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History indicates that major technological changes can take about half a century to go from the first lab drawings to society. Alan Turing first proposed the Turing machine, laying the foundations of computation, in 1936; the first general-purpose “Turing-complete” system was built in 1945, and “…
Your own voice will likely become the most significant focus for food retailers and restaurants in the immediate future. Voice searches are increasingly becoming the norm. A recent study suggests that more than 50 percent of all online searches will be voice-activated by 2020.
To a lesser extent,…
If you have worked in the quality field for anytime at all, you have probably heard of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award—it’s the highest level of national recognition for performance excellence that a U.S. organization can receive. The award focuses on performance in five key areas and…
What are you looking to measure? This is one of the central questions for a metrologist (a measurement scientist) and is usually answered before measurements can proceed. It is impossible to make sense of the results without knowing the measurand—the actual physical dimension or other property of…
Ever since sportswriter Henry Chadwick popularized the box score in the 19th century, baseball fans have had a love affair with statistics. Many can recite records like Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak, Rickey Henderson’s 130 stolen bases, or Barry Bonds’ 73 home runs in one season. But have…
(GageList: Houston, TX) -- GageList, the world’s fastest-growing calibration management software, announces the release of GageList Mobile for iOS and Android. The app went live in the App Store and Google Play on March 8, 2019, and was introduced to the quality management industry at the 27th…
If your manufacturing organization is going to grow, you know you need an inspection solution beyond the capabilities of micrometers and calipers. You know you need to gather more data in a faster and more reliable manner. It’s time to invest in a 3D inspection solution like a coordinate measuring…
Parking lot. We use it in the meeting-management world to mean agenda items that are tabled for later discussion. These are generally posted on a sheet of flip-chart paper, taped on the meeting wall, and then placed on the agenda of the next meeting so they are not forgotten as topics for…
Have you ever found yourself in the midst of a business problem that you’re not sure how to solve? This five-step problem solving process is a great place to begin working through any business issue.
At one point I worked with a financial services firm, and we had this really cool program that did…
(Nikon Metrology, Leuven, Belgium) -- Nikon Metrology has announced that Canadian-based 7D Kinematic Metrology Inc, has acquired Nikon Metrology’s iGPS dynamic tracking business.
iGPS is a modular large scale, high-accuracy dynamic tracking solution that transforms large facilities into an…
Managers have a profound effect on employee engagement. This is something we have known for quite a few years. According to a 2015 Gallup poll, managers account for at least a 70-percent variance in employee engagement scores. When employees and managers have a healthy, respectful, and honest…
When a customer asks to see your layered process audit (LPA) documentation, will you be ready? For many manufacturers, the answer is no.
Instead of having proof of an effective audit process, many companies are left scrambling for data that show low audit compliance and few actual results.…
(Visual Workplace: Byron Center, MI) -- Visual Workplace Inc. has introduced color-coded cleaning tools to help create order and discipline in facilities. Color coding work spaces is a simple way to eliminate searching by making it faster and easier to find and return cleaning tools to their proper…
A team of engineers has built and tested a radically new kind of airplane wing, assembled from hundreds of tiny identical pieces. The wing can change shape to control the plane’s flight, and could provide a significant boost in aircraft production, flight, and maintenance efficiency, the…
(Association for Manufacturing Excellence: Rolling Meadows, IL) -- Learn about the historic and cultural roots behind the people-development concepts and principles underlying the Toyota Way at the “Isao Yoshino seminar on lean leadership and the Toyota Way” to be held April 25, 2019, 8 a.m. to 12…
According to the International Labor Organization, around the world every day 7,600 people die from work-related accidents or diseases—that’s more than 2.78 million people every year. To address the issue, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has developed a standard, ISO 45001…
I discovered my affinity for attractive instruments while working a job before coming to NIST. My boss at the time had a love affair with the common hose clamp—the one with the worm gear.
Whenever we had to fasten a component to an apparatus he said, “Why don’t you use a hose clamp?” With every…
In the wake of the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes of Boeing 737 Max planes, people are thinking about how much of their air travel is handled by software and automated systems—as opposed to the friendly pilots sitting in the cockpit.
Older commercial airliners, such as the Beechcraft 1900…
In the wake of the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes of Boeing 737 Max planes, people are thinking about how much of their air travel is handled by software and automated systems—as opposed to the friendly pilots sitting in the cockpit.
Older commercial airliners, such as the Beechcraft 1900…
With medical cannabis being legal in Canada since 2002, and recreational use becoming legal in 2018, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s promise to his country has caused a storm.
This legal framework has given Canadian companies the leverage to lead the cannabis industry to new heights. Not only…
Customer experience has become pivotal to growth and profitability strategies of businesses worldwide. There is now a deeper understanding of customer experience as an incredibly important piece in the success (or failure) of any brand. Research states that by 2020, customer experience will…
Traditionally, technical jobs have been underrepresented by women. But that's changing, says Emily O'Dea, commercial services process manager at Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence.
“Without a doubt we're definitely outnumbered,” says O’Dea. “I started [my career] in a smaller company. It was…
Whether you love or hate his work, Andy Warhol eating a Whopper for 45 seconds during one of the most expensive ad slots in television this year was astonishing.
Super Bowl Sunday—the most macho of American sporting events—coupled with the quintessential pop artist had people talking the morning…
In this column I’ve written about embracing change because it prepares you to think more creatively, and it’s part of the innovator’s lifestyle. I’ve also written about accepting change even if you’re not completely comfortable with the idea because of the potential for emotional and intellectual…
In Steven Spielberg’s 2018 film, Ready Player One, based on the 2011 book by Ernest Cline, people enter an immersive world of virtual reality called the OASIS. What was most gripping about the futuristic tech in this sci-fi movie was not the VR goggles, which don’t seem so far off from the headsets…
