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Editor's note: At the time this interview was published by Gemba Research LLC, Toyota hadn't announced a fix to the sticky accelerator issue that caused the company to recall approximately 2.3 million select vehicles. On Feb. 1, the company announced that its engineers have developed a solution…
The new revision to ISO 9004 came off the press in the last quarter of 2009. It is significantly different from its predecessor. ISO 9004:2009 embodies the quality management principle relating to continual improvement. The technical experts made bold strides in their quest to address market…
Serving as a volunteer for the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) during the last four years, Barbara Boroughf has discovered just how much she enjoys the chance to interact with others within the automotive sector. Even so, finding the time has not always been easy.
As global vice…
(SME: West Springfield, MA) -- Manufacturing is poised for a rebound as it shakes off the ill effects of the recession. EASTEC, the largest annual precision manufacturing event on the East Coast, promises to be the place that manufacturers flock to as they look to upgrade their equipment and…
(Systems2win: Nashville, TN) -- Systems2win, a supplier of Excel templates for lean kaizen continuous improvement tools has introduced the Lean Starter Toolkit, which includes a selection of downloadable templates, videos, and instructions. This is a free downloadable trial package that covers 5S…
(NIST: Washington) -- President Barack Obama’s fiscal year (FY) 2011 budget submitted today to Congress for the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) proposes a funding level of $918.9 million, a 7.3-percent increase over the FY 2010 appropriations for…
(Shimadzu Scientific Instruments: Columbia, MD) -- Shimadzu Scientific Instruments’ EMT series Servopulser fatigue testing machine is a new environmentally friendly option for dynamic strength testing. It operates exclusively on efficient electrical power. In addition, EMT testers do not generate…
(ASQ: Milwaukee) -- Despite recent news reports to the contrary, quality processes are not stifling creativity at major U.S. corporations. In fact, some highly profitable companies are using unique approaches to strike a balance between efficiency and innovation, according to a new report released…
(Hitachi High Technologies: Tokyo) -- As the successor to the Hitachi TM-1000, the Hitachi TM3000 offers a dramatic improvement in all the features of the earlier device, including its compact size, ease of operation, and magnification. Through more attention to compact design, the surface area…
Now that the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have passed their own versions of sweeping health care reform legislation, the health care industry has its eyes and ears on lawmakers as they negotiate the details of a final, compromise measure.
At this time, it’s hard to predict what…
Printed circuite board (PCB) manufacturing is moving rapidly up the technology ladder. Keeping internal processes current (and compliant) with new requirements, without disrupting existing customer demands, presents ongoing risks. To minimize potential failures, it is necessary to identify and…
Every now and then I like to relax in my comfortable Lazy Boy chair and contemplate what’s going on in the world and how it affects my life. Being retired gives people that option. Obviously it is beyond me to change any of the following thoughts, but perhaps there is someone reading this who has…
In my column of Jan. 7, “The Right and Wrong Ways of Computing Limits,” I looked at the problems in computing limits for average charts. This column will consider the right and wrong ways of computing limits for charts for individual values. As before, a data set will be given that you can use to…
(Plex Systems Inc.: Auburn Hills, MI) -- Plex Systems Inc., provider of the No. 1 rated manufacturing ERP software, Plex Online, recently announced it has enhanced the system’s materials resource planning (MRP) functionality.
The MRP functionality enables manufacturers to create and use …
(EtQ: Farmingdale, NY) -- EtQ Inc. announces the upcoming release of Reliance 7.0, with new enhancements to its user interface.
Some of the design changes to Reliance 7.0 include:
View navigator. EtQ view navigator has a new look and feel designed to make data easily accessible, and includes…
(BSI: Reston, VA) -- BSI, a notified body providing regulatory and quality management reviews for medical devices, kicks off its “Passport to Europe” program. As part of the program, BSI will be conducting a series of complimentary educational webinars for emerging, new, and small medical device…
(QMC LLC: Auburn Hills, MI) -- QMC LLC, the market leader in product quality validation, recently announced the release of the CM4D Reporter with Process Control, a product designed for FARO Technologies Inc., the world’s leading provider of portable measurement and imaging solutions.
Built on…
(Thread Check Inc.: Hauppauge, NY) -- Thread Check Inc. has introduced the Rotary Thread Inspection Tool, which inspects screw threads for functional size and depth faster than conventional methods.
The power-driven thread gauge eliminates operator hand and arm fatigue, and repetitive motion…
(ISO: Geneva) -- Two recently published ISO standards on risk management have just been joined by a third on risk assessment techniques. Together, they provide organizations of all types with a well-stocked toolbox for tackling situations that could affect the achievement of their objectives.…
Pallet-Packing Robot: This simulation shows a robot in the middle of creating a pallet of boxes of mixed sizes. NIST engineers are seeking university teams to develop such simulations for a May competition.
Credit: NIST
(NIST: Gaithersburg, MD…
As in any good relationship, open communication is vital and Toyota Motor Corp., which recently suspended production and sales of eight models suspected of having sticky accelerator pedal problems, now has the perfect chance to show the world how healthy a relationship it has with its customers…
While we work to improve quality and efficiency, our leaders manage our organizations into oblivion. Literally. Something is terribly wrong. Leaders of major corporations in virtually all industries do things that cause them to, either accidentally or deliberately, destroy billions of dollars in…
(Bytewise: Columbus, GA) -- Bytewise Measurement Systems has released new embossing-depth software with the high-resolution CrossCheck Laser Profile Sensors. It is perfectly suited for online and off-line checking of embossing depth in the manufacturing process. Embossing quality is a leading…
(DALSA: San Francisco) -- DALSA Corp., a global provider of digital imaging technology, showcased its latest advances including its newest CMOS sensors for industrial and medical applications, its family of high-quantum efficiency CCD sensors for scientific imaging, and its XR-4S X-ray detectors…
A key aspect of quality management is the importance we place on employees, i.e., valuing people. We spend a significant amount of time and money officially sending this message to our team, espousing this pillar of quality. Yet, while doing this, we often directly contradict this by sending a…
