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On a summer weekend in 1977, my friend Tony and I made plans to go water-skiing. When he picked me up there were two people in the car that I did not know. He introduced his new girlfriend, Sue, and her brother, Bubba.
Bubba was the quintessential redneck. Within minutes of getting on the boat…
(MESA: Dearborn, MI) -- MESA (Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association) has announced the launch of “Eco-Efficiency in Manufacturing,” a major study of the strategies and approaches being used to support sustainability initiatives. The study is open to all manufacturers around the globe in…
(Veriteq: Richmond, BC Canada) -- “How to Avoid and Respond to Public FDA Criticisms—Form 483 Letters—for Temperature, Humidity and other Controlled Environments” is now available from Veriteq, a provider of FDA-compliant environmental monitoring, alarming, reporting, and temperature/humidity…
In the past couple of articles, we have been having fun together testing whether a measurement device is usable for the crazy purpose of determining if we are actually making product in or out of specification. Last month, we performed a measurement systems analysis (MSA) “potential study” using a…
(Criterion NDT: Auburn, WA) -- Criterion NDT Inc. has announced the launch of their company, which provides eddy current nondestructive testing (NDT) instruments, probes, and services for testing critical components in automotive; medical; and bar, tube, and wire markets. Criterion NDT, a former…
Wireless sensor networks are made up of several sensors or nodes that measure conditions and supply data to a control system.
F
or many companies, installing wireless technology inside factories, power plants, and nuclear facilities can be risky.…
A new book from the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) bemoans, at least in part, marketers’ continued reliance on traditional consumer surveys (termed “asking”) in spite of the ready abundance of relatively inexpensive consumer buzz tracking (called “listening”). Written by Steve Rappaport,…
(Hexagon Metrology: North Kingstown, RI) — Hexagon Metrology Inc. has announced the availability of the Universal Jogbox, a new hand-held input device for Brown & Sharpe and Sheffield brand coordinate measurement machines (CMMs) shipped from the North Kingstown, Rhode Island factory.…
(Vocal Laboratories Inc: Minneapolis) -- Apple continues to lead Dell and Hewlett Packard (HP) in customer satisfaction with phone-based technical support, but HP made marked improvements since 2008, according to the latest study conducted by Vocal Laboratories Inc. (Vocalabs).
In 1,157…
(GE Sensing & Inspection Technologies: Billerica, MA) -- Weighing just 13 lb (6 kg), the DXR250V is the latest lightweight and portable digital radiography tool from GE Sensing & Inspection Technologies. In the past, the use of digital radiography (DR) has been limited due to size, weight…
(Paul N. Gardner Co. Inc.: Pompano Beach, FL) -- The Pundit 7 ultrasonic tester is an essential tool for investigating the structural integrity of a wide range of materials, including concrete, ceramics and refractories, timber, and many others.
It can be used in the laboratory or on site to…
(Carl Zeiss: Maple Grove, MN) -- Carl Zeiss is expanding its CONTURA G2 product line. Already popular with mid-sized companies, it now includes the accurate and very fast CONTURA G2 navigator coordinate measuring machine (CMM). The dynamic navigator technology from Carl Zeiss delivers a…
Is the manufacturing sector getting more respect?
Although it represents a declining share of the U.S. economy, signs of a manufacturing rebound in the nation and around the world seem to be another indication that the global recession is coming to an end. At the same time, the near-collapse of…
(Cognition Corp.: Bedford, MA) -- Cognition Corp., a worldwide leader in Web 2.0 product development software, has released Cognition Cockpit 5.6, providing medical device companies a system that captures the breadth of their product development data in a single, unified model. Information from…
What is known as “point mentality” is a knee-jerk response to what appears to be a problem. We may learn this when we take our child’s temperature and find that it’s high; we are inclined to do something right away—give ibuprofen, orange juice, and bed rest—rather than waiting to see if this is a…
(AMT: McLean, VA ) -- December 2009 U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $219.60 million, according to The Association For Manufacturing Technology (AMT) and the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association (AMTDA). This total, as reported by companies participating in the U.S.…
(Sparta Systems: Holmdel, NJ) -- A recent survey of top life sciences organizations found that compliance issues and increased industry consolidation (via mergers and acquisitions) are the top challenges faced by companies in today’s market. The survey, conducted by Sparta Systems, the market…
(SME: Dearborn, MI) -- The “Great Recession” was a wake up call for manufacturers lulled into a sense of security by years of economic boom. Like the economy itself, manufacturing stands at an abyss of uncertainty. In the past is a manufacturing industry once revered as the backbone of our economy…
(Heidenhain: Schaumburg, IL) -- Continuing to provide the well-known and versatile GAGE-CHEK metrology readouts (past METRONICS brand) to the manufacturing and quality assurance industries, parent company Heidenhain Corp. has reintroduced the product with a new dark gray faceplate and many…
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has set a goal of obtaining at least 5 percent of U.S. electricity needs from wind power by the year 2020. This means that the demand for “green energy,” such as wind power, is growing. One company that has taken full advantage of wind power’s exploding growth…
(Cognex Corp.:Natick, MA) -- Cognex has announced the release of In-Sight Explorer 4.4 for its In-Sight vision systems. In-Sight Explorer 4.4 adds new color tools, improved calibration, and expanded data access within its EasyBuilder configuration software, and expands support for larger line-scan…
Citing excess capacity and efficiency as the key reasons, Hexagon Metrology is closing its plant in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. During the past year, the plant, which assembled Sheffield brand products, has been shifting operations to Hexagon’s new facility in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. The move…
Colorimetry, the science of color measurement, is widely employed in commerce, industry, and the laboratory to express color in numerical terms and to measure color differences between specimens. Applications include paints, inks, plastics, textiles and apparel, food and beverages, pharmaceuticals…
(Accelper Consulting: Schaumburg, IL) -- Accelper Consulting announces its special Six Sigma Green Belt training and certification session, which is being held on March 26–27, at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Wheaton, Illinois. This session is offered as a service to the community at no…
(FARO: Lake Mary, FL) -- FARO Technologies Inc., the world’s leading provider of portable measurement and imaging solutions, announces the release of FARO Scene 4.7, the latest version of its scan processing software for the FARO Laser Scanner.
The new Scene 4.7 features more efficient point…
