The aerospace industry is constantly innovating and pushing the limits of what’s possible. This puts a lot of pressure on manufacturers to ensure their airplanes are top-notch in quality, safety, and efficiency.
Automated Handling Solutions Germany GmbH Test Center in Friedrichsdorf, Germany
In the food industry, it’s common for processors to test—and even retest—their products on the conveyor systems they are considering purchasing.
NIST Fellow and researcher Antonio Possolo helped estimate the value of the Planck constant. The Kibble balance, pictured here, uses the numerical value of Planck constant to define the kilogram. Credit: M. King/NIST
If a traveler from Germany goes to Vietnam and falls ill, the results of their blood test there should be as meaningful as if the test were taken at home.
Photo by camilo jimenez on Unsplash
In the healthcare sector, precision isn’t just a requirement. It’s a necessity where the margins for error are perilously thin, and the consequences of inaccuracy can be grave.
Calibration, a critical aspect of maintaining equipment precision, involves more than routine checks. It’s a complex decision-making process in which quality, lead time, and price are weighed.
Control charts help to understand a process’s “personality,” know which questions to ask, when to intervene, and when to leave a process alone. Photo by Erik Kroon on Unsplash.
In less than two months we will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the invention of the control chart, a tool most often associated with statistical process control (SPC). Considering SPC from our modern perspective made us ask, “Is SPC still relevant?”
MIT researchers developed an algorithm that can automatically select the best shortcuts for a robot to take on its way to a destination that will reduce the overall travel time while limiting the likelihood that the robot will meet an impassable obstacle. Image: Jose-Luis Olivares, MIT; iStock
If a robot traveling to a destination has just two possible paths, it only needs to compare the routes’ travel time and probability of success.
Recovered F-1 engine components on display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle. Credit: Museum of Flight, Seattle
Like many people, as a child I had dreams of flying into space as an astronaut. That interest in aerospace and space exploration has continued throughout my life.
Many critics and movie fans alike name 1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark as one of the best films of all time.
Photo by Arseny Togulev on Unsplash
The next frontier for industrial digitization and automation is the convergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine vision.
© 2025 Quality Digest. Copyright on content held by Quality Digest or by individual authors. Contact Quality Digest for reprint information.
“Quality Digest" is a trademark owned by Quality Circle Institute Inc.