All Features
Gleb Tsipursky
A new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis shows that output in U.S. businesses is trending higher, even though head count has barely moved. A few years ago you might have blamed pent-up demand or a lucky sales run. In late 2025, the more honest explanation is that a growing share of…
Paul Hanaphy
Recently we were tasked with scanning Odawara Castle, a massive heritage site in Japan, including every detail from courtyards and buildings down to a drawbridge and individual rivets on castle gates.
Odawara Castle was built more than 500 years ago, with fortifications first erected during the…
George Schuetz
Just like the people who use them, gauges should have periodic physical examinations. Sometimes, gauge calibration is needed to identify the seriousness of a known problem, and sometimes it uncovers problems you didn’t know existed.
But as with a human exam, the main reason for the annual checkup…
Santosh Vasudevan
For more than 30 years I’ve audited management systems in manufacturing, automotive, laboratory, service, and nuclear environments. During that time I’ve watched internal auditing change shape several times. Paper checklists gave way to process-based auditing. Filing cabinets gave way to digital…
Henry DeVries
In the world of expertise-driven businesses, credibility is currency. For leaders who sell insight, a book can be one of the most powerful tools to attract the right clients. It signals authority, builds trust at scale, and creates opportunities for speaking, partnerships, and growth.
This is the…
Paddy McNamara
The food manufacturing industry has spent the last two years trying to figure out where AI fits: Vision inspection systems? Predictive maintenance? Yield optimization? Contamination detection? The applications are real, but they’re expensive, technically complex, and often require significant…
Donald J. Wheeler
In the 1980s, demand for SPC classes outstripped the supply of competent instructors. Novices were teaching neophytes, and misinformation could be found everywhere. Out of this chaos, many incorrect ideas about process behavior charts became widely circulated. These ideas continue to be spread by…
Mark Hembree
Artificial intelligence is accelerating even as I write this (and yes, this is me writing). If anyone tells you they know how this is going to turn out, you should move on to the next expert. No one knows how this is going to turn out.
Leaders in the AI field certainly expect it to become…
IDS Imaging Development Systems
In modern aircraft production, precision is everything. Every hole and every fixing point must be precisely positioned to ensure safety and quality.
As part of the DiCADeMA project (Digital Cabin Architectures and Design for Manufacturing) led by the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), a novel…
Angie Basiouny
New research from Wharton’s Tiantian Yang proves that behind every great woman is another woman.
Her co-authored study on virtual career training found that women who attended remote classes exclusively with other women were much more likely to complete their training on time, earn professional…
Chengyi Lin, Michael Lee
Many leaderships teams staring down the barrel of organizational transformation face a similar dilemma: How do you take a leap into the unknown when there are no clear data, no well-trodden path to follow, and no assurance of success? What if the change you’re considering is uncharted territory,…
Mike Figliuolo
Finding the right balance between how you handle success and failure makes a tremendous difference in how motivated (or unmotivated) your team members are. There are simple techniques for celebrating success and dealing with failure. Apply them and you’ll find your team is happier and more…
Jeff Dewar
Our video producer Chris Smith almost watched the Artemis II launch in person. He drove to Kennedy Space Center with all his fancy gear, along the way got stuck in the snow twice—in Texas, of all places—and then NASA scrubbed the launch and rolled the rocket back for repairs. So Chris drove back to…
Nick Recht
In 2026, a combination of original equipment manufacturer (OEM) mandates, evolving industry standards, and tightening global trade requirements will significantly raise expectations for labeling and traceability throughout the supply chain. For manufacturers and suppliers, these changes introduce…
William A. Levinson
A significant change in ISO 9001:2026 involves separate actions to address risks and opportunities. In her article “Brainstorming: The Ultimate Risk Management Tool,” Jenna M Schoettker writes, “Think of risk as two sides of a coin. On one side we have our negative risk, while the other side would…
AMETEK
The background: Managing power in data centers is process-critical and extraordinarily complex. These facilities demand substantial amounts of energy, and the supply must remain stable, clean, and capable of adapting quickly to fluctuations in demand.
Expectations for reliability and security…
CANEA
Digital transformation and technologies such as artificial intelligence or the internet of things (IoT) aren’t just changing our society; they’re revolutionizing how we do business.
The speed of innovation can be a challenge. But it also presents an opportunity. As a quality leader, you must…
Kiran Myalur Dharmaputhra
Corrective and preventive action (CAPA) is the backbone of any quality management system. It’s where problems get solved, risks get reduced, and processes become more robust. Yet in many organizations, CAPA has become little more than a documentation exercise.
Forms get filled. Boxes get checked.…
Andy Addington
Three years ago, I’d never heard the term biomedical equipment technician (BMET). I didn’t know the field of healthcare technology management (HTM) existed. Today, I’m a BMET II responsible for making sure critical medical equipment is available and safe for patient care. It’s incredible to look at…
Chip Bell
Southern politicians often have a homespun way of making a point. A few years ago, a candidate for a small-town sheriff’s election was overheard saying, “Criticize my drawl, you make me laugh. Criticize my views, you make me listen. But criticize my mama and you’re asking for a fight.”
Customer…
Megan King
Torque wrenches—and the people who use them to build and maintain planes—are unsung heroes of the skies.
Torque wrenches measure the force that causes an object to rotate. Aircraft mechanics use torque wrenches to ensure that bolts and fasteners on planes are correctly tightened. Without them, a…
Cooper Schorr
The era of the unlimited, always-on, general-purpose AI agent is ending. Subscriptions weren’t priced for behavior that never sleeps, and a monthly plan burning thousands of dollars in computation was never going to survive the unit economics.
If you’ve tried to get an AI pilot past Phase One,…
Bruce Hamilton
Happy spring! Here’s a story about “Toast Kaizen” that I’ve never told.
In 1998, as general manager at a medium-size manufacturing company, I created the original toast video for my management team. I was trying to get them out of their offices to “go see” not only the factory floor but their own…
Dylan Walsh
Jack Welch, the legendary General Electric CEO, was infamous for firing the bottom 10% of his workforce every year, without exception. The company’s market cap rose substantially during Welch’s tenure, but his “rank and yank” ritual was divisive.
If you knew your job was always on the line, the…
Lily Fang
Software is eating the world, venture capitalist and entrepreneur Marc Andreessen famously declared in 2011. The ensuing 15 years proved him prescient. In February 2026, a Substack article by Citrini Research grabbed headlines and triggered a market sell-off of SaaS (software-as-a-service) firms,…