All Features
Karyn Hede
Sometimes, to go big you first have to go small. That’s what researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have done with their latest innovation in energy storage.
With a goal of speeding up the time to discovery of new grid energy storage technology, the…
Mike Figliuolo
We all have enemies. Some of us have many. But when we spend our time and energy focused on attacking them and counterattacking their inevitable strikes, we’re the ones losing.
In getting us to attack, our enemy has taken us away from productive pursuits. They’ve hung a dark cloud over our days.…
Saurabh Joshi Shripad
Established pharmaceutical facilities play a pivotal role in public health by ensuring the safety and efficacy of the medications they produce. This critical responsibility demands strict adherence to the Code of Federal Regulations, including 21 CFR 211.67—“Equipment cleaning and maintenance,”1,2…
Gleb Tsipursky
The transformative potential of generative AI in learning and development (L&D) is a topic of growing interest among business leaders. And if you think your workers aren’t using gen AI, you might be seriously off-base.
According to a global study of 14,000 workers by Salesforce in late 2023,…
Nathan Ginty
In recent years, reshoring—the process of bringing manufacturing back to the U.S.—has gained momentum. Companies are reevaluating their offshore supply chains, driven by rising costs, geopolitical risks, and supply chain disruptions. For smaller manufacturers, this shift also presents a unique…
George Schuetz
Machinists working strictly in metalworking shops don’t have many occasions to gage the thickness of soft materials. But many of our readers work in supporting roles, helping to build or maintain the machines that produce textiles, plastic films, paper, and other products that are compressible.…
Donald J. Wheeler
The Man of La Mancha never got to the unreachable goal—and if you’re being judged by overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), then your manager may also be dreaming an impossible dream. This column will look at problems associated with the use of OEE values.
OEE is a value often used in lean…
Harry Hertz
My story begins with Hurricane Milton, one of two tragic hurricanes to hit the west coast of Florida last year. Milton went right over Sarasota, where I live part of the year. It was a devastating storm; tree and plant debris still remain on the sides of many roads. Big root balls are still upended…
Creaform
Maintaining high-quality standards is critical in the heavy equipment industry. Customers rely on manufacturers to deliver products that perform reliably in harsh and demanding operating conditions. The stakes are high. Deviation from quality and overlooked detail can lead to expensive warranty…
Gleb Tsipursky
New research provides a compelling analysis of the repercussions of return-to-office (RTO) policies on employee turnover, hiring, and the overall talent pool within major corporations. Using data from more than 3 million LinkedIn profiles, Mark Ma, at the University of Pittsburgh, along with other…
Sergey Sukhovey
The collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge in March 2024 was the consequence of a long-standing problem: the fragility of aging infrastructure. As reconstruction gets underway on an estimated four-year timeline, the disaster reflects the urgent need for better bridge inspection nationwide…
Nick Haase
PharmaNZ is a family-owned nutraceutical company that manufactures health supplements for the world’s leading brands. The company produces more than 250 tonnes of powder-blend products, 10 million tablets, and 70 million hard-shell capsules annually for clients worldwide. The company, founded by…
Adam Grabowski
Cash is king for manufacturers, from the owner down to the machine operators. If you visit any manufacturer, you’ll see that most have a keen eye on how everything is being used. Machines are generally only running if they are making parts; employees are typically only working if orders are coming…
Megan King
When first responders need to rescue people from an earthquake-ravaged home, they need real-time information. If law enforcement officers are looking for a shooter in a crowded building, they must learn everything they can about the scene.
Emergency responders need to know where people are and…
Tara Fortier
If you’ve heard or read about quantum mechanics, you may have seen it described as “weird.” Even the great Albert Einstein—one of the founders of quantum mechanics—called certain aspects of the theory “spooky.”
With its wave-like particles and particle-like waves, quantum mechanics certainly…
Gleb Tsipursky
You open your email and your stress level spikes: It’s another request titled “Can I work from home tomorrow?” It’s one of several you received in the last month—a relentless march of requests for remote work that ask for one-off exceptions to your policy.
So, what’s the deal? This constant…
Siemens USA
Since the early 1980s, the automotive industry has used hydraulically actuated (servo-hydraulic) test systems to simulate operating speeds and road conditions for testing OEM components and fully assembled vehicles. These systems have helped unlock vast improvements in the quality, safety, and…
Yushiro Kato
Artificial intelligence (AI) is gaining momentum across a vast array of fields. Nearly everyone has tried or actively uses a form of AI, whether for personal or professional purposes. Many are finding benefits of the technology in industries that use large amounts of data that must be analyzed,…
Mike Figliuolo
You are the only one who can protect your time and your interests. You have to establish the “line” you’re not willing to cross or allow others to cross. Whether it’s the number of hours you work, the work you do (and the work others do), or the physical layout of your workspace, there are things…
Peter Beaucage
Every time you squeeze toothpaste onto your toothbrush, spray perfume on your skin, or swallow a pill, you’re using the result of a carefully crafted recipe made in a lab. These are called formulations.
Formulations aren’t just simple mixtures—they’re complex arrangements of ingredients designed…
Donald J. Wheeler
In last month’s article, “ANOVA and the Process Behavior Chart,” we saw how both techniques use the same basic comparison to answer completely different questions. Here, we’ll look at a case history where both techniques were used.
A physical property of a mass-produced item was important to its…
Michael Sharp
Understanding the inner workings of your industrial artificial intelligence (IAI) system is crucial if you want it to add measurable value to your manufacturing operations. Here, we’ll dig into one important aspect of every AI: the inputs, aka your data. Including the right type and the right…
Matt Tweedy
In global manufacturing, two key goals—intertwined yet distinct—heavily dominate the industry’s agenda: addressing the growing demand for environmentally sustainable practices, and optimizing operational efficiency. With these priorities in mind, companies are seeking multifaceted solutions that…
Alfredo Romero
Many marketing professionals are drawn to their field because they consider themselves more right-brained (creative) than left-brained (analytical). It’s true that success in marketing often requires imagination, creativity, and an emotional appeal to the target audience. In fact, many college…
NIST
Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have created a new thermometer using atoms boosted to such high energy levels that they are 1,000 times larger than normal. By monitoring how these giant “Rydberg” atoms interact with heat in their environment, researchers can…
