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(Boothroyd Dewhurst: Wakefield, RI) -- Savvy manufacturers are able to root out troublesome costs and problems from their products earlier and earlier in a life cycle that starts even before a computer model is created—and ends with finished automobiles, appliances, and other goods. What’s…
(MoreSteam: Columbus, OH) -- On Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2011, BPE Consulting Group, a subsidiary of BOK Financial, and MoreSteam.com, a global provider of online lean Six Sigma training and blended learning technology, will co-sponsor a one-day continuous improvement conference in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for…
(Visual Workplace: Byron Center, MI) -- Visual Workplace Inc. has made available a new training DVD, Lean Healthcare. Using fun, engaging examples in actual health care environments, this 40-minute training video highlights the eight wastes found in most health care processes and systems, and…
(ECi: Fort Worth, TX) -- eCommerce Industries Inc. (ECi), a leader in industry-specific business-management software, has announced the release of v. 8.0 of ECi M1, its premier enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution for discrete manufacturing that provides total integration and automation…
(FDA: Silver Spring, MD) -- The FDA has announced that it will open a public docket to begin receiving public comments on the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) report on the 510(k) program, the most common pathway to market for lower-risk medical devices.
The FDA commissioned the report in…
(Mahr Federal: Providence, RI) -- Mahr Federal Inc., designer, manufacturer, and marketer of dimensional measuring technology, has issued a new catalog in both print and online editions, covering the full range of its dimensional metrology products and systems. The full-color print edition…
First, the introduction. This post was earnestly written by my friend, Jeff Fuchs. He’s the director of the Maryland World Class Consortia, a lean nonprofit assistance organization in the mid-Atlantic. He’s also president of Neovista Consulting, which works with large and small organizations on…
From the minute I arrived on site, I knew that this would be a Coordinate Metrology Systems Conference unlike any other. First of all, it was in Phoenix… in July. So, the 100-plus-degree temperature wasn’t unexpected; the humidity, on the other hand, was a bit of a surprise. The evening preceding…
(Mahr Federal: Providence, RI) -- Mahr Federal Inc., designer, manufacturer, and marketer of dimensional measuring technology, will be featuring the new version of its successful MMQ 400 Formtester series, the MarForm MMQ 400-2, at Quality Expo 2011, Sept. 20–22, 2011, at McCormick Place North,…
There has been a lot of press in recent years about the importance of the “learning organization.” While many authors have explored the idea of a learning organization from the perspective of how learning can be enabled and shared, the economic impact of learning, and its resulting effect on…
The United States will send a new generation of explorers to the moon aboard NASA’s Orion crew exploration vehicle, or CEV. Making its first flights early in the next decade, Orion is part of the Constellation Program to send human explorers back to the moon, and then on to Mars and other…
Finally, the medical industry is putting aside its “We’re medicine; we’re different” mindset and taking a more practical look at quality improvement. Bravo! Although an element of physician culture remains convinced that improvement is all about outcomes and double-blind clinical trials, the…
(APICS: Chicago, IL) -- APICS The Association for Operations Management, a global leader in supply-chain and operations management education, certification, and affiliation, has released the third edition of APICS Operations Management Body of Knowledge (OMBOK) Framework, which defines the…
(LMI Technologies: Vancouver, Canada) -- LMI Technologies Inc., part of the Vision Group of AUGUSTA
Technologie AG, is a global research, development, and manufacturing
organization specializing in 3-D measurement sensors. LMI Technologies will be exhibiting at this year’s Forest Products…
(ARC Advisory Group: Boston) -- The 3-D laser scanning market, including hardware, software, and services, is rather dynamic, and major segments are experiencing rapid product innovation. The market contains exceptional growth opportunities as older mechanical methods are replaced and improved…
(Kistler: Novi, MI) -- Kistler, a global supplier of precision sensors, systems, and instrumentation for the dynamic measurement of pressure, force, torque, and acceleration, has announced the North American launch of the Corrsys-Datron RV-4 wheel vector sensing system, designed to offer…
More than ever, businesses need ways to improve their operations to better gain, serve, and retain customers while reducing costs and improving margins. Implementing management systems and attaining third-party accredited certification can help businesses achieve success on all of these fronts…
(CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL) -- Dr. Michael Nelson has written one of the first books to focus on physician engagement in creating a lean culture, Sustaining Lean in Healthcare: Developing and Engaging Physician Leadership (CRC Press, 2011).
The book begins with the basics of lean (including…
In part one we found that the skewness and kurtosis parameters characterize the tails of a probability model rather than the central portion, and that because of this, probability models with the same shape parameters will only be similar in overall shape, not identical. However, since software…
(FDA: Silver Spring, MD) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued draft guidance that clarifies when changes or modifications to a previously cleared 510(k) device require a new premarket submission.
The 510(k) process is the most common review path to market for lower-risk…
(ISO: Geneva) -- Evidence that publication of ISO 50001 was eagerly awaited is borne out by the number of organizations worldwide claiming to be the first in their country or sector to have adopted the new international standard from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) on…
(Aerotech: Pittsburgh, PA) -- Aerotech Inc. is a designer and manufacturer of motion control, positioning tables/stages, and positioning systems. Its APR series rotary stages employ precision-machined and ground stage parts coupled with high-precision angular contact bearings and an Aerotech…
Berkeley Lab scientists and their colleagues have discovered a new relation among electric and magnetic fields and differences in temperature, which may lead to more efficient thermoelectric devices that convert heat into electricity or electricity into heat.
“In the search for new sources of…
Empire building is the pinnacle and most extreme level of the pyramid of bureaucracy. It occurs when one group attempts to regain or enhance its self-sufficiency by encroachment or by expanding its span of control even when that is not in the best interest of the organization. There are several…
(Newport: Irvine, CA) -- Newport Corp., a global leader in motion control technology, has introduced Fine Metrology State (FMS) Precision Linear Stages. The high-precision, motion-control stages are designed for use in surface profiling, tribology, and contact (stylus) and noncontact metrology (…