All Features
Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence
A 3D-printed replica of Michelangelo’s famous David sculpture, reproduced with the use of scanning technology by Hexagon, was unveiled during a ceremony at the Italy Pavilion at Expo 2020 in Dubai.
The event was attended by the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation,…
Eliot Dratch
Owning and operating a top-quality manufacturing business comes with a multitude of challenges. To help outline points of improvement and give your business a road map to success, California Manufacturing Technology Consulting (CMTC) offers these quality strategies to help you achieve premium…
Dawn Bailey
In 2020, MESA, a small business in Oklahoma, became to date the first and only three-time Baldrige Award recipient.
From a one-person consulting firm founded in 1979, MESA has grown to support a workforce of more than 250 people. The largest privately owned company in its market, it is a…
MIT News
First published June 7, 2021, on MIT News.
It’s no secret that a manufacturer’s ability to maintain and, ideally, increase production capability is the basis for long-run competitive success. But discovering a way to significantly increase production without buying a single piece of new equipment—…
Kimberly Merriman, David Greenway, Tamara Montag-Smit
As vaccinations and relaxed health guidelines make returning to the office a reality for more companies, there seems to be a disconnect between managers and their workers about remote work.
A good example of this is a recent op-ed written by the CEO of a Washington, D.C., magazine that suggested…
Anne Trafton
First published June 7, 2021, on MIT News.
MIT engineers have discovered a new way of generating electricity using tiny carbon particles that can create a current simply by interacting with liquid surrounding them.
The liquid, an organic solvent, draws electrons out of the particles, generating a…
Michael Lee Stallard
Astronaut crews living and working in space experience as a matter of course what many of us experienced unexpectedly during the coronavirus pandemic. Consider these similarities.
Astronauts are physically isolated for a long period of time from family, friends, and the majority of their work…
Carlos Valdes-Dapena
In my work in collaboration and team effectiveness, I am sometimes approached about helping with a “dysfunctional team.” People use the word “dysfunction” liberally and can mean various things by it. I’ve learned some lessons about team dysfunction, and the most important one is that it isn’t what…
Karla Raines
Total quality management (TQM) was in vogue during my undergraduate years and early career in industrial engineering. The United States was catching up to the Japanese in manufacturing production as their Toyota vehicles outperformed our Fords. A company couldn’t deliver a competitive product…
Wayland Additive
Metal additive manufacturing (AM) is a process with demanding requirements for in-process material management, specifically with regard to the use of powdered metals. The Calibur3 system from Wayland Additive, enabled by the NeuBeam process, not only redefines how the electron beam (eBeam) process…
(Volume Graphics: Charlotte, NC) -- The latest version of Volume Graphics’ high-end computed tomography (CT) data analysis software suite, v. 3.5, brings enhanced capabilities to manufacturers looking for better ways to inspect parts and improve designs—however they are made.
Particularly in the…
Del Williams
To enable raw water for use as cooling water, industrial facilities such as power, processing, and manufacturing plants prefilter raw water from rivers, lakes, gulfs, and coastlines to remove organic, aquatic, and other solids. It’s not as simple as it sounds.
The cooling water is typically used…
Clare Naden
We all know that like attracts like, but when it comes to the workplace, differences can be a very good thing. Numerous studies have shown that workplace diversity and inclusion can drive innovation and lead to new markets and financial benefits.
There is also evidence that when employees feel…
(Exact Metrology: Cincinnati) -- Exact Metrology, a comprehensive 3D metrology service provider and hardware sales company, has recently installed a ZEISS METROTOM 6 scout, formally known as a GOM CT, scanner at their facility in Brookfield, Wisconsin.
Considered the powerhouse of resolution for…
Sara Harrison
If you’ve watched Grey’s Anatomy, then you’ve gotten a peek into the complex hierarchies that rule a hospital. Over 17 seasons, the show’s eponymous heroine, Meredith Grey, ascends from a lowly intern to chief of general surgery, learning from the presiding residents and older surgeons along the…
Bryan Christiansen
Many techniques can be used to find the root causes of asset failures and other important events we want to analyze. Fault tree analysis is one of those techniques, and it is being utilized by many different companies to improve system reliability.
This guide aims to give a basic to intermediate…
Harry Hertz
Each year after the Quest for Excellence Conference, I sift through my notes and try to identify themes I have heard in the presentations of the new Baldrige Award recipients. The most recent summary was after the 2019 conference (the 2021 conference included recipients from the last two years).…
(Nikon Metrology: Brighton, MI) -- When using X-ray CT (computed tomography) for nondestructive quality control of larger components like aluminum castings or battery modules for electrical vehicles, the challenge is to shorten inspection cycle times without compromising resolution. One…
Nate Burke
In recent years, the focus and surge in e-commerce has been undeniable. There has been clear evidence of how a lack of online consideration can ultimately result in a brand’s demise, with Debenhams and Topshop just two recent examples. However, the latest moves by online giants, including Amazon,…
Borka Hajdin
It is safe to say that we can drop the word “digital” from digital marketing and just call it marketing. Because we are now officially living in a digital world. In 2020, worldwide online transactions in some sectors increased by 135 percent.
B2B companies that were previously dabbling in digital…
Del Williams
To meet increasingly strict compliance standards, such as the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), food processors now regularly use adenosine triphosphate (ATP) testing to monitor equipment surfaces for microbial growth. Add to this the need to minimize…
Joseph Near, David Darais
In previous articles we have explored what differential privacy is, how it works, and how to answer questions about data in ways that protect privacy. All of the algorithms we’ve discussed have been demonstrated via mathematical proof to be effective for protecting privacy. However, when…
Quality Digest
(Radiant Vision Systems: Redmond, WA) - Radiant Vision Systems, a leading provider of image-based light and color measurement solutions, announces three new high-resolution models in its line of ProMetric Imaging Colorimeters and Photometers. New ProMetric systems extend the resolution range of…
Gleb Tsipursky
Quality professionals are often told that “failing to plan is planning to fail.” You might be surprised to learn that this phrase is a misleading myth at best and actively dangerous at worst. Making plans is important, but our gut reaction is to plan for the best-case outcomes, ignoring the high…
Knowledge at Wharton
When Wharton management professor Adam Grant sat down to write his new book, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know (Virgin Digital, 2021), he wanted to make the case for why executives should reconsider their approaches to how to manage people in a modern workplace and embrace new…
