Operations
Consider a hypothetical turned shaft with a diameter specified as 20.000 mm ± 0.010 mm. The supplier reports 20.009 mm, just inside the upper limit of 20.010 mm, with an expanded measurement uncertainty of 0.003 mm. The buyer puts the shipment on hold: The uncertainty interval extends beyond the…
If you’re familiar with the maker community, you may already have encountered WhippetInTech, from a design engineer who documents his builds on YouTube. His projects span CAD design, CNC machining, and 3D printing anywhere that advanced technology can be applied creatively.
As…
Manufacturing Day fell on Oct. 2 this year. Manufacturers opened their doors and showed the public what modern manufacturing looks like, and, hopefully, built some interest in manufacturing careers.
Visitors saw robots, sensors, software, and connected production systems. What…
Adding a control element to any system may seem like an easy path, even a necessary one. Redundancy reassures the stakeholders and the auditors, and it might become a sales pitch for the customers. Removing such elements is, on the other hand, more challenging; it’s an effort that requires…
Most shops accept a gauge the same way. They run a gauge repeatability and reproducibility (gauge R&R) study with 10 parts, three appraisers, and three trials. Get a %GRR under 30. File the report and move on. The AIAG criteria are familiar: Under 10% is generally acceptable, 10%–30% may be…
It’s one of the most dangerous sentences you can hear on a factory floor: “The drawing is updated, and we’re good to go.”
It sounds like the finish line. We fixed it! Nothing else to do here.
I’ve watched this play out countless times in different hardware teams. A part…