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Quality Digest
Polynesian navigation device showing directions of winds, waves, and islands. Traditionally understood and used by only a chosen few, these charts were made known to the western world circa 1890s by German naval officer, Captain Winkler.
Bruce McDuffee
Humidity is a tough measurement. It’s very hard to get a repeatable measurement with low uncertainty. This post discusses seven best practices that will help you make a more accurate, repeatable, and reliable humidity measurement. The recommendations are primarily based on the NPL document, “A…
Paul Naysmith
Sales professionals, according to some circles at least, aren’t all that different from us quality professionals. I once believed they were two-faced liars, because they’d sell their mother to get that precious sales commission. However, as a systems thinker, I like to get my facts straight before…
The following puns come from the Measurement Nightmares Project for 2011 at the Harbor Lights Middle School in Bandon, Oregon. There are plenty more humorous items on that web page.
2,000 mockingbirds = 2 kilomockingbirds 10 cards = 1 decacards 1 kilogram of falling figs = 1 fig newton 1,000…
Mike Richman
This has been a fun week for us at Quality Digest, as we’ve had a chance to support World Metrology Week and one of our long-standing partners, the Coordinate Metrology Society (CMS). As many of you know, the CMS is the organization behind the annual Coordinate Metrology Systems Conference (CMSC…
(ZS Associates: Evanston, IL) -- While incentives can be an effective motivator in health care, a new study from global consulting firm ZS Associates suggests that more than 75 percent of incentives are so small or poorly communicated that they go unnoticed by providers. As a result, more than $20…
NIST
(NIST: Gaithersburg, MD) -- On May 9, 2012, the U.S. federal government issued a solicitation for proposals from teams led by nonprofit organizations or universities to establish an Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, which would serve as a pilot—or proof-of-concept prototype—for President…
American National Standards Institute ANSI
(ANSI: New York) -- The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Committee on Consumer Policy (COPOLCO) has submitted a proposal to ISO for a new ISO standard on guidelines for consumer contact centers. As the U.S. member body to ISO, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI)…
Productivity Press
(Productivity Press: Boca Raton, FL) -- Lean Six Sigma (LSS), design for Six Sigma (DFSS), and value engineering (VE) have a proven track record of success for solving problems and improving efficiency. Depending on the situation, integrating these approaches can provide results that exceed the…
Renishaw
(Renishaw: Hoffman Estates, IL) -- Renishaw’s new laser additive-metal manufacturing process is capable of producing fully dense metal parts direct from 3-D CAD data using a high-powered fiber laser. Parts are built layer by layer, in thicknesses ranging from 20 to 100 microns, using a range of…
Thomas R. Cutler, Rich McGrath
Editor’s note: This is the second article of a multipart series about the role of quality in education and its effect on workforce development. In part one of the series, the role of accountability was detailed and profiled.
The well-established quality control mechanisms and processes used in…
The Un-Comfort Zone With Robert Wilson
I bought a lottery ticket. I hope to win. That would be so cool, wouldn’t it?
Do I think I’ll win? No. I fully understand the odds are against me. Then why did I buy one? I bought it because I’ve been thinking about hope and whether or not it is a powerful motivator.
I recall my friend Brian, who…
Quality Digest
Wild Heerbrugg (now Leica Geosystems) produced the Theodolite T4, which was developed by Dipl. Ing. Berchtold in the 1940's. The T4 was mainly used, up until the 1970s, to establish astronomical latitude and longitude of geodetic points by observing the stars. Photo courtesy of Hexagon Metrology/…
Quality Digest
MAGLEV Inc. used 3-D scanning technology to capture the Tyrannosaurus rex (T. rex) fossil skeleton depicted in this poster. Working in the Dinosaur Hall at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, a team of metrology experts scanned every inch and surface of the world’s most famous…
The cold, stark landscape of Antarctica is home to penguins, ice, high winds, and two antennae owned by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the independent federal agency that supports and funds all fields of fundamental science and engineering in the United States. The severe conditions of the…
Cognex Corp.
(Cognex: Natick, MA) -- Cognex Corp., a global supplier of machine vision systems, invites participants to join 31-year veteran and Cognex co-founder Bill Silver for an online presentation explaining a completely new foundation for image-based barcode readers. “A New Foundation for 1-D Barcode…
NIST
(NIST: Gaithersbug, MD) -- Scientists, industry leaders, and public officials came together this week for a dialogue on innovation at The Atlantic’s “From Inspiration to Innovation Summit,” held at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia. Under Secretary of Commerce for…
Mettler-Toledo
(Mettler-Toledo: Columbus, OH) -- Mettler-Toledo has introduced the latest generation HX204 Excellence Moisture Analyzer, providing high-measurement performance and compliance with industry standards.
The HX204 can be adjusted and calibrated at operating temperature, ensuring the instrument is…
Association For Manufacturing Technology AMT
(AMT: McLean, VA) -- March U.S. manufacturing technology orders (USMTO) totaled $495.97 million, according to AMT—The Association For Manufacturing Technology. This total, as reported by companies participating in the USMTO program, was up 11.3 percent from February but down 1.4 percent when…
Wiley
(Wiley: Hoboken, NJ) -- As mobile and web technologies continue to evolve rapidly, there is added pressure to develop and implement software projects in weeks instead of months. Agile Project Management for Dummies (For Dummies, 2012) can make that happen. This is the first book to provide a simple…
Wheelchairs, scooters, and power chairs help people with limited mobility lead independent lives. Equally important are the mechanisms that move or transport these devices in the home or in vehicles. Mechanical breakdowns or structural failures can have serious consequences and greatly limit the…
NIST
The volume of oil and oil products moving through America’s pipelines, waterways, roads, and rails borders on the unimaginable.
“Look at it this way,” says John Wright, a project leader in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Physical Measurement Laboratory’s (PML) Fluid…
ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions
(Carl Zeiss IMT: Oberkochen/Germany) -- The O-INSPECT line from Carl Zeiss is growing: The O-INSPECT 322 coordinate measuring machine is now available. It is the smallest system with which Carl Zeiss is expanding the range of applications of its coordinate measuring machines. The system unites…
Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence
(Hexagon: North Kingstown, RI) -- The ROMER Absolute Arm is now up to 23 percent more accurate compared to the previous versions. With point repeatability values from 0.016 mm, the ROMER Absolute Arm is the most accurate portable measuring arm that Hexagon Metrology has ever produced. It is…
Nextec Laser Metrology
(Nextec: Eastlake, OH) -- Nextec Laser Metrology, a corporation serving the quality inspection market, has announced its WIZprobe solution, an advanced noncontact laser-scanning sensor that significantly reduces component inspection time while providing highest precision. WIZprobe offers a large…
