All Features
W. Edwards Deming
Editor’s note: The following is from a transcript of a forgotten speech given in Tokyo in 1978 by W. Edwards Deming for the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE). Because the original was a poor photocopy, there are small portions of text that could not be transcribed. Transcript…
Taran March @ Quality Digest
In publishing, anniversary issues sit in the ambiguous space between news and marketing. News because, at 40 years and counting, it’s not every magazine that makes it to middle age in these times. Marketing because it’s all a bit brash, like asking for presents on your birthday.
However, it’s worth…
Quality Digest
As part of QD’s 40th anniversary hoopla, we wanted to hear from those in the quality field. Tribal knowledge is real and valuable. What you’ve learned as a quality professional can help others starting out in the field. Here are words of wisdom from readers respresenting a diverse array of…
Dan Hamilton
X-ray fluorescence (XRF) is an analytic method used to define the elemental structure of a material. Companies use specific XRF instruments when determining the chemistry for a sample of a material. How is this done? The machine measures the secondary or fluorescent X-ray that is released after…
Jon Speer, Devon Campbell, Christie Johnson
When I began my medical device career, I started as a product development engineer. Part of the role included—right, wrong, or indifferent—project management. And I’ve found throughout my career and from discussions with hundreds of others in the industry that this is commonplace.
What I learned,…
(The ROI Alliance LLC: Longmont, CO) -- The ROI Alliance announces the release of ROIstat, a GUI-based app to make using applied statistics easy via the powerful R statistics programming language.
The value of using statistics in business cannot be overstated. Statistics are how people make…
(Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence: North Kingstown, RI) -- Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division announces the launch of MyQuality, a new contract inspection and programming services portal for quality, manufacturing, and design engineers.
Hexagon’s worldwide internal expertise in all…
Daniel de Wolff
For years, companies have managed their extended supply chains with intermittent audits and certifications while attempting to persuade their suppliers to adhere to certain standards and codes of conduct. But they’ve lacked the concrete data necessary to prove their supply chains were working as…
(Quantron AG: Gertshofen, Germany) -- Quantron AG, specialist for commercial vehicles with electric and hydrogen drive trains, is setting out to become an OEM for zero-emission vehicles. To strengthen the identity of the products and the QUANTRON brand, the company is bringing international design…
Henning Piezunka, Vikas Aggarwal, Hart Posen
Does this situation sound familiar? You’re sitting in a meeting, and you and your colleagues are energetically discussing how to handle an important issue or challenge. Ideas and suggestions are bouncing around so fast that the designated note-taker can barely keep up. Then a new voice chimes in,…
Matt Fieldman
In September 2021, I was fortunate to attend the FABTECH conference in Chicago, a sprawling trade show with what must have been billions of dollars of manufacturing equipment on display: robots, automation, 3D printers, you name it. While there, I had the privilege of listening to a keynote address…
Bryan Christiansen
There are various nondestructive testing (NDT) methods we can employ to evaluate the condition of different machine components, without the need to stop and disassemble the equipment. Vibration analysis is a prominent NDT tool used across many industries.
In this article, we will take a good look…
(Marposs: Auburn Hills, MI) -- Marposs and Bruderer Machinery North America have established a partnership that enables Bruderer presses to be sold with an integrated Marposs Brankamp process-monitoring solution. It features an automated ram height adjustment. Developed cooperatively, this feature…
Mark Schissel
Increasingly, consumers, investors, and other stakeholders are looking to companies big and small to do what’s right for people and our planet. To meet the demands of these stakeholders, transparency is key. In fact, an Innova Consumer Survey in 2020 revealed that six in 10 global consumers are…
Jason V. Barger
We’re experiencing rapid change, political and economic uncertainty, employee shifts and a war for talent, and the still-evolving “future of work.” A lot seems out of our control. However, even in the midst of all that is swirling around us, there is so much that every leader, team, and…
Julia Canale
Believe it or not, the technology that brought you Bitcoin is beginning to make waves in the food manufacturing industry. This technology, called blockchain, is a digital ledger maintained across several computers, then linked through a peer-to-peer network. The system's design makes it difficult…
(Michigan Metrology: Livonia, MI) -- The long-standing “Surface Texture and Tribology” short course, presented by Don Cohen, Ph.D. of Michigan Metrology, is now available as individual modules on the udemy.com learning website. The online format allows students to choose the course segments that…
(LMA Consulting Group: Claremont, CA) -- Manufacturing and supply chain expert, Lisa Anderson, president of LMA Consulting Group Inc., predicts that supply chain disruption will continue well beyond 2024. LMA Consulting Group works with manufacturers and distributors on strategy and end-to-end…
(Mahr Inc: Providence, RI) -- Mahr Inc., a global manufacturer of precision measurement equipment used for dimensional metrology, is launching a new, updated version of its Marameter 844 K family of inside diameter measuring probes. This system is used to make comparative measurements of very small…
Gregg Profozich
If your food manufacturing plant has to issue a product recall, many people might take to social media to vent their frustrations, resulting in a public backlash that can damage your brand’s reputation. Other consumers might opt to switch brands, resulting in further revenue loss. How can you…
Geert Elie
Many industrial products must be leak-tight. For example, food, cosmetics, or pharmaceutical packaging, but also products such as lights in the automotive industry, electronics, or plastic components. But how can manufacturers test the leak-tightness of their products?
The entry-level solution is…
Quality Digest
(Whitman Controls: Bristol, CT) -- Whitman Controls, a 50-year veteran in the design and manufacture of custom sensors and controls, has launched the L96 Series Level Transmitter, a first-of-its-kind capacitive level transmitter with dual switch and sensor capabilities that is fully field-…
(Olympus: Waltham, MA) -- The Olympus DSX1000 digital microscope has earned a reputation for exceptional image quality and ease of use. New DSX1000 software adds powerful measurement capabilities and usability upgrades to the digital microscope, making it a faster, more comprehensive inspection…
Cameron Shaheen
With the holidays fast approaching, manufacturers, distribution centers, and e-commerce providers are working to meet growing customer demand, while also navigating severe supply-chain disruptions and mounting labor shortages. At this point, we all had hoped to have the devastating effects of the…
John Colmers, Sherry Glied, Knowable Magazine
This story was originally published by Knowable Magazine.
The way the United States typically finances hospitals isn’t working. The coronavirus laid this bare, along with many other long-standing societal problems.
Before Covid-19, most hospitals were operating on a standard “fee-for-service”…
