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As global competition stiffens, manufacturing sectors of all stripes are embracing emerging technologies in order to meet customer demands. In the realm of metal casting, Pennsylvania-based Effort Foundry is leading the charge by investing in new technology as part of a…
Dorothy: Now which way do we go? Scarecrow: Pardon me, this way is a very nice way. Dorothy: Who said that? Toto barks at the scarecrow. Dorothy: Don’t be silly, Toto. Scarecrows don’t talk. Scarecrow: [points other way] It’s pleasant down that way, too. Dorothy: That’s funny. Wasn’t he pointing…
(RC Imaging: Hilton, NY) -- RC Imaging, first known as “Rochester Cassette Sales and Service,” was established in 1991 by Harry Bostley, a former sales representative from Eastman Kodak Company. Bostley recognized the need in the imaging industry for cassette repair. He established a small family…
ISO 9001:2015 has created a new focus on risk with regard to context of the organization and the needs and expectations of interested parties.
The Army Techniques Publication ATP 5-19 Risk Management, by the United States Government, U.S. Army (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014)…
The nefarious Major Uncertainty has kidnapped Monsieur Kilogram, putting the world’s measurements of mass in jeopardy. As the world spirals into “Mass Hysteria,” the remaining SI Superheroes, champions of the metric system, leap into action to save the day, and hopefully Monsieur Kilogram as well…
A few months ago I attended a business networking event where everyone had a chance to talk about their business. I noted three people I wanted to talk with further. After the meeting, I made it my mission to connect with each of them. I saw one heading for the door, so I caught up with her before…
Many of our most popular stories of discovery are portrayed as accidents or matters of luck. We love these stories because they make creativity seem easy and fun. Nevertheless, they are misleading.
In a recent New York Times opinion piece titled “How to Cultivate The Art of Serendipity,” author…
(METTLER-TOLEDO: Columbus, Ohio) -- Health Specialties Manufacturing (HSM) could borrow the tagline Ford used in the 80s and 90s: “Quality Is Job 1.” To protect product quality, the company installed a standalone Safeline SideChek x-ray inspection system from Mettler-Toledo Safeline in January…
If you want to convince someone that at least a basic understanding of statistics is an essential life skill, bring up the case of Lucia de Berk. Hers is a story that’s too awful to be true—except that it’s completely true.
A flawed analysis irrevocably altered de Berk’s life and kept her behind…
The perils of focusing on customer acquisition and sales over customer experience and retention can be summed up nicely with this: “As fast as you’re bringing customers in the front door, they’re running out the back door.” Some refer to it as the leaky bucket syndrome.
If only companies knew…
(American Quality Institute: Orlando, FL) -- Provision 6.1 of ISO 9001:2015, “Actions to address risks and opportunities,” is perhaps the biggest change in the standard. The purpose of the Risk-Based Thinking Handbook, by William A. Levinson (American Quality Institute, 2016), is to equip readers…
(OEO: Lake Zurich, IL) -- When home-demonstration merchandiser Princess House wanted to improve lighting and decrease energy usage in its 200,000 sq ft warehouse, it turned to OEO Energy Solutions. The solution was to replace the existing 278 360W metal halides with 278 OEO EZ LED 230s. LED…
Nearly 30 years after the start of the lean movement, there is widespread agreement that things have not gone according to plan. Of course, there have been some notable successes (particularly from those who worked with Shingijutsu), yet they are far fewer in number than anyone expected, given the…
(NIST: Gaitherburg, MD) -- Medical devices such as the infusion pumps that deliver medication intravenously were once standalone instruments that interacted only with the patient. Today, they have operating systems and communications hardware that allow them to connect to other devices and…
When you run a small business (perhaps as small as just you), does failure ever really occur? I hear often in the media about this or that business being “too big to fail,” but in reality isn't it more like “too small to fail?”
I ask myself this question, more rhetorically than anything. I’ve…
I’ve noticed that many companies are using the trendy term “digital transformation” without fully understanding what it means. Leveraging digital technology to make organizational processes and offerings more efficient may increase profit margins in the short term. But a true digital…
In October 2014, 17-year-old Laquan McDonald was shot 16 times by a Chicago police officer. In November 2015, footage of the shooting was released and has been viewed all over the world. The footage shows an aggressive attack by a police officer, a supposed person of service to the community, as…
My lean journey of more than 20 years has changed my life in many ways, perhaps none as pervasively as recognition of and disdain for waste.
Along with respect for people, waste awareness has changed my career, leadership style, and personal life. Observing waste has led to a life of increasing…
I wrote last month about the need to increase security for imaging devices in hospitals. The devices I cited store both personal and medical information about patients and should be subject to standard security measures. Very often they are not.
Last month the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (…
In the first article of this series, we explored what a process improvement (PI) function would look like if it could apply the principles of reducing waste and variation to its own processes. Here, we build on that analysis to identify the work practices that can drive better, faster, and cheaper…
The revised ISO 9001:2015 standard was published on Sept. 23, 2015. The release of this standard has many organizations preparing for the transition from ISO 9001:2008, and with transition comes uncertainty: How long will it take? What will it cost my organization? Where do I start? These and…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is working with drugmakers in a new way to help the industry adopt scientifically sound, novel technologies to produce quality medicines that are consistently safe and effective—with an eye toward avoiding drug shortages.
When manufacturing problems…
(LPT: Rochester, NH) -- Laser Projection Technologies (LPT) is the leading manufacturer of advanced, 3D, laser templating and measurement projectors in the world. In the interest of giving back to the community, LPT is donating a LPT1 model laser projector to Great Bay Community College. The LPT…
(Verisurf: Anaheim, CA ) -- Verisurf Software Inc. announces the availability of its Verisurf X9 software for 3D measurement. Verisurf X9 is now available for download and includes the addition of Verisurf SOLIDS, a complete 3D solid modeling application, as well as major productivity enhancements…
(CMSC: Weatherford, TX) -- The Coordinate Metrology Society, in collaboration with UNC Charlotte, today announced that the second working meeting of the PrecisionPath Consortium for Large-Scale Manufacturing will be held Feb. 24–25, 2016, at the UNC Charlotte Center City building in downtown…
