As energy prices continue to soar and the public—with increased awareness and concern for the environment—continue to demand environmental accountability from manufacturers, companies are looking long and hard at ways to decrease their influence on the environment. But there are competing goals. On one hand, there’s social and environmental accountability, on the other there are cost and quality issues associated with managing energy consumption.

Pharmaceutical processes typically take place on the scale of gallons or liters, even tens of thousands of liters. So why would anyone worry about one little microliter? Because in some situations, deviations as small as one microliter can mean the difference between success and failure.

As the skilled, baby-boomer workforce nears retirement, years of technical expertise is exiting as well. Factories are watching years of knowledge leave their organizations, and how to replace these skilled workers has manufacturers concerned.

How much is a kilogram?

The Airbus A380 is the most modern, spacious, and capable civilian aircraft ever. The project was launched in December 2000, christened “The Flagship of the 21st Century,” and developed in close cooperation with air carriers, airports, and air traffic authorities.

As part of a volunteer team that cleared a walking trail in my neighborhood, I helped to shovel a straight path through a small berm. Seeking to solve another problem at the same time, a member of the party started to use the dirt he removed to fill in a nearby puddle on the trail.

The local environment can be an important factor in the quality of measurements. No matter what is being measured, the higher the resolution of the measurement (the finer the detail), the more significant the effect of environmental influences can be. The measurement you’re after is one of many variables.