(NVision: Coppell, TX) -- Cameron Compression Systems used NVision HandHeld laser scanners to produce a solid model of an existing large engine in one-tenth of the time that would have been required using conventional methods.

Story update 10/22/2009: We added a reference to Toyota Kata in the first paragraph.

(SigmaQuest: Sunnyvale, CA) -- SigmaQuest recently announced that Aspen Avionics has signed a multiyear purchase agreement for its SigmaSure product quality management software as a service (SAAS) offerings.

(Nikon Instruments Inc.: Melville, NY) -- Nikon Instruments Inc. recently announced the availability of the iNEXIV VMA Automeasure Version 2.5 software specifically designed for the iNEXIV VMA-2520 multisensor measuring system.

When you think about equipment that is used for measuring and test activities, you think about important equipment that is used to pass or fail product but may not necessarily see its correlation with a supply chain.

(MicroDynamics: Woodstock, GA) -- MicroDynamics announces the release of the new MD-MicroQC, a lightweight, durable surface inspection microscope.

Ten years after the Institute of Medicine released its influential report "To Err Is Human" (www.iom.edu/en/Reports/1999/To-Err-is-Human-Building-A-Safer-Health-System.a

(Intertek: Houston, TX) -- Intertek, a global provider of quality and safety solutions, is pleased to announce that as of Oct. 9, 2009, it is accredited by the ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board (ANAB) to offer certification to the AS9110 standard.

(Dimensional Metrology Standards Consortium: Arlington, TX) -- The new DMIS Output Tools are inexpensive and easy-to-use reporting tools. The DMIS Output Tools application offers a simple set of data reporting and export capabilities based on standard DMIS output files.

(Society of Manufacturing Engineers: Dearborn, MI) -- Be sure to mark May 18–20, 2010, on your calendar. That's the date for RAPID, North America's largest annual rapid and additive manufacturing conference and exposition. The event will be held at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, California.