All Features
Rajas Sukthankar
Digitalization is transforming all areas of life as well as existing business models. It’s enabling the manufacturing industry to implement its product ideas by taking advantage of technology trends such as generative design and intelligent models. Production has become more innovative through…
Kate Zabriskie
She has three supervisors, and he has six. She works on five projects, and he has four. Although their paths rarely cross, they have something in common—they’re both part of a matrix organization.
Unlike a traditional workplace where employees have one boss and a chain of supervision, matrix…
Harry Hertz
On two prior occasions, I was motivated by additions to the Oxford English Dictionary and the Merriam-Webster Dictionary to create and update the Hertz Lexicon of Creative Leadership Terminology.
As luck would have it, in late 2022, Merriam-Webster added another 370 words to its dictionary. With…
NIST
Researchers have yet to get the additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, of metals completely down to a science. Gaps in our understanding of what happens within metal during the process have made results inconsistent. But a new breakthrough could grant an unprecedented level of mastery over metal…
Kari Miller
Life science organizations depend on quality management systems (QMS) to improve products, minimize risks, ensure patient safety, and support regulatory compliance. When companies use a horizontal QMS that is not purpose-built for the life science industry, they must execute additional steps to…
Silke von Gemmingen
Preventive conservation plays an important role in preserving art and cultural assets. To preserve their condition for as long as possible, it’s essential to slow down and evaluate aging processes and other factors that alter materials. To do this, it’s necessary to gain a holistic understanding of…
Gleb Tsipursky
A ccording to a recent Monmouth University poll, 55 percent of Americans are worried by the threat of artificial intelligence (AI) to the future of humanity. In an era where technological advancements are accelerating at breakneck speed, it’s crucial to ensure that AI development is appropriately…
Del Williams
In industry, fossil fuel-fired boilers are commonly used to produce steam or hot water for space and process heating. However, traditional boilers might not be flexible enough to respond quickly to demand surges during peak periods.
To compensate, processors and manufacturers often keep more than…
Henning Piezunka, Oliver Schilke
Top management teams often find it difficult to agree on a course of action for their firm. Whenever we participate in firm strategy retreats, we see managers grappling with collective decisions. After weeding out inferior strategic alternatives, they are left with a set of promising but mutually…
Stephanie Ojeda
Quality management and environmental health and safety (EHS) have traditionally existed as siloed processes and roles in most organizations. It’s easy to see why, given the forces that have shaped quality and safety during their history.
Modern quality management was born from the post-World War…
National Physical Laboratory
Through their exceptional material properties, graphene and related 2D materials have the potential to disrupt technologies such as energy-storage devices, composites, and electronics. Depending on the material, these properties can include high electrical conductivity, high mechanical strength,…
Donald J. Wheeler
Ever since 1935 people have been trying to fine-tune Walter Shewhart’s simple but sophisticated process behavior chart. One of these embellishments is the use of two-sigma “warning” limits. This column will consider the theoretical and practical consequences of using two-sigma warning limits.…
Robert Mazzucka
Manufacturing has always had an element of matchmaking at its core. As a supplier, you want to be found quickly by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), prime contractors, and tier one and two suppliers. Buyers want to find companies capable of doing their work.
The ability of manufacturers and…
Gleb Tsipursky
Angry and dismayed Amazon employees are pushing back against the recently announced return to office policy by the Amazon leadership. Amazon’s policy joins other high-profile companies such as Disney, Starbucks, Tesla, Google, and others that are forcing employees back to the office.
Some are…
Angie Basiouny
Unpredictable schedules are so disruptive to the lives of employees that even 30 days of high shift variability in a year increases the chances a worker will quit by 20 percent, according to a new study from Wharton experts. Employers use just-in-time scheduling to cover peak demand and raise both…
Harish Jose
I’m looking at ideas of the famous Algerian-French philosopher, Jacques Derrida, often described as a post-structuralist. His most famous idea is deconstruction, often associated with analyzing literary works. A text is presented as a coherent whole with a basic idea in the center. The text’s…
Henry Mintzberg
Management is a practice, not a profession or science. To appreciate the true complexities of managing, we have to understand its intrinsic conundrums.
Management is learned largely through experience—which means that it’s primarily a craft—although some of the best managers make considerable use…
Ann Hoevel
One of the iconic and enduring images of the construction industry is Lunch Atop a Skyscraper from 1932. The photo captured construction workers eating lunch on an I-beam that was 850 feet above ground at the site of 11 Rockefeller Center.
A publicity photo, the staged image conveyed a message of…
Steve Oliver
Alignment with Laser (AW Laser), a South African company, specializes in alignment. Using API laser trackers to align machinery and equipment in a range of industries, AW Laser provides measurement services, especially for shipyards, aluminum plants, steel mills, paper manufacturers, and sugar…
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have developed a machine learning-inspired software package that provides end-to-end image analysis of electron and scanning probe microscopy images.
Known as AtomAI, the package applies deep learning to…
Lauren Richards
Why is the telecommunications industry so important? Given that everything from observing Earth via satellites to scrolling through social media relies on telecom companies or “telcos,” providing a succinct and effectual answer to this question is a cosmic challenge.
However, to put it into…
Theodore Kinni
Voluntary disclosures, like those issued by managers in quarterly earnings calls, inform investment decisions across financial markets. They can buoy—or puncture—corporate valuations and stock prices. But it isn’t always clear what effects result from the policies governing these disclosures,…
Daniel Marzullo
Are you looking to drive innovation and growth within your company? Creating an entrepreneurial learning environment may be the answer you’re looking for. However, implementing this culture can be challenging for any leadership team.
This article includes a guide with some of the steps you can…
Bryan Christiansen
Functional failures are a problem in every industry. They’re a silent way to lose money, waste time, and squander precious manpower. You need to understand them—so you can prevent them. We’ll show you what functional failure is, explain the difference between functional and partial failures, and…
Magnus Edholm
Companies of all sizes and in all industries face a future full of disruption, uncertainty, and challenge. Product complexity is growing rapidly due to increased demand for connectivity, customizability, and integrated intelligence. Sustainability is a primary concern for companies around the world…
