All Features
Belinda Jones
The industrial metrology sector is an ever-changing landscape for 3D measurement professionals. In the thick of it you will find the Coordinate Metrology Society (CMS), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the UK's National Physical Laboratory (NPL)—each offering…
InnovMetric
Headquartered in Graz, Austria, the Andritz Group (composed of Andritz Hydro, Andritz Pulp & Paper, Andritz Metals, Andritz Separation, and Andritz Automation) is a leading global supplier of plants, equipment, and services provided to hydropower stations, the pulp and paper industry, the…
FARO
(FARO: Lake Mary, FL) -- FARO Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: FARO), announces highly adaptable 3D imager arrays that promise to drive automated industrial manufacturing metrology processes to the next level.
The new FARO Cobalt 3D Imager is equipped with dedicated on-board processors—an industry…
Assembly Guidance Systems Inc.
(Assembly Guidance Systems: Chelmsford, MA) -- Providing fully automated inspection for the first time in high-performance composites manufacturing, Assembly Guidance Systems has shipped its first four LASERVISION units to automated fiber placement (AFP) manufacturer Electroimpact Inc., of…
Rina Molari-Korgel
It is my pleasure to welcome you to this issue of CMSC World. Our 3D metrology community is small compared to the bigger circles of civil engineering, manufacturing engineering, or even quality engineering. An even scarcer sight is a female 3D industrial metrologist, such as me.
It has been and…
Mike Campbell, Ben Hughes, Dan Veal
I n this article, we present a wide angle, frequency scanning interferometer (FSI) system capable of measuring the absolute distance to multiple targets simultaneously.
A spatial light modulator has been integrated into the FSI sensor head, projecting multiple beams towards targets. Absolute…
MOCON
(MOCON: Minneapolis) -- Cleanroom operators will now be able to detect the presence of extremely low levels of microbial cells on surfaces much faster than with traditional solutions. This cleanroom testing capability is a result of a global marketing agreement between MOCON Inc. and Particle…
James Brewton
The healthcare industry is under pressure to improve performance across strategic measures of performance, including delivery cost, operating revenue, employee engagement, patient safety, patient experience, and patient outcomes. A growing number of organizations turn to innovation as a way to…
Mark Whitworth
A recent article in The Wall Street Journal detailing how Boeing is facing up to 24 million dollars in FAA penalties over quality control going back several years across a number of locations shows how even the biggest manufacturers need to close the loop on quality control (QC). Closing the QC…
Fred Schenkelberg
Concurrent engineering is a common approach that pairs developing the product design and its supporting manufacturing processes through the development process. There are several reasons why this is a good idea.
Design engineers may require the creation of new manufacturing processes to achieve…
Davis Balestracci
Marketers are relentless in their efforts to seduce you with fancy tools, acronyms, Japanese terminology—and promises—about their versions of formal improvement structures such as Six Sigma, lean, lean Six Sigma, or the Toyota Production System, each with its own unique toolbox.
In my last column…
Bruce Hamilton
Mel Brooks fans will remember Spaceballs, his jocular jibe at the Star Wars franchise. In pursuit of a rebel ship, evil Lord Dark Helmet (played by Rick Moranis) orders his crew to accelerate their craft beyond the speed of light to “ludicrous speed.”
Although time travel remains within the…
ASQ
(ASQ: Milwaukee) -- An internationally renowned CEO and author on strategic business growth joins an award-winning supply chain practitioner and an experienced innovation expert as keynote speakers at the ASQ Lean and Six Sigma Conference, Feb. 29–March 1, 2016, in Phoenix.
Keynote speakers are…
NIST
Let’s say you’re a biotechnologist working to develop new medicines or a better test for forensic analysis. You might find yourself frequently using absorbance spectroscopy, a technique that allows researchers to identify even small amounts of a substance (such as DNA) or an antibody based on how…
Dan Nelson
Have you ever noticed someone struggling with a problem because he didn’t know the “trick” to solving it? Have you ever wrestled with a problem, only to discover that it actually wasn’t a problem; you were simply approaching it improperly? In these cases, the way forward is usually apparent after…
Mark Esser
Maintaining a social media account involves keeping track of the many random celebrations that can provide an excuse to post a story that otherwise might not have a timely hook. National Peanut Butter Day (Jan. 24 for the uninitiated) is just such a day.
While NIST chemist Carolyn Burdette spent…
inTEST Thermal Solutions
(Thermonics, Mansfield, MA) -- Thermonics, a new family of ultra-low temperature air- and water-cooled chillers, suitable for labs and plants, has been introduced by Thermonics Corp. These portable two-stage, cascade refrigeration chillers are capable of reaching –80°C. Recirculating heat-transfer…
Greg Anderson
A s the market gradually moves toward value-based reimbursement, hospital payments to physicians have also been in transition from purely productivity-based pay to incentives based in part on quality, patient experience, and efficiency of care. This shift has taken place in employment,…
Nikolai Klimov
Physicists at NIST’s Physical Measurement Laboratory (PML) have been working on a new class of chip-based photonic thermometers that measure temperature with light. Now the team has reached another key milestone with the creation of a system that tests and packages their photonic thermometers…
Chris Howells
Reputation is fast becoming one of the most important risks to manage. Build quantifiable arguments to get boards on board.
Corporate reputation, the close cousin of a firm’s brand, is one of the most intangible assets a company has. If a brand is the inside-out perception of a firm, reputation…
Frost and Sullivan
(Frost & Sullivan: Mountain View, CA) -- Frost & Sullivan recognizes GE with the 2015 Global Frost & Sullivan Growth Excellence Award for Application Convergence. GE has demonstrated impressive foresight in introducing Predix, a disruptive software platform that captures and analyzes…
Jeffrey Phillips
Not long ago a new client asked our team to lead an innovation project to create a product. As always with a new client, we did a quick survey. It’s important to understand what the client knows and has attempted in the name of innovation.
In this case the client had adopted another consulting…
Dan Jacob
It’s shaping up to be an interesting year. The U.S. presidential campaign looks to be outrageous and entertaining, stocks started the year with a nasty hangover, and ranchers turned militant in Oregon. Although the outlook for quality management isn’t quite as exciting, there are a number of…
Bob Emiliani
Every day, thousands of people confuse lean management with “Taylorism,” properly known as scientific management. The negative association brings out the lean bigwigs and others who work hard to create a great separation between lean and Frederick Winslow Taylor. This is an ill-informed and…
FFD Inc.
(FFD Inc.: Knoxville, TN) -- Steel Tool & Engineering, based in Trenton, Michigan, manufactures jet engine parts for the U.S. government and international aviation companies. Founded more than 60 years ago, the company and its 130 employees have built a solid reputation for delivering world-…
