for the gas and steam turbine industry. Naturally, the tools and technicians of both sectors have had to evolve right along with the challenges of new technology and the ever-increasing…
Joby George
Manufacturing has changed dramatically during the past several years. Where once original equipment manufacturers made products primarily within their own four walls, now those companies must manage a complex global supply chain. In an effort to support innovation, reach new markets, and reduce…
Eugene Daniell
Sponsored Content
If NASCAR teams had to choose a capitol city, Charlotte, North Carolina, would be the most likely. With so many teams clustered around this city and its celebrated racetrack, savvy specialty suppliers have moved to the region to help NASCAR teams build speed and reliability into…
Gabriele Suder
The costs of global terrorism on business go beyond the destruction caused in the attacks and actually impact the value of brands and supply chains for products, new research shows. It can give a competitive edge to some companies while destroying others.
During the 15 years since the Sept. 11,…
Swapnil Srivastav
Mandatory reporting requirements for regulations such as Europe’s REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals) and RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) legislation have increased the focus on environmental compliance and ethical sourcing across the globe.…
Heinz Schandl
The world is using its natural resources at an ever-increasing rate. Worldwide, annual extraction of primary materials—biomass, fossil fuels, metal ores, and minerals—tripled between 1970 and 2010. People in the richest countries now consume up to 10 times more resources than those in the poorest…
Micki Vandeloo
It’s so important for manufacturers to find and cultivate valuable partnerships. They can help manufacturers expand their service or product offerings, make their processes more efficient, and help specify and procure just the right equipment.
When manufacturers launch a new product or are making…
Ryan E. Day
Sponsored Content
In today's hyper-competitive, fast-paced manufacturing world, there is rarely anything like a "routine" day at the office—especially when you're a tier-one supplier for some of the largest aerospace companies in the world. To make the grade and satisfy this kind of demanding…
Michael Huda
Speaking the language of color isn’t like telling someone your name and expecting him to remember it. Our minds just don’t process color like that.
While vague color descriptions are sufficient for many people—“Turn left at the blue house” or “Choose the reddest strawberries”—if you work in an…
Chad Kymal
In 2014, the International Automotive Task Force (IATF) reported that the automotive industry wouldn’t upgrade the ISO/TS 16949 standard to ISO 9001:2015, much to the dismay of Tier One suppliers. In a survey that same year, Tier One suppliers related their desire to update their management…
Mark Whitworth
Quality is, for every organization and across all industries, a key competitive differentiator. This is especially true in the highly competitive automotive industry, where cost pressures have pushed automakers and their suppliers toward global sourcing and distributed supply-chain operations.…
ISO
The global food industry has never faced more challenges. From tainted dairy products to contaminated beef, high-profile cases crop up regularly to dent consumer confidence, while leading companies work hard to reclaim lost faith. So how trustworthy is your food?
Food safety is something we tend…
Frank Townsend
World shipping changed forever when the Panama Canal opened on Aug. 15, 1914. It was an engineering marvel of its day, cutting the distance required to get from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic by as much as 8,000 nautical miles.
The shipping industry is changing once again as 70 heads of state…
Stephan Manning, Marcus M. Larsen
One of the big themes in the current presidential race is how decades of free trade have dealt a heavy blow to the U.S. worker as millions of jobs were shipped overseas to take advantage of cheap labor.
That’s even turned some pro free-trade Republicans into protectionists. As a result, the…
Joby George
Driven by market expansion, financial pressures, and the need to accelerate innovation, today’s manufacturers have expanded their global operations and supply partners. This evolution has only amplified the manufacturer and supply-chain relationship, which is often characterized by a delicate…
