All News
(KonnectAi: Montreal) -- KonnectAi, a leader in AI visual inspection systems and a flagship technology offering from Electrical Components International (ECI), announces its collaboration with Google Cloud, officially launching its AI-powered quality inspection platform for manufacturers. KonnectAi…
One hundred years ago this month, Walter Shewhart wrote a memo that contained the first process behavior chart. In recognition of this centennial, this column reviews four different applications of the techniques that grew out of that memo.
The first principle for interpreting data is that no data…
Across the country, hundreds of thousands of drivers deliver packages and parcels to customers and companies each day, with many click-to-door times averaging only a few days. Coordinating a supply chain feat of this magnitude in a predictable and timely way is a longstanding problem of operations…
(Emergent Vision Technologies: Port Coquitlam, British Columbia) -- Emergent Vision Technologies, a pioneer in high-speed GigE Vision cameras and zero copy and zero-loss vision technologies, announced a further expansion of its powerful eCapture Pro software to include two new intuitive image…
(InnovMetric: Québec City) -- InnovMetric, an independent software development company empowering manufacturers to digitally transform their 3D measurement processes, announced the launch of PolyWorks 2024. This enterprise solution sets up a digital thread that lowers the cost of scaling up the use…
(Pudu Robotics: Shenzhen, China) -- Pudu Robotics, a global leader in service robotics, has launch its first robot designed expressly for industrial applications: the PUDU T300.
Manufacturers worldwide are struggling to adapt to changing market demands and production variability. As a result,…
Deming Prize recipient Ryuji Fukuda introduced a document to my company in 1989 referred to as the “X-Type Matrix for Objective Management.” Relatively unknown at the time, it’s since become a popular format for strategy deployment.
Named for the X format that connects strategic (3–5 years)…
Recently, you’ve probably seen the word quantum used everywhere—in computing, in names for tech companies, and maybe even for explanations of love and consciousness.
So what is quantum? What is quantum technology? And is it worth all the hype?
First of all, what is quantum?
Quantum, often called…
(Accendo Reliability: Los Gatos, CA) -- Accendo Reliability has announced its upcoming webinar, “Greed, Fear, Failure in Product Development.”
Date: May 7, 2024, 9 a.m. PacificSpeaker: Greg Hutchins, managing director of quality and engineeringTopic: “Greed, Fear, Failure in Product Development”…
(Teledyne: Richmond, British Columbia) -- Teledyne FLIR IIS has announced its Bumblebee X series, an advanced stereo vision solution built for its stereo vision portfolio.
Bumblebee X and Spinnaker 3D software offer a comprehensive solution with onboard processing to build successful systems for…
(AMT: McLean, VA) -- Orders of manufacturing technology, measured by the U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders Report published by AMT—The Association for Manufacturing Technology, totaled $343.3 million in February 2024. This was a 2.1% increase from January 2024 but a 26.5% decline from February…
(Omnex: Ann Arbor, MI) -- Omnex has announced its latest webinar, “Reverse FMEA, a Method to Confirm Risk.”
Date and time: May 9, 2024, 11 a.m. Eastern Speaker: Michael Down
Reverse failure mode and effects analysis (RFMEA) is performed after production launch for risk management and detection. It…
The current alleged quality problems with the Boeing 737 underscore the importance of zero tolerance for poor quality. No manufacturing or quality professional should ever compromise on this issue. Most importantly, the potential consequences to customers but also to the organization are simply not…
I’m fortunate enough to travel to some great places to serve my clients. During those travels, I can’t help but have many customer service interactions from which to draw lessons.
Here, I’ll share how barbecue, airplanes, and coffee can teach you a few things to do (or not do) to create a better…
In today’s marketplace, where products and services proliferate and competition intensifies, businesses are realizing that they must offer more than just commodities to thrive. Enter the experience economy—a paradigm shift where companies are no longer just selling goods or services but crafting…
(Advanced Illumination: Rochester, VT) -- Advanced Illumination, the originators of LED lighting for machine vision, is releasing a new class of LED lighting controllers aimed at revolutionizing machine vision system building by simplifying camera, light, and I/O accessory interconnectivity. This…
With a career of more than 40 years in the manufacturing industry, I look back now and see that I was greatly influenced by my father, who worked for an engineering firm. He shared his vast mechanical know-how with me. The two of us worked on many projects together, including rebuilding my car’s…
In a large, open space on the first floor of 750 Main St. in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a carbon-capture company is heating up molten salts to 600°C right next to a quantum computing company’s device for supercooling qubits. The difference is about 900° across 15 feet.
It doesn’t take long during a…
(Platinum Tooling: Prospect Heights, IL) -- Platinum Tooling, an importer and master distributor of live tools, angle heads, speed increasers, Swiss machine products, knurling and marking tools, and shrink-fit tool holders manufactured by various international suppliers, will now carry REV…
(PI: Auburn, MA) -- PI, a global leader in nanopositioning instrumentation, has extended its PIFOC series of microscopy products, adding two new economical nano-focus scanner packages for applications including surface metrology, super-resolution microscopy, light-sheet microscopy, and digital-…
Because I’m a microplastics researcher, my friends sometimes jokingly ask me, “How many microplastics do you think I consumed this week?”
I can’t give an exact answer. Unfortunately, it’s not zero.
Microplastics—the tiny plastic particles that break down from plastic products—are everywhere. And…
Burnout is affecting every industry, company, and role. There are no exceptions.
Leaders often find themselves in the trenches, navigating through the chaos and driving their teams toward success. However, amidst the pursuit of goals and objectives, burnout remains a lurking enemy that can…
(Mitutoyo America Corp.: Aurora, IL) -- Mitutoyo America Corp. has announced the release of My.Mitutoyo.com Version 3.0, an innovative update to its end-user portal offering an array of new features and improvements. All enhancements improve the end-user engagement experience through new, easy-to-…
(Dot Compliance: Phoenix) -- Dot Compliance, a provider of AI-enabled quality management system (QMS) solutions, has raised $17.5 million in Series B extension funding, marking a significant up round. The new round of financing was co-led by existing investors IGP Capital and Vertex Ventures with…
A recent report showed that 59% of managers said they had received no training on how to be a manager before becoming one. Management professor and director of Wharton’s Center for Human Resources Peter Cappelli says that stunning statistic is compounded by the fact that most of those managers are…
