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To meet increasingly strict compliance standards, such as the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), food processors now regularly use adenosine triphosphate (ATP) testing to monitor equipment surfaces for microbial growth. Add to this the need to minimize…
In previous articles we have explored what differential privacy is, how it works, and how to answer questions about data in ways that protect privacy. All of the algorithms we’ve discussed have been demonstrated via mathematical proof to be effective for protecting privacy. However, when…
In previous articles we have explored what differential privacy is, how it works, and how to answer questions about data in ways that protect privacy. All of the algorithms we’ve discussed have been demonstrated via mathematical proof to be effective for protecting privacy. However, when…
(Radiant Vision Systems: Redmond, WA) - Radiant Vision Systems, a leading provider of image-based light and color measurement solutions, announces three new high-resolution models in its line of ProMetric Imaging Colorimeters and Photometers. New ProMetric systems extend the resolution range of…
Quality professionals are often told that “failing to plan is planning to fail.” You might be surprised to learn that this phrase is a misleading myth at best and actively dangerous at worst. Making plans is important, but our gut reaction is to plan for the best-case outcomes, ignoring the high…
When Wharton management professor Adam Grant sat down to write his new book, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know (Virgin Digital, 2021), he wanted to make the case for why executives should reconsider their approaches to how to manage people in a modern workplace and embrace new…
It has been more than a year since retailers were forced to temporarily shut their doors or put in place restrictions to limit the in-store experience. Now, as we return to some semblance of normality, it’s essential that trust and brand value are retained for those operating a digital-only…
In 2017, in response to a Boston Dynamics video, billionaire Elon Musk infamously tweeted, “This is nothing. In a few years, that bot will move so fast you’ll need a strobe light to see it. Sweet dreams....”
Whether or not Musk’s ominous prediction comes true for Atlas (the robot in the video), he…
(Sensaphone: Aston, PA) -- The Sentinel system from Sensaphone is ideal for manufacturing and research process facilities that require a controlled environment or designated clean room to ensure that factors like temperature, airflow, humidity, and airborne particulates do not compromise products…
Aresearch team has found that a method commonly used to skirt one of metal 3D printing’s biggest problems may be far from a silver bullet.
For manufacturers, 3D printing, or additive manufacturing, provides a means of building complex-shaped parts that are more durable, lighter and more…
As a young man of 20 in his first job at a state-owned enterprise in China, Guoli Chen found senior management fascinating, but not in a good way. His boss’s boss did very little—unless one counts reading newspapers, drinking tea, and gossiping as work. “I wondered whether anyone could replace him…
In an essay titled “The end of artefacts,” Nobel laureate and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) fellow William D. Phillips details how scientists came to realize the original vision of the metric system, or the International System of Units (SI)—a system of units “for all times…
(ABM Equipment: Vancouver, WA) -- ABM Equipment is detecting foreign material half the size previously possible for the industry using new hardware and software from Eagle. With a mix of improved detector boards, generators, and algorithms, contaminants as small as 0.3 mm are detectable in some…
Automation in the fresh produce sector is standard fare these days. What may not be so standard are the containers that get the produce from farm to market. The quality of produce containers has a direct impact on the quality of the produce—and maximizing profit margins for produce distributors and…
To date, this series focused on relatively simple data analyses, such as learning one summary statistic about our data at a time. In reality, we’re often interested in a slightly more sophisticated analysis, so we can learn multiple trends and takeaways at once and paint a richer picture of our…
(Marposs: Auburn Hills, MI) -- Marposs, a world leader in measurement, inspection, and test technologies, has announced the availability of its Tecna T2 leak tester and AV10 test fixture solution developed specifically for verifying the integrity of medical blood lines. Featuring the reliable Tecna…
Iwas talking to a friend recently, and the subject of organizational health came up. With my quality background my ears perked up, and I asked him to explain what he thought organizational health meant.
The friend went on for several minutes explaining that organizational health was all about six…
We live in an era of statue removal. Meanwhile the largest mountain carving in the world is under construction in the Black Hills of South Dakota just 17 miles from Mount Rushmore. The final carving will be 640 feet long and more than 50 stories high. The subject of that carving? Crazy Horse.…
(Rigaku Analytical Devices: Wilmington, MA) -- Rigaku Analytical Devices, a leading pioneer of handheld spectroscopic analyzers, has launched the KT-500—a new, handheld laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) analyzer.
The Rigaku KT-500 features carbon-capable, miniaturized, high-resolution…
This series is about planning for the worst that can face us.
It’s jumping-off point is the National Institute of Standards and Technology publication, “A Case Study of the Camp Fire—Fire Progression Timeline,” an epic and thorough study about the wildfire that changed the lives of my family,…
When the Covid pandemic swept through the country last year, companies rapidly transitioned employees to working from home (WFH). However, this shift led to growing challenges of WFH burnout and Zoom fatigue.
Unfortunately, organizations treat these issues as day-to-day challenges, instead of…
(AW-Lake: Oak Creek, WI) -- AW-Lake Process Flow Measurement introduces its Next-Generation Gear Meter Series that offers greater efficiencies in operation with tighter tolerances, higher resolutions, higher standard pressure ratings (6000 psi), improved accuracy, wider turndowns (100:1), and a new…
In a customer-centered world, meeting customers’ needs is more demanding and business-critical than ever. Simultaneously, manufacturers struggle to reduce operating costs as margins compress and the competitive landscape intensifies. This dichotomy and a pressure to “choose” between reducing costs…
No matter who you are or what you do, you create systems and live in the systems of others every day. But for some reason, we’re never actually taught lean systems thinking. We think it is natural, that we just sort of “get it.”
On a personal level, we are most often governed by cognitive biases…
Demonstrating identification and traceability in all quality system processes is a must for medical device companies to comply with FDA regulations. To satisfy this compliance need, companies will need to connect related processes within their quality system to close the loop between related pre-…
