All Features
Bryan Christiansen
You finished the plan, you executed the work, and you know your team delivered results. But when it’s time to prove your budget request or show value to leadership, you struggle to give clear proof.
Maintenance teams can have a tough time transitioning from “doing work” to “reporting value.” The…
Gregory George
Timeless design, meticulous craftsmanship, and connection to the past: There are many reasons why classic cars are enduringly popular. Reverse engineering has brought them within reach of more people than ever before. 3D scanners and 3D modeling software make it possible to remake parts at a…
Data Physics
Vibration-related failures in aerospace involve satellites, launch vehicles, and aircraft components that are expensive to replace. While traditional vibration testing can overcompensate and damage parts, modal analysis performs tests on the product before physically examining its endurance. Using…
Creaform
Ultralarge hydraulic excavators for international open-pit mining are the core specialty of Komatsu Germany GmbH—Mining Division. A subsidiary of Japan’s Komatsu Ltd., Komatsu Germany develops and manufactures six models of ultralarge hydraulic excavators in Düsseldorf in the 300–900 tonne class.…
Eleazer Carmelli-Kim, Kevin Atkins
As the holiday season is left behind, many manufacturing leaders find a moment to step back from year-end deadlines to reflect on the bigger picture and look ahead. One question often surfaces during that quieter reset: Where will the next generation of engineers, designers, and problem-solvers…
Donald J. Wheeler
Performance indexes use the global standard deviation statistic to describe the past. Capability indexes use a within-subgroup measure of dispersion to characterize the process potential. However, some within-subgroup measures are better than others. This article will explain why you should not use…
Joe Curcillo
Most leaders you meet are losing almost a full workday every week to meetings that go nowhere. Same people. Same topics. Same problems. No real movement.
You’ve seen it in boardrooms and job trailers: different settings, but the same pattern. The problem isn’t meetings; it’s that your meetings are…
Zach Winn
There are some jobs human bodies just weren’t meant to do. Unloading trucks and shipping containers is a repetitive, grueling task—and a big reason warehouse injury rates are more than twice the national average.
Pickle Robot Co. wants its machines to do the heavy lifting. The company’s one-armed…
Kate Zabriskie
Something goes sideways at work—missed deadlines, bad customer feedback, you name it—and the first suggestion is, “We need training!” Sound familiar? It’s like reaching for a Band-Aid when what you really need is a lifestyle change. Training can be powerful, but it shouldn’t be your knee-jerk…
Megan King
If you’ve flown in the U.S. in recent years, you’re probably familiar with the airport security experience of entering a booth, raising your hands above your head, and having a machine check your body. That machine is called a millimeter wave scanner.
I’ve done this many times and never given it…
Paul Hanaphy
Traditional styles of lecturing and imparting information can be ineffective in terms of student engagement and triggering deeper learning. This is especially challenging in certain subjects that are difficult to teach in a classroom anyway, and for those who process information differently.…
Jen Chang
Increasingly, inspectors for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will evaluate your CMMS provider’s security controls—not just your internal procedures. In a cloud-hosted GxP environment, data doesn’t stop at your firewall; your vendor’s security posture becomes part of your compliance…
Kathryn Wagner
In today’s energy sector, regulatory complexity isn’t a temporary headache—it’s the new normal. Utilities face an accelerating torrent of mandates from multiple levels of government. This includes FERC reliability standards, EPA emissions rules, state-level renewable portfolio standards, …
CANEA
The digitalization of society during the last decade has created many opportunities for businesses and organizations. But digitalization, combined with a rapidly changing world, has also opened new threats and vulnerabilities that can cause serious damage to businesses. Every day we see headlines…
Chris Pinaire
The manufacturing industry is undergoing a transformation driven by rapid technological advancements, changing consumer preferences, and evolving regulatory frameworks. Manufacturers everywhere face unprecedented challenges as they seek to remain competitive, profitable, and sustainable in the face…
Ken Eme
When I first became involved in lean (continuous improvement), I was the VP of operations at a privately held company in the Midwest. It was 2003, and as a newly promoted senior executive I was eager to find a strategy that could make a real difference in our operations.
I quickly realized that…
Mike King
As we look ahead to 2026, the medtech sector stands at an intersection of regulatory evolution, technological advancement, and operational transformation.
The landscape for quality and regulatory affairs (QARA) professionals continues to shift, driven by emerging AI capabilities, changing…
Melanie Morales
In modern manufacturing, the smartest factories know that safety comes first. Any injury, equipment problem, or unexpected stop can slow everything down.
The good news? The right equipment updates can reduce many of these risks. From tool balance systems to better cable management, the right…
Gleb Tsipursky
The demos look slick, the promises even slicker. In slides and keynotes, agentic assistants plan, click, and ship your work while you sip coffee. Promoters like McKinsey call it the agentic AI advantage.
Then you put these systems on real client work and the wheels come off. The newest empirical…
Dan Steele
For years, manufacturers have been told the future of Industry 4.0 lives in the cloud. Vendors promised plug-and-play AI that could analyze everything, automate anything, and transform the factory floor overnight. In theory, this appears to work, but operationalizing cloud-based AI isn’t always…
Maartje van Krieken
Performance rarely collapses with fanfare. More often, it flatlines quietly; sales soften, productivity slows, priorities blur, and yet teams run hard without moving the needle. In 2025, the RSM U.S. Middle Market Business Index slid from the low 140s into the low 120s in a short period, with fewer…
ISO
In today’s digital age, the question isn’t whether you’ll experience a cybersecurity attack, but when this might occur. Cybercriminals strike when you least expect it, with devastating consequences for your day-to-day operations. If your organization is lucky, it can block the attacker and limit…
Bennie Caldwell
In manufacturing, failure isn’t an option—it’s a liability. A defective part or a missed delivery triggers a chain reaction that can disrupt schedules, undermine trust, and drain resources.
So when someone suggests a strategy with the word fail in it, skepticism is understandable, because…
David Hall Rode
In 2025, there’s been a marked increase in FDA warning letters. During the second quarter of 2025 alone, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued 172 warning letters. A notable enforcement surge occurred in September 2025 when the FDA released 80 warning letters in a single week. Although…
Enver Yücesan
Digital twins have become indispensable tools across industries. Powered by AI, these virtual constructs mirror physical systems in complex manufacturing facilities, supply chains, and operational workflows. By continuously monitoring their physical counterparts and feeding back recommendations,…