All Features
Matthew Storm
When customer experience is your product, how do you deliver the highest quality and differentiate your business? That was the question facing Robin Gomez, the director of consumer insights at GSI Commerce, as he and his team embarked on a mission to deliver far greater value to their clients.…
Quality Transformation With David Schwinn
The day I wrote this column, Jan. 21, 2013, the second presidential inauguration of Barack Obama took place. A presidential inauguration is a celebration of America and what it stands for. In the news coverage, someone quoted American author Alex Haley as saying, “Find the good and praise it.” It…
BYK-Gardner
(BYK-Gardner: Columbia, MD) -- BYK-Gardner, worldwide partner of the automotive, paint, and plastic industries for quality control of color, appearance, and physical properties, is offering two free posters for technical use: the Color Theory poster and the Viscosity Conversion Chart.
The Color…
(IAC: Brea, CA) -- IAC Industries, best known for its Dimension 4 Series premium workstations and Workmaster industrial workbenches, introduces Smart Mobile Stations. Smart Mobile Stations are mobile utility carts that enable users to take computers, printers, scanners, files, tools, and other…
Jeff Cope
In 2013, machine shops are focused more than ever on finding ways to improve their business. From implementing new processes and adapting to new materials to major investments in new equipment, manufacturers across the supply chain must drive improvements that translate to bottom-line results.…
Paul Naysmith
If you haven't read part one of my Improvement Ninja series, don't worry. Unlike The Godfather Part II, you don't need to see the preceding installment to make sense of this article. I continue my journey to enlighten newly initiated quality colleagues by discussing the check sheet, which is the…
Pravesh Mathur
To demonstrate that a typical spacecraft reflector is designed and manufactured according to specifications and caters to postulated performances, a detailed testing and verification campaign must be conducted. 3D metrology plays an important role in this process.
Conventional coordinate measuring…
Bennie Fowler
Quality is a journey. This journey is about continuous improvement and, ultimately, transformation. As with any journey, you need to decide where you are going and how you are going to get there.
At Ford Motor Co., we have a clear destination for our quality journey: to be the best-in-class in…
Matthew Barsalou
Editor’s note: This is part one of a four-part series about the history of quality. For a description of the later years of the quality movement, see part two, part three, and part four.
Joseph Juran’s A History of Managing for Quality (ASQ Quality Press, 1995) traced the history of quality…
Timothy F. Bednarz
At a sporting event, cheerleaders are present for the single purpose of providing support for their team. The same applies to the manager in the workplace. Once plans and programs are in place, it becomes the manager’s responsibility to provide the support his employees need to achieve maximum…
Mettler-Toledo
(Mettler-Toledo: Oakland, CA) -- After nearly a year on the market, the Rainin E4 XLS family of flexible electronic pipettes from Mettler-Toledo continues to prove its worth by helping users master a wide range of life-science applications. The Rainin E4 XLS also helps manufacturers preserve…
Sakor Technologies Inc.
(SAKOR: Okemos, MI) -- SAKOR Technologies, a recognized leader in the implementation of instrumentation products for dynamometer testing, announces the availability of its complete AccuDyne AC Dynamometer system for wind-power testing applications. The system can be used by multiple engineering…
Steve Solow
A lmost 10 years ago, I started working in a regulated industry, one that follows current good manufacturing practices. I was attracted to its logical and straightforward manner right away. Coming from a background in molecular biology, it made perfect sense for me to build a quality system as a…
MIT News
The percentage of companies reporting a profit from their sustainability efforts rose 23 percent last year, to 37 percent, according to the most recent global study by the MIT Sloan Management Review (MIT SMR) and the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). The study, “The Innovation Bottom Line,” was…
Mark R. Hamel
We’re all familiar with the Toyota Production System “house.” You know, the structure schematic with, among other things, the just-in-time and jidoka pillars. Well, sometimes I think it would be more appropriate to refer to the house, any lean house, as a house of pain.
What?! Not great for lean…
New River Kinematics
(NRK: Williamsburg, VA) -- New River Kinematics (NRK), producer of SpatialAnalyzer (SA), announces a record business year in 2012 with a 17-percent growth in orders over the previous year. During the past six years, NRK has had an average of 20-percent year-to-year growth.
Continued worldwide…
NIST
(NIST: Gaithersburg, MD) -- The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), through its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, invites small businesses to propose solutions to specific challenges in the fields of cybersecurity and manufacturing.
SBIR Phase I awards provide…
BuildIT
(BuildIT: Montreal, QC) -- Build!IT 3.2.5 is now available, with more than 250 improvements and new features, including improved process automation, Windows 8 compatibility, and a new customizable interface. The 3D metrology software enables quick and easy dimensional inspection of manufactured…
A failure modes and effect analysis (FMEA) is a reliable tool for improving products and processes while reducing engineering workload. A good FMEA can also improve machine and resource availability by identifying, analyzing, and improving high-risk components. However, an FMEA's value is often…
Tripp Babbitt
The rhyme we all learned as children rings in my ears: Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall / Humpty Dumpty had a great fall / All the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again. I like to use Humpty Dumpty to describe companies that have functionally separated their work.…
Norman Bodek
Afew years back, I visited Toyota’s plant in Georgetown, Kentucky, with the group of executives from various construction corporations. One member of our team asked Gary Convis, the first American to head a Toyota vehicle plant in North America, “What do you expect from your workers?”
“Only two…
John Flaig
There are many different process control methods and procedures available to the quality practitioner. A popular but problematic visual technique employs the traffic light analogy.
As discussed in the article, “Stoplight Charts With SPC Inside,” by Steven Prevette (Quality Progress, 2004), the…
Bill Kalmar
Now that Super Bowl Sunday and all the hoopla associated with it has come to a conclusion, we sports fan can look forward to the opening of baseball training camps and of course March Madness, the annual National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) basketball tournament. For many of us, though,…
Metrologic Group
(Metrologic Group: Wixom, MI) -- Metrologic Group, designer and manufacturer of 3D inspection software and dimensional control systems, announces a breakthrough in metrology software suitable for all industrial robots. The X4i-Robot system provides truly accurate and reliable measurement and…
Qualtrax Inc.
(Qualtrax: Christiansburg, VA) -- Qualtrax, a leading provider of electronic document and process management for a variety of industries, has released the latest version of its software that now includes language options for Dutch and Mandarin, reflecting the software’s international use.
Version…