All Features
University of Arizona
Astronomers, physicists, and scientists from related fields across the world convened in Tucson, Arizona on Jan. 18, 2012, to discuss an endeavor that only a few years ago would have been regarded as nothing less than outrageous.
The conference is organized by Dimitrios Psaltis, an associate…
Stewart Anderson
What is the economic rationale for pursuing lean production? Much of the lean literature is concerned with the nuts and bolts of lean, and the economics of lean are somewhat less publicized. This article attempts to redress that imbalance, albeit in a very condensed way.
Firms employ capital and…
Gary Robinson
In an era of fast-paced and ever-increasing competitiveness, continuous business improvement is no longer reserved for a select group of innovators. It is a requisite for survival.
Every business strives to increase market share, drive down costs, manage risk more effectively, and improve customer…
Nanovea
(Nanovea: Irvine CA) -- Nanovea, designer and manufacturer of profilometers, mechanical testers, and tribometers, has launched its N3 line, which provides high-end measurement technology to the broader market. Nanovea has fully automated its measurement techniques while designing to price in the $…
Harrington Group International
(Harrington Group: Orlando, FL) -- The new version of Training Manager from the Harrington Group includes new features and the same fresh interface Training Manager 3 users have benefited from.
New and enhanced features in Training Manager 4 include:
• Built in e-mail capability: Send e-mails to…
Premier
In three years, 157 hospitals participating in the Premier health care alliance’s QUEST have saved an estimated 24,820 lives and reduced health care spending by nearly $4.5 billion.
QUEST can be adopted by any hospital in the nation seeking to track performance against a higher standard of care.…
NVision Inc.
(NVision: Coppell, TX) -- NVision Inc. is helping sculptor Somers Randolph gain additional revenue by laser scanning his creations and saving them as computer models, which can later be used to reproduce the original works at any size on a 3-D printer. For example, Randolph’s wife, Hillary, has…
Performance Review Institute PRI
(PRI: Warrendale, PA) -- A recent report about engineering in the United Kingdom in 2012 notes that 63 percent of UK employers in manufacturing are already experiencing difficulty recruiting individuals with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) skills and knowledge. This is…
Sologic
(Sologic: Midland, MI) -- Apollo Associated Services, a provider of root cause analysis (RCA) training, software, and services for 20 years, has launched a new suite of RCA products and services, and changed its name to Sologic.
The Sologic team combined extensive client feedback, proven RCA best…
Andy Masters
Life can be a real kick in the pants. In her 1983 commencement speech at Vassar College, Meryl Streep expressed her genuine surprise when she figured out that “real life is just like high school.” She went on to explain, “In high school there’s generally one acceptable way to be, and it’s dictated…
The Conference Board
(The Conference Board: New York) -- According to a report released by The Conference Board, the global business membership and research organization, productivity growth weakened substantially across the globe in 2011, with the drop-off most dramatic in advanced economies.
The “2012 Productivity…
StatSoft
(StatSoft: Tulsa, OK) -- StatSoft, developer, manufacturer, and distributor of analytic and quality improvement software, announces that its STATISTICA release has achieved certified integration with the SAP NetWeaver technology platform. STATISTICA, StatSoft’s flagship analytics software platform…
Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence
(Hexagon: Cobham, UK) -- Hexagon has entered into an agreement to acquire all outstanding shares of MicroSurvey Software Inc., a leading Canadian-based developer of surveying and mapping software for the land surveying, construction, and forensic markets.
Headquartered in Kelowna, British Columbia…
PerfectPart
(PerfectPart: Auburn Hills, MI) -- PerfectPart, a developer of assembly-performance management solutions has released PerfectPart v. 4.0, the industry’s first software appliance designed specifically to improve quality and enable traceability in manual assembly manufacturing operations.…
Capture 3D
(Capture 3D: Costa Mesa, CA) -- The ATOS Compact Scan from Capture 3D—who designs, manufactures, supports, and provides the services of 3-D industrial measurement solutions—provides accurate scans with detailed resolution at high speeds. This modern 3-D optical scanner combines software and the…
ISPE
(ISPE: Tampa, FL) – The International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE) has released a new industry guidance document, Project Management for the Pharmaceutical Industry. This guide is the first document of its type to discuss and compile best practices for project management concepts…
Michelle LaBrosse
How do you know when you are truly wealthy? Your perception of prosperity will most likely change throughout your life. At the age of 5, being prosperous is having your favorite toys within reach, being able to eat ice cream after dinner, and being allowed to stay up an hour later than usual. At 16…
Jakob Bjorklund
There are entire books, thorough training, and certification processes all devoted to lean supply-chain practices. But within any manufacturing environment, there are a few relatively simple steps that will help any enterprise to make its supply chain more lean. This article touches on these simple…
It can take anywhere from six weeks to six months to build a 2,800-square-foot, two-story house in the United States, mostly because human beings do all the work. Within the next five years, chances are that 3-D printing (also known by the less catchy but more inclusive term additive manufacturing…
Carl Zeiss Microscopy
(Carl Zeiss: Munich, Germany) -- Light Lab, the first accompanying app for ZEN 2011 imaging software from Carl Zeiss, is now available for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. Light Lab supplements the ZEN 2011 controlling and image-processing software functions within the experimental lab workflow. The…
NIST
(NIST) -- The news in 2001 was impressive, but it’s even more emphatically evident a decade later: The Baldrige Performance Excellence Program (BPEP) significantly benefits the U.S. economy. That’s the finding from a new economic study to determine the practical value to organizations using the…
Qualtrax Inc.
(Qualtrax: Christiansburg, VA) -- Qualtrax Inc., a leading provider of compliance software that enables electronic document and process management for a variety of industries, has released Qualtrax v. 4.3, which includes updates suggested by customers.
“Companies in industries ranging from food…
Olympus
(Olympus: Center Valley, PA) -- In material science laboratories where capturing, retrieving, and analyzing sample images from microscopes can be complex, Olympus Stream image analysis software v. 1.7 streamlines the process so users can accomplish multifaceted and complex applications with…
Micro-Epsilon
(Micro-Epsilon) -- Micro-Epsilon’s optoCONTROL 1200 is the most compact, high-speed micrometer within the company’s product range. With all optoCONTROL sensors, a light source emits a laser or LED-light curtain in the direction of the receiver. The LED or laser light produced is parallel-enlarged…
Wiley
(Jossey-Bass: San Francisco) -- In The Hedgehog Effect: The Secrets of Building High Performance Teams (Jossey-Bass/Wiley, 2012), Manfred Kets de Vries presents the case for leadership group coaching as an experiential training ground for learning to function as a high-performance team. His group…
