There are entire books, thorough training, and certification processes all devoted to lean supply-chain practices. But within any manufacturing environment, there are a few relatively simple steps that will help any enterprise to make its supply chain more lean.

It can take anywhere from six weeks to six months to build a 2,800-square-foot, two-story house in the United States, mostly because human beings do all the work.

(Carl Zeiss: Munich, Germany) -- Light Lab, the first accompanying app for ZEN 2011 imaging software from Carl Zeiss, is now available for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. Light Lab supplements the ZEN 2011 controlling and image-processing software functions within the experimental lab workflow.

(NIST) -- The news in 2001 was impressive, but it’s even more emphatically evident a decade later: The Baldrige Performance Excellence Program (BPEP) significantly benefits the U.S. economy.

(Qualtrax: Christiansburg, VA) -- Qualtrax Inc., a leading provider of compliance software that enables electronic document and process management for a variety of industries, has released Qualtrax v. 4.3, which includes updates suggested by customers.

(Olympus: Center Valley, PA) -- In material science laboratories where capturing, retrieving, and analyzing sample images from microscopes can be complex, Olympus Stream image analysis software v.

(Micro-Epsilon) -- Micro-Epsilon’s optoCONTROL 1200 is the most compact, high-speed micrometer within the company’s product range. With all optoCONTROL sensors, a light source emits a laser or LED-light curtain in the direction of the receiver.

(Jossey-Bass: San Francisco) -- In The Hedgehog Effect: The Secrets of Building High Performance Teams (Jossey-Bass/Wiley, 2012), Manfred Kets de Vries presents the case for leader

(Thwing-Albert: West Berlin, NJ) -- Thwing-Albert Instrument Co., manufacturer of advanced testing instrumentation, has redesigned its Vapometer Cup for easier sample setup in the lab.

From the Broadway play A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum comes a delightful song titled Comedy Tonight.