All Features
Birgit Albrecht
Globally, wind power generation has increased more than fivefold since 2000. With the global trend toward limiting CO2 emissions and numerous governmental programs subsidizing or financing wind power generation, its share of global power generation is set to experience substantial growth in the…
Tracker Handbook by Art Kietlinski
As a senior applications engineer, one of my tasks is to train customers to correctly operate a laser tracker. This month, I would like to share with you some common in-field experiences and issues that I encounter with those who use a laser tracker on a day-to-day basis.
With more than 20 years…
Danita Johnson Hughes Ph.D.
Read this. It won’t be a waste of time.
Time gets lost. People kill time. Time flies. It gets wasted. Time weighs heavy on our hands. We spend time. Time passes. It drags on or it hurries by. Those behind bars are said to be doing time. Sometimes, we have no time left; we’re out of time.…
Donald J. Wheeler
Measurement error is generally considered to be a bad thing, and yet there is very little written about how measurement error affects the way we use our measurements.
This column will consider these effects for four different uses of data. But first we need to describe how to characterize…
Donald J. Wheeler
Measurement error is generally considered to be a bad thing, and yet there is very little written about how measurement error affects the way we use our measurements.
This column will consider these effects for four different uses of data. But first we need to describe how to characterize…
The Conference Board
The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which had increased in February 2011, declined in March. The index now stands at 63.4 (1985 = 100), down from 72.0 in February. The Present Situation Index improved to 36.9 from 33.8. The Expectations Index decreased to 81.1 from 97.5 last month.…
The Conference Board
The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which had increased in February 2011, declined in March. The index now stands at 63.4 (1985 = 100), down from 72.0 in February. The Present Situation Index improved to 36.9 from 33.8. The Expectations Index decreased to 81.1 from 97.5 last month.…
Davis Balestracci
There are four statements regarding control charts that are myths and in my experience, just refuse to die. The next time you're sitting in a seminar and someone tries to teach you how to transform data to make them normally distributed, or at any point during the seminar says, “Normal distribution…
TraceGains
Under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), food manufacturers and processors who import food ingredients and raw materials will be required to implement a Foreign Supplier Verification Program, essentially mandating that foreign suppliers undergo the same rigor and scrutiny as domestic ones.…
TraceGains
Under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), food manufacturers and processors who import food ingredients and raw materials will be required to implement a Foreign Supplier Verification Program, essentially mandating that foreign suppliers undergo the same rigor and scrutiny as domestic ones.…
Jidoka is one of the core principles of the Toyota Production System, one that empowers production-line workers to take immediate action the moment a defect is detected. The worker who discovers the defect pulls a red cord, and the entire assembly line stops. Co-workers and the supervisor rush over…
Michael Raphael
On Jan. 29, 2004, 11 people lost their lives and 50 were wounded in a suicide bombing on Egged Bus 19 in Jerusalem. Since that tragic incident, the remains of Bus 19 have travelled around the world as a reminder of the horrors of terrorism. First stopping at The Hague for the International Court of…
Michael Raphael
On Jan. 29, 2004, 11 people lost their lives and 50 were wounded in a suicide bombing on Egged Bus 19 in Jerusalem. Since that tragic incident, the remains of Bus 19 have travelled around the world as a reminder of the horrors of terrorism. First stopping at The Hague for the International Court of…
Jidoka is one of the core principles of the Toyota Production System, one that empowers production-line workers to take immediate action the moment a defect is detected. The worker who discovers the defect pulls a red cord, and the entire assembly line stops. Co-workers and the supervisor rush over…
Siemens PLM Software
(Siemens Corp: Munich, Germany) -- Product life-cycle management (PLM) is the process of managing the entire life cycle of a product, from its conception, through design and manufacture, to service and disposal. Siemens PLM Software shares strategies for improving PLM at your company through the…
Siemens PLM Software
(Siemens Corp: Munich, Germany) -- Product life-cycle management (PLM) is the process of managing the entire life cycle of a product, from its conception, through design and manufacture, to service and disposal. Siemens PLM Software shares strategies for improving PLM at your company through the…
Bill Kalmar
A recent column of mine described how deleting the cheese on a burger resulted in our not receiving a $10 credit. It was an example of a breakdown in customer service. Suffice it to say that contacting corporate management resolved the situation. But the question remains: Why does such a minor…
MIT News
In recent years, many airplane manufacturers have started building their planes from advanced composite materials, which consist of high-strength fibers such as carbon or glass, embedded in a plastic or metal matrix. Such materials are stronger and more lightweight than aluminum, but they are…
Bill Kalmar
A recent column of mine described how deleting the cheese on a burger resulted in our not receiving a $10 credit. It was an example of a breakdown in customer service. Suffice it to say that contacting corporate management resolved the situation. But the question remains: Why does such a minor…
MIT News
In recent years, many airplane manufacturers have started building their planes from advanced composite materials, which consist of high-strength fibers such as carbon or glass, embedded in a plastic or metal matrix. Such materials are stronger and more lightweight than aluminum, but they are…
Tom Pyzdek
Story update 3/29/2011: We corrected an error in the next to last sentence. "p < 0.05" was changed to "p > 0.05."
One of the exercises I assign to students in my training involves creating two histograms from normally distributed random numbers. The results often look similar to those shown…
Tom Pyzdek
Story update 3/29/2011: We corrected an error in the next to last sentence. "p < 0.05" was changed to "p > 0.05."
One of the exercises I assign to students in my training involves creating two histograms from normally distributed random numbers. The results often look similar to those shown…
Johns Hopkins University
(JHU: Baltimore, MD) -- The International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Johns Hopkins University Center for Civil Society Studies have released a new manual to help statistical agencies around the world track the amount, type, and value of volunteer work in their countries.
The manual, drafted…
Johns Hopkins University
(JHU: Baltimore, MD) -- The International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Johns Hopkins University Center for Civil Society Studies have released a new manual to help statistical agencies around the world track the amount, type, and value of volunteer work in their countries.
The manual, drafted…
Mark R. Hamel
A colleague of mine recently shared a story about the renowned Chihiro Nakao, student of Taiichi Ohno and founder of the Shingijutsu, the consulting group that teaches Toyota Production System principles. According to the story, a client once asked Nakao if he granted any Black Belt certifications…
