The way we think about our process will shape the way we collect, analyze, and interpret our data when things go wrong. This in turn will shape the actions taken and the results obtained. In this column, we look at an example of the difference between the traditional approach and an alternate…

There’s no shortage of AI in manufacturing. There is, however, a shortage of AI that works when things get complicated—AI that can move the needle. If you spend any time in industrial service environments, where assets go down and the fix is buried in five different systems and 4,000 pages of…

At Dozuki, our teams are constantly on the factory floor. We spend hundreds of hours every year walking production lines, sitting in breakrooms with operators, and standing alongside quality managers during high-stakes audits. These site visits have given us a front-row seat to the friction between…

Manufacturers can’t control tariffs, supply chain volatility, labor shortages, or geopolitical instability. But they can manage operational efficiency. Operational excellence is one of the few factors that organizations can fully control. In challenging economic times, quality is an increasingly…

Manufacturing leaders often focus on technology, automation, and efficiency metrics to drive productivity. But the reality is that most KPIs on the factory floor still depend on people.   When frontline employees feel valued and supported, they show up more engaged, do better work, and contribute…

The next time you’re scrolling your phone, take a moment to appreciate the feat: This seemingly mundane act is possible thanks to the coordination of 34 muscles, 27 joints, and more than 100 tendons and ligaments in your hand. Indeed, our hands are the nimblest parts of our bodies. Mimicking their…

In the high-stakes world of modern manufacturing, environmental, health, and safety (EHS) management is no longer a back-office checkbox. It has become a strategic function that directly affects worker safety, regulatory compliance, operational continuity, and long-term performance. Unfortunately,…

At the heart of every construction project around the world is a handful of vehicles doing all the heavy lifting. Whether it’s a digger, tractor, or crane, this machinery must be safe, efficient, and fit for purpose—and purpose can depend quite a lot on the project at hand. It’s often possible to…

If you ask 10 different manufacturers to identify their toughest problem, odds are at least five of them will say, “We can’t get parts through the shop floor fast enough.” When you think about it, that answer shouldn’t come as a surprise. Today’s manufacturing customers demand increasingly shorter…

In precision machining there’s a particularly deceptive failure mode. Everything looks fine. The toolpath is clean, cutting is stable, the part’s almost finished. And then you discover that you took off too much somewhere. Or the opposite—you left a small island of stock that now must be removed by…

Buffalo Metrology Inc. (BMI) was recently tasked with reverse engineering an 8 ft outside-diameter clarifier cover used in the mixing/agitation industry. The goal was to inspect the fracture on the tapered face of this component as part of a possible new cover fabrication. Clarifier agitators are…

Octave, a new company from Hexagon, is one of the latest additions in a string of improvements and innovations. This company will unite several Hexagon departments and functions, increase the efficiency of Hexagon’s digital communication, and provide support for vital infrastructure. Vick Vaishnavi…

Quality leaders know that an audit rarely fails because a company lacks documentation. It fails because the information exists somewhere but can’t be retrieved, verified, or executed consistently when it matters. For decades, preparing for an audit meant assembling binders, tracking down…

Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology recently found that manufacturing process selection influences product design outcomes, yet is still often guided by experience rather than structured evaluation of alternatives. Understanding the differences between chemical etching and other…

Picture this: It’s Monday morning. Coffee in hand. The schedule is full. Shipping is stacked. Your biggest jobs are lined up like dominos, ready to fall into place. Then, the floor supervisor walks into your office with that look. “We can’t start Job 2471.” You blink. “Why not?” “Missing parts.”…

Regulated manufacturers today face a paradox. As products become more complex and regulatory oversight more stringent, the volume of quality data required to demonstrate compliance has increased dramatically. At the same time, many organizations continue to rely on fragmented systems—documents…

The mountain of old textiles continues to grow in Germany every year. Less than 1% of this enters a closed recycling loop. Reasons for this include so-called “fast fashion,” which leads to an increasing amount of low-quality textiles, as well as the wide variety of materials, which makes efficient…

Production companies are under enormous pressure today. Customers are demanding more variants, delivery times are shrinking, error rates must not increase, and traditional visual inspections quickly reach their limits. Visual quality control is becoming one of the biggest challenges for…

A broken motor in an automated machine can bring production on a busy factory floor to a halt. If engineers can’t find a replacement part they may have to order one from a distributor hundreds of miles away, leading to costly production delays. It would be easier, faster, and cheaper to make a new…

Walk into any machine shop today and you’ll hear about the same pressure points: tighter deadlines, rising part complexity, a stubborn skills shortage, and customers expecting “digital-ready” suppliers that can turn work around without delay. It’s no surprise then that artificial intelligence has…

(Molex: Lisle, IL) – Molex, a global electronics leader and connectivity innovator, has launched its Impress co-packaged copper solutions to meet the needs of next-generation data centers and AI workflows by delivering ultrahigh-speed data transmission and exceptional signal integrity. Building on…

Freedom is generally defined as the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. The license to act as one pleases offers a host of benefits but can also produce consequences that limit your freedom. The same can be said of your manufacturing. The choices you…

Many warehouses consider peak season (November and December) as a finish line. Once peak season is over, demand stabilizes, pressure eases, and management immediately shifts its focus to the next planning cycle. However, the period after peak season isn’t the epilogue but rather a transition that…

Generative artificial intelligence models have left such an indelible imprint on digital content creation that it’s getting harder to recall what the internet was like before it. You can call on these AI tools for clever projects, such as videos and photos, but their flair for the creative hasn’t…

The manufacturing world is undergoing a major shift. Supply chain shocks, reshoring, a busy merger and acquisition landscape, and other disruptions are prompting many manufacturers to rethink their operations with the hope of mitigating risk, building resilience, and gaining more control. Although…