All Features
CMSC
The Coordinate Metrology Society (CMS) announced today the results of their large-scale, interactive measurement study conducted at the 27th annual Coordinate Metrology Systems Conference (CMSC).
The 58-page report entitled “How Behavior Impacts Your Measurement” focuses on measurement…
NIST
The international General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) has approved a plan to redefine four of the seven base units of the International System of Units (SI) in terms of fixed values of natural constants. The initiative would make possible new worldwide levels of consistency and…
Bill Kalmar
Just the other day as I was perusing our local newspaper, an ad for a pizzeria caught my attention. Included was a fact unbeknownst to me: October evidently was National Pizza Month. To celebrate this tasty month, some cities arranged chartered bus tours of the various pizzerias in their town.…
Chuck Pfeffer
It was a dark and stormy evening as the graveyard shift started at Frankenstein’s Precision Parts. Tonight was the night: All of the parts for the Reanimation order were ready for inspection. The contracted inspector was due at midnight.
Just as the clock struck 12, a bolt of lightning…
Jay Arthur—The KnowWare Man
At a recent health-care conference I had a conversation with Mary, a Six Sigma Black Belt for a 700-bed hospital. She told me that the hospital had only a few copies of Minitab software, which was shared by several people. She was always being asked to close out of the program so that someone…
Belinda Jones
The Coordinate Metrology Society (CMS) has released the long-awaited results of its large-scale, interactive measurement study conducted during the 2011 Coordinate Metrology Systems Conference (CMSC), which was held July 25–29 in Phoenix. The 58-page report, “How Behavior Impacts Your…
Donald Jasurda
Manufacturers face many obstacles across the life cycle of delivering a product to market.
They often find themselves:
• Spending a lot of time reworking or repairing parts
• With parts that fail inspection, but fit and function properly when assembled
• With parts that pass…
William A. Levinson
The recent incident in which JetBlue stranded Flight 504’s passengers on a runway for seven hours reinforces the need for all but recreational travelers to adopt remote conferencing technology as rapidly as possible. It is past time to eliminate the need for the so-called services of an industry…
Gallup
Telltale markers are everywhere: the sliver of plastic clipped to a key chain, the colorful card positioned deep inside a purse, the frequent e-mail reminders about a “special” deal available only to members of a maybe not-so-exclusive club. These are just a few of the loyalty and rewards…
Thomas R. Cutler
In a little more than a month, the U.S. presidential primaries will begin; in a year the national election will be upon us. To most politicians, most Americans, and the millions of unemployed, no issue is greater than creating jobs in the United States.
Calls for funding and stimulus…
Knowledge at Wharton
Armed with powerful mobile devices, consumers and employees have become the force behind a wireless wave of change. Whether they are seeking discounted prices or looking to coordinate a sales campaign, these mobile end users are growing impatient with companies that are still trying to control…
Mark R. Hamel
I’m certainly no physicist, but I think there’s a worthy analogy between the decay of radioisotopes and lean behavior within an organization.
According to a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ webpage on Radiation Emergency Medical Management: • “Radioactive half-life is the time…
Knowledge at Wharton
Innovation is a tough word to define, but most would say they know it when they see it. At a recent Wharton Women in Business conference, participants were asked to discuss their personal definitions of the term and give a concrete example from their own experiences. Here is a look at what they…
Christine Park
We’ve heard of the recent Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decisions to increase the focus of inspections on management with executive responsibility. There have been at least two warning letters issued this year with observations targeted in this area.
Although there are 26 references to…
Tripp Babbitt
Information technology is failing us. Service organizations the world over have been left to sift through the carnage of IT projects that have failed. Undeterred, they seem to quickly embrace the next IT project before the last is given a proper burial.
The research and evidence on failed IT…
Mark Graban
People in health care know that miscommunications are a major cause of errors and potential harm. A curious incident that occurred during game five of the 2011 World Series illustrated this issue in a very public way: A miscommunication set off an action that ultimately left the St. Louis…
Tracker Handbook by Art Kietlinski
Understanding the importance of collecting accurate data, using the correct drift checks, and applying accurate thermal scaling are critical elements of a successful measurement plan. Even if all the correct measurement techniques are applied, creating the coordinate system incorrectly will…
Paul Naysmith
In the business world we certainly like to toss around choice words to express our ideas. I don’t think I’ve ever used the term “strategic planning” in my home or personal life. I can well imagine my wife’s stare of death (inherited from her two teacher parents) if I ever suggested that we “…
Donald J. Wheeler
From the perspective of data analysis, rare events are problematic. Until we have an event,
there is nothing to count, and as a result many of our time periods will end up with zero counts.
Since zero counts contain no real information, we need to consider alternatives to counting the rare…
NVision Inc.
Aircraft Technologies Inc., a leading manufacturer of toilets for corporate jets, saved $20,000 and four weeks in reduced tooling costs and time for a new model by utilizing NVision’s laser scanning and engineering services. “By scanning an existing upper and lower bowl assembly and modifying…
Andy McCabe
They’re all around us, all the time, but we don’t recognize them because they wear business suits, sports jackets, dresses, high heels, or maybe sneakers and dungarees. They’re the men and women we work with who are hiding their true identities in the workplace. Let’s see if we can figure out…
Mike Richman
As with enlightenment, there are many paths to quality improvement. Trade shows, seminars, and live video demos are all effective ways to keep on top of the latest developments in the industry. User conferences are another great option, particularly a well-designed, information-packed event…
Bruce Hamilton
I’ve just returned from a brief sojourn that included:1. Marrying off my older daughter, Christine, in Disneyworld, followed by
2. A short vacation for our younger kids, and then,
3. A short illness and trip to the hospital for me.
No relationship between the third event and the former two…
Kurt Manufacturing
Accuracy is what Kurt Manufacturing vises are all about. The company has delivered its rugged products for more than 50 years. Recently, Kurt designed automated gauging and work-holding into its automated production system (APS) to control all functions and deliver a quality, near-perfect…
Gartner
Gartner Inc., an information technology (IT) research and advisory company, has highlighted the top 10 technologies and trends that will be strategic for most organizations in 2012. The analysts presented their findings during the Gartner Symposium ITxpo that was held in Orlando, Florida, last…
