All Features
Akhilesh Gulati
The first day of the conference was over, and most of us congregated for happy hour, relaxing, networking, and furthering our connections. We reminisced about the day, commenting about the good, the bad, and the ugly: events at work, travel, organizational policies, you name it.
Interestingly, the…
Gleb Tsipursky
Have you ever felt like you’re speaking into a void in a hybrid meeting? You’re not alone. The shift to hybrid workplaces has introduced a unique set of challenges in communication and collaboration. The goals? To make the office worth the commute, and the virtual connection minimally distant from…
Eric Whitley
High-precision manufacturing is critical in industries where even the slightest deviation can lead to significant consequences. It encompasses processes that demand the utmost accuracy, often in sectors like aerospace, medical devices, and electronics. Precision is important due to its direct…
ComplianceQuest
Today’s quality leaders in the life sciences industry have nearly impossible charters. Long-term trends and sudden black swan events in combination can hinder an organization’s ability to exert control over product quality. Globalization, labor shortages and strikes, outsourcing, just-in-time…
Andrew Novick
While people around the country are preparing champagne and getting ready to watch the ball drop on New Year’s Eve, I’m closely monitoring our clocks at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
We actually monitor them every nanosecond of every day, not just on New Year’s Eve.…
Matthew Zajechowski
Stress is an inevitable part of life, shaping and influencing our every decision, emotion, and action, including the way we communicate. It may induce the silent treatment or cause an emotional outburst, both of which can cause future regret.
Preply, a language learning service, surveyed Americans…
Jason Walker
As the manufacturing industry continues to grapple with labor shortages, potential shifts in government policies could further intensify these challenges in 2025. This heightens the urgency for manufacturers to meet demand while navigating an unpredictable future.
One area where this is…
Scott Ginsberg
Manufacturing is undergoing two significant transformations: a workforce shift and a work method shift.
The manufacturing sector faces a 37% annual labor turnover rate (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics), indicating a substantial challenge in retaining employees. Also, 54% of leaders report that…
The MEP National Network
The personalized nature of coaching makes it a powerful force for manufacturers. You can employ coaching to improve leadership, enhance performance and teamwork, or address personal and organizational development.
With as many as five generations in the workplace at the same time, and constant…
Industrial Inspection and Analysis
Unlike the traditional engineering process of designing a part, product, or component from the ground up, many times in life we need to start with an existing item and work backward to solve a problem. It’s a process known as reverse engineering, and it begins by obtaining accurate data about the…
Mike Figliuolo
Your legal department is screwing up. Royally.
You work hard to build relationships with other businesses. How many hours do you invest getting closer to partners, customers, and suppliers? And then that wonderful handshake happens, and it’s time to hammer out the agreements. That’s when Larry the…
Christine McLear
The current talent pipeline for manufacturing isn’t adequate to fill existing job openings, let alone provide the number of skilled workers that will be needed in the future. Emerging demand for data analysts and semiconductor technicians will require a more collaborative approach to expand…
Mark Hembree
Without raising false alarms, it’s fair to say that password insecurity is a problem that lives near you and is worthy of your attention.
In its article, “139 password statistics to help you stay safe in 2023,” digital security firm Norton cites a report by password manager LastPass that more than…
Chris Caldwell
The quest to optimize equipment efficiency, ensure consistent quality, and lower operational costs while empowering a stronger workforce continues to permeate the industrial landscape. While challenges persist, the transformative potential that high-performance robotic automation is bringing to…
Donald J. Wheeler
When do we need to fit a lognormal distribution to our skewed histograms? This article considers the basic properties of the lognormal family of distributions and reveals some interesting and time-saving characteristics that are useful when analyzing data.
The lognormal family of distributions…
Divina Bisuelan
With remote work on the rise, more companies are facing the operational challenges that come with remote teams. According to one U.K. study, for instance, 67% of respondents aged 18–34 expressed difficulty building relationships with colleagues since they began working remotely.
In my experience,…
Kari Miller
Traditionally, quality management in the pharmaceutical industry has strayed away from artificial intelligence (AI) for fear of setting it loose with such sensitive information. They have been cautious of implementing an additional element of intelligence into their process. But will organizations…
Greg MacDonald
As we launch into Industry 4.0, the need for advanced automation and high-performance connectivity solutions intensifies, requiring protocols like Industrial Ethernet for maximum efficiency and productivity. Products like ix Industrial and Single Pair Ethernet are ideal new interconnects, offering…
Scott A. Hindle, Douglas C. Fair
You are assigned a new task to demonstrate that an existing process will have the capability to meet newer and tighter specifications. The change in specifications for critical-to-quality characteristic P is due to new regulatory requirements; hence, the specifications must be met. The task is…
Phil Geldart
When it comes to customer service, few companies do it better than the UPS Store, Chick-fil-A, and REI.
That’s not according to me. That’s according to a recently published Best Customer Service list, which was compiled in a partnership between Forbes and HundredX, a data analytics company focused…
University of Vienna
In the field of high-performance mirrors, everyone chases the impossible: coatings with perfect reflectivity. In the visible range of wavelengths (i.e., between 380 nm and 700 nm), advanced metallic mirrors achieve reflectivities as high as 99%, which means 1 photon is lost for every 99 reflected.…
Mike Figliuolo
My favorite time of year is rolling around (and no, it’s not the holidays with their nauseatingly excessive tinsel-before-turkey consumerism). I’m talking about the time for end-of-year progress reviews. They’re those agonizing, mandatory, and often confusing reams of paper we’re forced to suffer…
Rina Hoffman
The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union reached a provisional agreement last month on the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation.
“The first element that makes a product green is the brain that designs it,” Spanish Minister of Industry and Tourism, Jordi Hereu, says. “…
Russell Riddiford
Whether you use a lot of cutting tools or sometimes find yourself desperately lacking the right tool, you’ve probably considered making your own—or at least sharpening your worn tools. But how do you decide if taking tool grinding in-house is the smart decision? It’s a question GKN Aerospace Engine…
Kelly Nault, Andy J. Yap
Nothing is more annoying than someone bragging about their success. Right? Not necessarily, it turns out. When bosses brag, it can inspire employees to put more effort into their own work. Specifically, when bosses who are regarded as role models by their employees brag about their work…
