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(The Center for Industrial Effectiveness: Amherst, NY) -- As a certified lean professional and activity-based cost management expert with the University at Buffalo's Center for Industrial Effectiveness, Julie Stiles has helped companies in multiple industries to improve business performance and…
When Airman 1st Class Cole Cargill finished hanging the Mental Health Flight’s new idea board, he started something that could potentially improve his flight’s business practices and its service to customers.
The 95th Medical Group hung 16 idea boards around its various sections to solicit…
(Measurement Systems International: Seattle, WA) -- A chemical processing facility wanted to integrate data from a crane scale to its programmable logic controller (PLC) system and structured query language (SQL) server. A secondary goal was to provide real-time access to the scale data from…
For website owners and bloggers, there is a new widget from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) that will keep web pages right on time.
Web “widgets” are small application programs designed to be run inside web pages. The NIST time widget, created by engineer Andrew…
Temperature is one of the four most common types of process loops. While the other common loops—flow, level, and pressure—occur more often, temperature loops are generally more difficult and important. It is the single most frequently stated type of loop of interest to users, and the concern for…
The emergence of cargo cults on some Pacific Islands after World War II is an amusing and oft-repeated story.
The relatively simple lifestyles of these islanders were interrupted by Japanese aircraft dropping large supplies of clothing, medicine, canned food, and tents to support the Japanese…
A green laser flashes across a high-pressure spray that fuels a jet engine. Those flashes, some just 50 millionths of a second apart, freeze the droplets of fuel for a camera to record and a computer to analyze.
This is particle image velocimetry, just one of the advanced flow-diagnostic tools…
(Capture 3D: Costa Mesa, CA) -- Capture 3D has released the GOM ATOS Triple Scan series of 3-D scanners incorporating blue LED light-source technology and new pattern projection techniques.
ATOS is known for its accuracy, speed, and configuration flexibility, and supports small to extra-large…
(Mahr Federal: Providence, RI) -- Mahr Federal has introduced a new MarCheck measuring and evaluation unit for its high-precision Linear 100 universal length-measuring instrument. MarCheck allows both measurements and calibrations to be performed quickly and reliably at the touch of a button.…
(CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL) -- Traditional statistical process control assumes that manufacturing process data come from a normal bell-curve distribution. Numerous supplier reports and in-house control charts are essentially meaningless, because their creators do not know how to check the…
(Accelper Consulting: Schaumburg, IL) -- In response to its huge and hugely successful Six Sigma Green Belt training classes in March 2010, and then receiving many requests for repeating, Accelper is organizing another session for March 21–22, 2011, at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT)…
NSF International, an independent public health organization that tests and certifies a wide range of plumbing and drinking water treatment products, strongly supports the passage of the Reduction of Lead in Drinking Water Act, which occurred on January 4. The legislation will significantly reduce…
Is the expansion of the universe accelerating for some unknown reason? This is one of the mysteries plaguing astrophysics, and somewhere in distant galaxies are yet-unseen supernovae that may hold the key. Now, thanks to a telescope calibrated by scientists from the National Institute of Standards…
(IET: London) -- Construction- and mining-equipment manufacturer Caterpillar achieved zero landfill waste at its United Kingdom Hose Assembly (UKHA) facility by increasing its recycling rate. A total waste management system was developed to maximize revenues generated from recyclables and to start…
(J.P. Morgan: New York) -- The global manufacturing sector ended 2010 on a strong footing. Rates of growth in production and new orders accelerated, leading to a further solid increase in employment.
At a six-month high of 55.0 in December, the J.P. Morgan purchasing managers index (PMI)…
(CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL) -- Written specifically to address the application of lean practices in government and the public sector, Lean for the Public Sector: The Pursuit of Perfection in Government Services, by Bert Teeuwen (CRC Press, 2010), covers the basic philosophy of lean before…
(VISIONx: Pointe-Claire, Quebec) -- VISIONx INC., a developer of software and systems for automated visual inspection and high-accuracy measurement, now offers the VisionGauge Digital Optical Comparator in vertical configuration. In the vertical configuration, parts are mounted flat on the system’…
(Alicona: Bartlett, IL) -- Alicona is now marketing the IF-Portable (figure 1) and the Edgemaster (figure 2) for 3-D surface measurement. Both are based on Alicona’s FocusVariation technology.
The IF Portable is a mobile optical measurement system to measure form and roughness on larger…
(ISPE: Tampa, FL) -- As part of its 2011 conference, “Applying Solutions to Emerging Industry Challenges,” the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE), a global, nonprofit association of more than 22,000 professionals, will feature eight educational sessions designed to help…
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have developed a new technique that allows plasmon lasers to operate at room temperature, overcoming a major barrier to the technology’s practical use.
The achievement, described Dec. 19, 2010, in an advanced online publication of the…
(Cornell: Ithaca, NY) -- Creativity might be the trait many CEOs say is essential for senior leadership, but Cornell University research finds it can actually block you from reaching the top slots.
“Our three studies show that when people voice creative ideas, they are viewed by others as having…
If you’ve ever bathed a dog, you know firsthand how quickly a drenched pup can shake water off. Now researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are studying the physics of the wet dog shake to possibly improve the efficiency of washing machines, dryers, painting devices, spin coaters, and…
(RheoSense: San Ramon, CA) -- RheoSense Inc. announces the release of µVISC (micro VISC), the newest viscometer utilizing viscometer- and rheometer-on-a-chip (VROC) technology.
This instrument provides a high level of accuracy and repeatability in viscosity measurement, yet is competitively…
(Pinpoint Laser Systems: Peabody, MA) -- Pinpoint Laser Systems is introducing a new data interface accessory called Capture for the popular Laser Microgage industrial measuring and alignment system. Capture allows operators to quickly grab measurement readings from four remote laser receivers to…
(IEC: Geneva) -- The International Accreditation Forum (IAF), the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC), and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) have signed an agreement to help reduce the cost, time, and complexity of reassessment of certification bodies and…
