| by Mike Richman
Quality Expo is one of the highlights of the year for industry professionals looking for the tools that they need to do their jobs better. This year's convention takes place at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois, September 24-27.
For the first time, Quality Expo will be partnering with four additional manufacturing events, all conveniently located at the Stephens Convention Center. Your badge gets you into Quality Expo as well as National Manufacturing Week, the Assembly Technology Show, the Electronics Assembly Show, and PlasTec Midwest. Be sure to visit these events for further insights into the new products and services that lead to better manufacturing quality.
On the next several pages, we've highlighted specific vendors who will be showcasing themselves in Rosemont later this month. We encourage you to visit their booths, ask questions, and help your organization profit from their knowledge and experience.
In fact, we hope that you'll profit from these visits on a more personal level as well. During Quality Expo, drawings for $50 American Express gift certificates will be held at the booths of the following exhibitors at specific times. That's 32 chances for you to win a $50 American Express gift certificate. See the sidebar on page 33 for the exhibitors, booth numbers, and tentative dates and times involved in the drawings. You must be present to win, so check out the schedule and be sure to get over to these booths for your chance to win.
Even better, one Grand Prize winner will be selected on the final day of the show to win a $500 American Express gift certificate. To qualify for the Grand Prize, the attendee must visit all 32 booths and obtain signatures from exhibitor personnel. Only those entry forms (available at the show) containing all the signatures will be eligible. Winner need not be present to win the Grand Prize.
During your visit to Quality Expo, also be sure to make some time to stop by the Quality Digest exhibit in booth No. 7911. It's always a pleasure to meet our readers and hear what we can do to serve you better. We look forward to seeing you there!
Booth Nos. 6766 and 6768
www.aiag.org
The Automotive Industry Action Group is the automotive industry's leading not-for-profit organization where retailers, automakers, suppliers, and service providers work collaboratively to drive cost and complexity from the supply chain via global standards and harmonized business practices. AIAG offers a wide range of training courses and quality-related documents including the Chrysler, Ford Motor Co., and General Motors ISO/TS 16949 quality manuals. In addition, AIAG develops standards, guidelines, and best-practice business publications for materials management, customs, and logistics; collaborative engineering; health and safety; quality processes; and automatic identification.
Booth No. 7327
www.chatillon.com
Chatillon gauges and testers help leading companies improve their product quality and their manufacturing efficiency. We offer a comprehensive line of hand-held force and torque gauges and accessories, plus easy-to-use, automated force testers optimized for production applications and designed to improve production throughput. Our products accurately determine tensile, compressive, flexural, and shear strengths. With our global network of experienced sales/service representatives, we can help you measure just how good your product quality is.
Booth No. 6833
www.asidatamyte.com
ASI DataMyte is the world leader in providing total quality solutions for manufacturing. We offer software for statistical process control and quality improvement, planning and documentation, factory-floor inspection systems, portable data collectors, and bench-top computers. Be sure to visit us at booth No. 6833 at Quality Expo, where you can get a close look at our newest quality solutions: DataMetrics SPC software, GageMetrics precision measurement software, and the LightStar torque and angle measurement system.
Booth No. 6559
www.bsiamericas.com
BSI Management Systems is the world's leading management systems registrar, helping companies to improve quality and manage risk. BSI has registered more than 60,000 companies in nearly 90 countries to ISO 9001, ISO/TS 16949, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, ISO 27001, and many other management systems. Other services include CE marking, standards, publications, and training courses. BSI is unique in the industry with an unrivalled experience in a wide range of organizations irrespective of size or industry sector.
Booth No. 7224
www.comtorgage.com
Since 1928, world-class manufacturers around the globe have depended on Comtorgage for rugged, reliable, and repeatable solutions to their precision inspection requirements. For example, the Comtor Spline Gage reduces the difficult and time-consuming task of measuring a pitch diameter of a spline. The gauge incorporates two AGD gage pins of the same size as specified on the part print. The pins are allowed to "float" to compensate for minor misalignment of teeth in the spline. Every Comtorgage is designed and built for each application, based on the part print. We offer special and customized gauges to measure bores, grooves, threads, splines, gears, keyways, spherical bores, trepans, O.D.s, recesses, and many other difficult part features. Repeatability and reproducibility are important factors with any gauge or measuring device, and impressive GR&R results are achieved using Comtorgage.
Booth No. 6656
www.corning.com/specialtymaterials
Corning introduces the Tropel LightGage Optical Metrology System, a noncontact frequency-scanning interferometer capable of measuring precision parts with multiple surfaces at various heights. Measure flatness, parallelism, and depth on a variety of materials and surface finishes, with submicron accuracy, in seconds. Fast, flexible, and easy to use, the Tropel LightGage system offers full surface measurement data that provides a wealth of information about both parts and manufacturing processes. Used for product and process development, part inspection, process control and failure analysis, Tropel metrology instruments enable precision component manufacturers to shorten the development cycle, monitor and troubleshoot production processes, and enable FMEA efforts.
Booth No. 6827
www.cybermetrics.com
Founded in 1988, CyberMetrics Corp. is a leading developer and worldwide supplier of quality, supply chain, and facilities maintenance management software solutions. CyberMetrics is dedicated to providing our customers with high-quality, open-standards software solutions that are affordable, scalable, and easy to implement, manage, and use. CyberMetrics' diverse customer base includes hundreds of well-known Fortune 1000 customers spanning nearly every industry. Thousands of customers rely on our software every day to help improve their product and process quality, tracking, work flow and productivity, while reducing costs and increasing profitability.
Booth No. 7539
www.winspc.com
DataNet Quality Systems delivers quality control software and services that empower manufacturers to improve product and process quality through real-time statistical process control. WinSPC and QualTrend software, in combination with DataNet's solution delivery services, enable manufacturers to:
• Identify, control and prevent defects
• Close the quality loop from "detection to correction"
• Gain executive-level visibility into shop-floor operations
Booth No. 6726
www.dnvcert.com
DNV is a leading accredited registrar for ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, having issued over 50,000 registrations worldwide. We also offer certification services for ISO/TS 16949, AS9100, AS9110, AS9120, AS9003, OHSAS 18001, TL 9000, HACCP, ISO 22000, ISO 27001, climate-change services, corporate social responsibility, and product certification for the European Union's CE Mark. Our clients range from Fortune 500 industry leaders to small, specialty companies, and our reputation for excellence in both service and industry recognition is well-known. DNV has five U.S. district offices.
Booth No. 1818
www.electronicdisplays.com
Electronic Displays Inc. specializes in large LED digital technology and applications. Our product line includes counters, timers, industrial scoreboards, and moving-message marquees--ideal for visual lean manufacturing. Our plant houses all our production needs, including software development, circuit board design, system integration, and full-service engineering and manufacturing of our products.
Booth No. 6735
www.etq.com
EtQ is the leading enterprise quality and compliance management system to identify, mitigate, and prevent high-risk events through automation, integration, and collaboration. EtQ uses best-of-breed integrated modules and enterprise application integration to manage the process, provide business-intelligence visibility, and execute organizational change. EtQ provides a configurable workflow-enabled platform and applications specifically engineered to support compliance initiatives such as ISO 9001, cGxP, ISO 13485, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, ISO/TS 16949, and more. Key modules include corrective and preventive action, document control, audits, risk assessment, investigations, complaint handling, nonconforming material, employee training, and enterprise reporting.
Booth No. 7421
www.faro.com
See the FARO-Pratt & Miller Le Mans Corvette at Quality Expo. FaroArms have up to 0.0005-in. accuracy to get data where fixed CMMs and cheap portable CMMs can't; up to 0.0002-in.-accurate FARO gauges generate GD&T/SPC reports; plus the PowerGAGE performs CAD-to-part analysis and writes on-machine inspection routines. Scan thousands of points/second and take hard-probe measurements with the seven-axis Laser ScanArm compatible with Geomagic and Polyworks, or scan 120,000 points/sec with the Laser Scanner LS. The Laser Tracker X continuously measures huge parts with up to 0.001-in. accuracy.
Booth No. 7810
www.fischer-technology.com
Fischer Technology is a U.S. manufacturer of coating-thickness measurement, material testing, and material-analysis instrumentation. Measurement methods available from Fischer include X-ray fluorescence, beta backscatter, magnetic induction, eddy current, and coulometric. Fischer also offers solutions for measurement of micro-hardness, conductivity, ferrite content, and porosity testing. Hand-held coating thickness gauges manufactured by Fischer include the MP0R Series with integrated measurement probe for quick and easy results. Fischer's plug-in "Smart Probes" adapt to coating thickness gauges DUALSCOPE MP20, DELTASCOPE MP30, ISOSCOPE MP30, and DUALSCOPE MP40. Wireless data transfer of stored values has recently been added to this product group in addition to full statistical evaluation, automatic substrate recognition, simple calibration, and application settings.
Booth No. 6847
www.gradientlens.com
Gradient Lens Corp. designs, manufacturers, and sells Hawkeye precision borescopes. Hawkeyes have all the quality of German-made instruments, and sell for less than half the price. The reason is our patented endoGRINS gradient-index optical design. The full line of more than 50 Hawkeye rigid and flexible precision borescopes are ready for overnight delivery. We manufacture and sell more industrial borescopes than anyone.
Booth No. 7833
www.iandrpartners.com
I&R Partners is developing a new, innovative data-collection solution that will radically change the way the manufacturing industry operates. This comprehensive solution, combined with our industrial data collectors and strategic alliances with Mitutoyo and MicroRidge, will continue to keep I&R Partners ahead of the industry. We are now able to provide everything you need to keep your company lean, because lean always starts at the waste.
Booth No. 6826
www.ibs-us.com
IBS is a leading provider of software for enterprise-compliance management and quality control. IBS solutions have robust capabilities for automating a range of quality processes, including document control, corrective and preventive action, statistical process control, audits, supplier quality, customer management, assessments, and risk management. These features simplify compliance with regulations such as ISO 9001, ISO/TS 16489, ISO 13485, and FDA 21 CFR Parts 11 and 820. Since 1982, IBS has revolutionized compliance and quality at more than 2,000 sites worldwide. IBS customers achieve higher customer satisfaction, lower compliance costs, quicker time-to-market, and reduced risk. Customers include best-of-breed manufacturers across all industries.
Booth No. 7740
www.inora.com
INORA Technologies will feature its INORAsrs spatial reference system, a software/artifact combination that in as little as ten minutes can accurately assess the capabilities and performance of portable and stationary coordinate measuring machines, CNC milling machines, horizontal and vertical work centers, and similar production equipment. Consisting of a patented, climate-stable, carbon-fiber 3-D artifact (tetrahedron) and INORA Technologies' revolutionary volumetric analysis software, INORAsrs allows management to trace and verify machines to NIST standards at regular intervals to avoid scrap and minimize machine downtime by optimizing calibration schedules.
Booth No. 6639
www.minitab.com
Minitab is the leading provider of quality improvement software. Minitab Statistical Software--our flagship product--has been used to implement virtually every major Six Sigma initiative around the world. Quality Companion by Minitab supports and guides Six Sigma teams through projects from start to finish, enhancing quality analysis and reporting. Quality Trainer by Minitab provides convenient, subscription-based e-learning for using Minitab to apply quality improvement statistics. Distinguished companies that rely on Minitab software, training, and services to help them achieve world-class quality include 3M, Honeywell International, Toshiba, and the leading Six Sigma consultants.
Booth No. 7821
www.ndi.ca
NDI provides measurement solutions for large-volume, shop-floor metrology applications. An armless, wireless, and beamless optical tracker delivers a powerful range of measurement capabilities, eliminating the need for multiple systems. Track, measure, and scan: For tactile probing, advanced wireless hand-held probes offer true walk-about functionality. For scanning, NDI offers a choice of integrated systems, including the Steinbichler T-SCAN and the new Perceptron V5-based ScanTRAK. For target-based measurement, NDI provides systems for performing complex 3-D/six-degrees-of-freedom motion analysis. Whatever your application, NDI's OPTOTRAK with dynamic-referencing technology eliminates measurement drift and automatically compensates for part movement, tracker movement, and vibration during data acquisition.
Booth No. 6629
www.nsf.org
NSF is dedicated to providing services that best fit our clients' unique needs. Our quality and environmental management systems involve a comprehensive review of your business and goals to provide the total solution that your company requires to achieve worldwide recognition. Our certification and auditing services are designed for one purpose: to add value to your business process. If a service doesn't add value, it adds expense, and at NSF we consider this outcome unacceptable. Some of our services include ISO/TS 16949, ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, aerospace, information security/ISO 27001, greenhouse-gas management, sustainability services, and more.
Booth No. 7627
www.olympusndt.com/en/
Seeing a need for a low-cost, entry-level solution for manual phased-array inspection, Olympus NDT, the leader in phased-array technology, has added two new entry-level flaw detectors as the newest members of the OmniScan MX product line, the 16:16M and the 16:64M. The new modules for manual testing provide the same advantages of phased-array imaging, while keeping all the benefits of a proven product. These two modules use real-time phased-array imaging, combine phased-array and conventional ultrasonic testing, and feature a simple, user-friendly interface. Priced lower in keeping with today's customer needs, these practical manual phased-array additions to the OmniScan MX series give way to a larger user base.
Booth No. 7014
www.pqsystems.com
For more than 20 years, PQ Systems Inc. has been dedicated to helping customers continuously improve quality and comply with standards. PQ Systems provides software and training necessary to assist organizations through every step of the quality process. Our software includes GAGEpack EZ for gauge calibration tracking and MSA studies, SQCpack for statistical process control monitoring and process capability analyses, and CHARTrunner for SPC charting from data in Excel, Access, and virtually any database.
Booth No. 7711
www.qmi.com
An ISO certificate isn't the goal. Improving your business is. QMI is North America's leading management-systems registrar. Since 1984, we have registered more than 11,000 manufacturing and service firms spanning a broad spectrum of industries. We're focused not only on evaluating your business practices against a standard, but also on understanding how compliance with those standards can improve your operations. Our auditors are industry veterans with years of experience in the sectors that they serve, enabling them to interpret the standards precisely. We have audit professionals deployed across North America, making us a local source for registration services.
Booth No. 7431
www.renscan5.com
Witness a revolution in coordinate measuring machine part inspection at our booth--the dynamic REVO measuring head and Renscan5 technology enable inspection at speeds up to 500 mm/sec for more data points and reduced cycle times. Inventor of touch-trigger probing, Renishaw again revolutionizes part inspection with Renscan5 ultra-high-speed, five-axis part scanning. The system uses breakthrough technologies to jump CMM scanning speeds by 10 to 20 times and more. The Renscan5 system integrates advanced five-axis machine control with an ultra-high-speed, infinite- positioning REVO measuring head, a first-ever laser-corrected probe, and Renishaw's UCC2 universal CMM controller. These developments revolutionize measurement throughput by greatly reducing cycle times, while simultaneously providing greater data coverage to meet tighter part specifications.
Booth No. 7916
www.saiglobal.com
SAI Global is an applied information services company that helps organizations manage risk, achieve compliance, and drive business improvement.
Access to standards and technical information: SAI Global is your source for global technical content such as standards and legislation.
Compliance can be a burden, but we can help you comply with standards, technical, and legislative requirements: Sarbanes-Oxley, Basel ll, anti-money laundering, CLERP 9, and more.
Empower your people through training: SAI Global trains business professionals around the world every day.
Recognize your assurance achievements: SAI Global provides independent assessment, certification, and registration services, offering you one of the most widely recognizable symbols of excellence and assurance, the "five ticks" StandardsMark.
Booth No. 6731
www.sriregistrar.com
Founded in 1991, SRI Quality System Registrar is a full-service, accredited, U.S.-owned and -operated international registrar. SRI offers registration services and training to manufacturing and service companies in more than 40 industries to ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 27001, ISO 13485, ISO/TS 16949, AS9100, and RC14001 standards. SRI's experienced, personable auditors, one-on-one customer care, and consistent, practical audits deliver value at every event. We are responsive and flexible, provide the same audit team across events, and give you 24/7 online access to all your reports, plans, and schedules. Expertise. Consistency. Service. Value. You expect it. SRI delivers it.
Booth No. 6611
www.statgraphics.com
If your work requires you to collaborate with colleagues overseas, don't allow language barriers to impede progress or productivity. STATGRAPHICS Centurion XV MultiLingual Edition enables you to communicate results in other languages instantly, with a click of your mouse. You can select one language for menus, another for tables and graphs. Or, you can generate output in multiple languages so that everyone understands. With STATGRAPHICS MultiLingual Edition , the full statistical power of STATGRAPHICS Centurion XV Professional Edition has been coupled with the linguistic power vital in today's global marketplace. Compare STATGRAPHICS Centurion XV to any other stat package available; there is no comparison.
Booth No. 6521
www.statsoft.com
StatSoft is the largest manufacturer of enterprisewide quality control and improvement software systems in the world, and the only company capable of supporting its quality control products worldwide. Founded in 1984, StatSoft is one of the largest producers of enterprise and desktop software for data analysis, data mining, quality control/Six Sigma, and Web-based analytics. Its products are used worldwide and are supported with training and consulting services by a worldwide network of StatSoft offices in 24 countries on all continents. StatSoft's software products are used in mission-critical manufacturing applications, in regulated, FDA-controlled industries, and as a foundation of corporatewide Six Sigma initiatives. The STATISTICA suite of data analysis applications is fully Web-enabled, offers a selection of user-interfaces, and quickly integrates with virtually all database platforms. STATISTICA has received the highest rating in every independent comparative review in which it has been featured since its first release in 1993.
Booth No. 6728
www.unipoint.ca
uniPoint software is a complete quality management solution. Encompassing the principles of lean manufacturing, we manage the life cycle of the following events: nonconformance, corrective/preventative action, tooling and equipment management, document control, auditing, health and safety, education and training, and surveys. Bridging a multitude of quality standards, such as ISO 9001/14001, AS9100, and ISO/TS 16949, uniPoint ensures you can measure the cost and frequency of quality events. Our unique advantage: We can quickly integrate data from your existing systems into our application, eliminating duplicate data entry.
Booth No. 6711
www.visioneng.com
Vision Engineering is a world leader in ergonomic, eyepieceless stereo microscopes (Mantis, Lynx, Alpha, and Beta) and noncontact measurement systems (Kestrel, Merlin, and Hawk), combining quality control accuracy and repeatability. New this year, the Merlin 300 two-axis, low-cost video measurement system is ideal for a wide spectrum of measurement tasks, and is designed for easy, accurate measurement of component parts in both the X and Y axes. With an operator-friendly and industrially robust package, the Merlin has an X-Y stage that provides mechanically smooth operation, and is capable of measuring a diverse range of components accurately. The Merlin uses a high-performance camera combined with a Quadra-Chek QC-300 digital readout to enable operators to locate component edges with consistent repeatability and accuracy
Booth No. 7917
http://go.wilsoninstruments.com/qd
Wilson Instruments' Minuteman ELT Series of semi- and fully-automatic systems for Knoop, Vickers, and Rockwell hardness testing is available in four different versions. The ELT provides the user with a range of features to suit their microindentation and Rockwell scale testing needs and budget. In addition, Wilson's economical 400 Series is ideal for Knoop and Vickers testing of metals, ceramics, and other nonmetallic materials. Providing users with greater flexibility, the 400 Series is available with manual or automatic turrets. It features eight dial-selectable test forces ranging from 10 g to 1,000 g, and is easily adjusted to the proper setting for the specific specimen being tested.
Booth No. 2962
www.xrite.com
X-Rite is the global leader in color measurement and color management, offering hardware, software, and services for measuring, formulating, and matching color. The company provides best-in-class innovation, products, and talent for the industrial color and appearance markets. Serving the quality industry, X-Rite provides in-line, noncontact instruments, as well as portable and benchtop products and accompanying software for a complete solution. X-Rite serves customers worldwide from its 21 offices in Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
Mike Richman is Quality Digest's publisher.
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