Stephen Salata
It’s an open secret that many automotive and aerospace manufacturers have unacceptably high defects and costs. And where defects are on the rise, quality costs aren’t far behind.
Even one defect...
Amanda Hunt
Tensile testing of materials is critical to a wide array of industries, which means preparing specimens for testing is equally important. If a specimen is not prepared correctly, the test results...
Ryan E. Day
First article inspection (FAI) is that critical step between design and production which verifies that the factory’s production line can manufacture a part on a mass scale. Aerospace, automotive...
Jennifer Sillars
Policies define expectations and boundaries for behavior, but these expectations frequently go unmet.
There are three major triggers for new policy creation or policy amendment: • An adverse event...
NIST
Story update 7/13/2018: This story was updated with a link to the released version of standard E3125–17.
Large-volume 3D laser scanners play an essential role in manufacturing large products (e.g.,...
Taran March @ Quality Digest
We are here, and it is now. Further than that, all human knowledge is moonshine. —H. L. Mencken
I ran across the term “moonshine shop” while reading about a kaizen blitz at Ontario-based...
Adam Hickman
By nearly every measure, the workplace is rapidly evolving. But this new fluid workplace isn’t just about the work environment. Workplaces are increasingly project-based, and employees today are...
Harish Jose
I have written about sample size calculations many times before. One of the most common questions a statistician is asked is, “How many samples do I need—is a sample size of 30 appropriate?” The...
Michelle LaBrosse
Project managers—and all professionals, really—pursue credentials in their field for a variety of reasons: to advance their knowledge and skills, to build their reputation, to earn a promotion, or to...
Bill Snyder
David Petraeus is arguably the best known U.S. general of the post-Vietnam era. He gained fame after leading the surge in Iraq, a controversial buildup of U.S. forces that was credited with a sharp...
Sharon Lurye
Schools are always trying to get their kids interested in pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). But that’s hard to do when the students don’t have a solid idea of...
Mike Richman
Manufacturing is an eternally forward-looking sector. From the First Industrial Revolution about 250 years ago right up until the remarkable advances in connectivity and information analysis that...
M. Mitchell Waldrop
Part one looked at the innovative possibilities inherent in 3D printing; here we consider some of its shortcomings and the solutions that companies are finding.
A few years into this century, the...
Patrick Mork
Hiring a chief marketing officer (CMO) can be one of the most important decisions you make as a CEO. The right CMO can build a world-class marketing team that will not only help you acquire more...
M. Mitchell Waldrop
Since May 2015, in a section of its WorldPort distribution center in Louisville, Kentucky, United Parcel Service (UPS) has been operating a spare parts warehouse with no spare parts. Instead, the...
Jason Furness
I would like to share with you a tale from the real world. It’s an extract from the book Michael McLean and I wrote, Manufacturing Money (Amazon Digital Services LLC, 2015). It offers an example of...
Steven Brand
Many consider 2017 the “worst year ever” for data breaches and cyber attacks, largely due to the rise in ransomware, and IT experts predict it’s only going to get worse. According to the Online Trust...
Jon Speer
We raise the corrective and preventive action (CAPA) topic often because it is still something that companies tend to struggle with and find themselves in hot water over, particularly when it comes...
Capture 3D
For more than 125 years, GE Appliances (GEA) has been designing and manufacturing a full suite of consumer appliances—including refrigerators, ovens, dishwashers, freezers, washers, dryers, air...
Eryn Brown
In ancient times, the story goes, cooks in the city of Sybaris were granted yearlong monopolies for the sale of unique dishes they created. Since then, generations of inventors have relied on patents...
