Quality articles from July 2002

Quality archives from July 2002

Eliminate ISO 9000? (From The Editor).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... So I'm driving down the street the other day, and what do I see? Stenciled in huge letters, taking up most of the back side of the 18-wheeler in front of me, are the words: ISO 9001 certified. I had to look hard to even spot the name of the...

Coming events. (Industry News).
July 1, 2002... August * Understanding and Preparing lot ISO 9001: 2000, Baltimore, Aug. 5. Stat-A-Matrix, (800) 472-6477. * Root Cause Analysis Methods, Hopewell, VA, Aug. 13-15. Reliability Center Inc., (804) 458-0645. * ASTM Co mil. tee E37 on...

Auto quality continues to improve. (Industry News).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 1, 2002... The automotive industry improved initial quality by 10% compared to 2001, the largest quality improvement for the industry since 1997, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2002 Initial Quality Study. Initial quality has improved by 24%...

Newport completes sale of metrology business. (Industry News).(to Quality Vision International)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Newport Corp. (Irvine, CA) has completed the sale of its U.S.-based noncontact metrology business to Quality Vision International Inc. (QVI, Rochester, NY). QVI is the parent company of Optical Gaging Products Inc. (Rochester, NY), a designer...

Applied statistics to acquire DataMyte. (Industry News).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Applied Statistics Inc. (St. Paul, MN) has signed an agreement to acquire the DataMyte business of Rockwell Automation Inc. Applied Statistics is a developer of statistical process control software for the manufacturing industry. DataMyte...

Xygent signs OEM agreement. (Industry News). (with SIP).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Xygent Inc. (Warwick, RI) has signed an agreement with SIP (Geneva), the Swiss coordinate measuring machine (CMM) and computer numerical control machine (CNC) tool manufacturer. Under the agreement, SIP's CMMs and CNCs will be bundled with...

Valenite Inc. (Business news). (gets recertified to ISO 9001).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Valenite Inc. (Madison Heights, MI) has been recertified to ISO 9001 and the TE Supplement.

Detroit Precision Tool Co. (Rochester Hills, MI) and Hommelwerke (Germany) have formed a global partnership, Detroit Precision Hommel. (Business News).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Detroit Precision Tool Co. (Rochester Hills, MI) and Hommelwerke (Germany) have formed a global partnership, Detroit Precision Hommel. The new entity, headquartered in Rochester Hills, combines the metrology technology of both companies to...

Integrity Design and Test Services. (Business News). (information on services).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Integrity Design and Test Services (Boston), an Entela Inc. company, now offers the following performance tests: vibration, thermal aging, thermal cycling, programmable chamber exposures, and temperature and humidity.

Meterman Test Tools. (Business News). (launches Meterman HD multimeter).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... Meterman Test Tools (Everett, WA) has delivered its one millionth Meterman HD Series digital multimeter.

Automated Precision Inc. (Business News). (relocates).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Automated Precision Inc., a manufacturer of laser measurement systems, has relocated its headquarters and advanced manufacturing facilities to a 45,000 square-foot facility in Rockville, MD.

Bridge-Soft (Derry, NH) has signed a multisite agreement for its quality management system (QMS) with Rohm and Hass Co.'s (Philadelphia) Electronic Materials Div. (Business News).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Bridge-Soft (Derry, NH) has signed a multisite agreement for its quality management system (QMS) with Rohm and Hass Co.'s (Philadelphia) Electronic Materials Div. The QMS will allow the Electronic Materials Div. to manage its quality testing...

Fischer Technology. (Business News).(ISO 9001 certification)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Fischer Technology (Windsor, CT) has achieved ISO 9001: 2000 certification.

Smithers Quality Assessments Inc. (Business News).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Smithers Quality Assessments Inc. (Akron, OH) recorded a 29% growth in ISO 9000 certificates issued to U.S. companies in 2001, exceeding the industry growth rate of 9%.

Robert Bosch Corp. has selected ITAC Software's (Canonsburg, PA) easy works collaborative production management system for Bosch's automotive components manufacturing facility in Charleston, SC. (Business News).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Robert Bosch Corp. has selected ITAC Software's (Canonsburg, PA) easy works collaborative production management system for Bosch's automotive components manufacturing facility in Charleston, SC. Bosch chose the system because its technology...

Motion Industries Inc. (Business News).(new branch)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Motion Industries Inc. (Birmingham, AL) has opened a new branch in Muskogee, OK.

The Boeing Co. (Chicago) has awarded Cincinnati Machine (Cincinnati) its Q100 Supplier Quality Recognition Award. (Business News).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... The Boeing Co. (Chicago) has awarded Cincinnati Machine (Cincinnati) its Q100 Supplier Quality Recognition Award. Boeing's Q100 program recognizes its top 100 suppliers as measured against the company's quality standards.

Panasonic Vision Group. (People News).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Frank Foster has been appointed sales applications engineer at Panasonic Vision Group (Secaucus, NJ).

Six Sigma Academy. (People News).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Six Sigma Academy (Scottsdale, AZ) has named Max Allway vice president of consulting operations.

International Light Inc. (People News).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Lawrence E. Schmutz has been appointed president of International Light Inc. (Newburyport, MA).

Xygent Inc. (People News).(names Frank Meyer director of software development)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Frank Meyer has been named director of software development for Vision Systems at Xygent Inc. (Warwick, RI).

Howmet Castings. (People News).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Lisa K. Barnes has been named director of quality assurance at Howmet Castings (Darien, CT).

Leica Microsystems Inc. (People News).(Gerhard Kleineidam joins managing board)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Gerhard Kleineidam has joined Leica Microsystems Inc.'s (Bannock-burn, IL) managing board. On Sept. 1, Kleineidam will replace the company's current chief executive officer, Horst Wegener.

Carl Zeiss IMT Corp. (People News).(Educational Society for Resource Management award)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Zygmunt Osada, a master production scheduler at Carl Zeiss IMT Corp. (Minneapolis), has been commended by the Educational Society for Resource Management for his contributions to certification courseware used in teaching resources master...

Edison ESI Metrology. (People News).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Greg Cenker has joined the engineering team at Edison ESI Metrology (Westminister, CA).

Mahr Federal. (People News).(Patrick Nugent appointed)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Patrick Nugent has been appointed vice president of metrology systems at Mahr Federal (Providence, RI).

Automated Precision Inc. (People News).(appoints Victor Knox vice president of marketing and sales)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Victor Knox has been appointed vice president of marketing and sales at Automated Precision Inc. (Gaithersburg, MD).

A Six Sigma challenge Part III: doing the gage study correctly. (Sophronia's Solutions).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Everyone who has faced a production problem with a need to solve the problem by using production data can relate to the notion of a brain teaser. Tire brain teasers presented here are based on real-world situations that are encountered by...

Infrared camera goes small. (Quality Innovations).(Indigo Systems Corp. product)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Designers of consumer electronics gear, it seems, are constantly developing ways to shrink a product's size without sacrificing features or capabilities found in the bigger model it is meant to replace. The same is true in many industrial...

Competition rising in portable CMMs: more and better products at increasingly lower prices are making this relatively new technology more affordable than ever. (Measurement, Test and Inspection)(Cover Story).
July 1, 2002... The U.S. market for portable coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) is beginning to heat up. Since the first portable CMMs made their appearance in this country about 15 years ago, the technology has been primarily associated with just a...

Add flexibility to gaging systems: use the following gaging strategies to control flexible manufacturing processes. (Controlling The Manufacturing Process).
July 1, 2002... As the global trend toward outsourcing and decentralization of manufacturing continues to gather momentum, business managers and process designers alike find themselves facing a new set of challenges. Simply put, while production batch sizes...

Workers fight for quality hours are up and salaries are down. Why are these people so satisfied? (Management).(Statistical Data Included)
July 1, 2002... I'm burning out." That is what one quality professional said. And while not everyone that responded to Quality magazine's 2nd Annual State of the Profession Survey is in this state, this worker, apparently, is not alone. Today's...

IMTS showcases quality; dedicated to the latest in manufacturing technology, IMTS promises to be a productivity marketplace for those in the industry. (IMTS Preview).
July 1, 2002... As the manufacturing sector continues to emerge from the recent recession, this year's International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) is the place to visit. Celebrating its 75th anniversary, IMTS will host more than 1,300 exhibitors and...

Outside expertise for quick certification. (Case Studies).(LK Metrology Systems, certification to the ISO/IEC 17025 standard)
July 1, 2002... LK Metrology Systems Inc. (Brighton, MI), a supplier of coordinate measuring machines (CMMs), was facing a new customer requirement. By early 2000, it was becoming increasingly clear that to avoid losing future business, LK would need to...

Microscope system cuts time for coatings analysis. (Case Studies).(Sermatech Power Solutions)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... At Sermatech Power Solutions (Limerick, PA), lab technicians used to peer through a microscope eyepiece to manually measure and evaluate the protective coating materials that the company applies to power generation and aerospace turbine...

Nonprofit MEP aids small biz. (Case Studies).(manufacturing extension partnership)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... For a small, minority owned machining and metal fabrication manufacturer such as Precision Tool Manufacturer (Greer, SC), the idea of achieving ISO 9002 certification might have seemed far-fetched. Given the costs and time involved in the...

Thread inspection. (New Products).(advertisement)
July 1, 2002... REPLY 100 Multi-Ball thread inspection gages have free-floating hardened balls that are used as thread-flank contact elements. They can be positioned at any location on the thread and either a knurled thimble or pin expands the balls into...

Inverted Metallographs. (New Products).(advertisement)
July 1, 2002... REPLY 101 The Olympus GX-Series Inverted Metallographs are built from solid-aluminum casting for stability and vibration control. The GX51 and GX72 models are modular and offer objectives ranging from 1.25X to 250X, reticle sliders that...

LED illumination products. (New Products).(advertisement)
July 1, 2002... REPLY 102 A line of LED illumination products includes diffuse lights, diffuse axial lights, ring lights, spotlights and line lights. The lights are available with 660 nanometer (nm, Red), 880nm near infrared (IR), white, or red, green and...

PDA. (New Products).(advertisement)
July 1, 2002... REPLY 103 The Cimplicity PalmView Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) comes with Cimplicity collaborative production management software. It features Thin Client, a wireless Ethernet technology that provides real-time graphical automation and...

Screwdriver/torque tester. (New Products).(advertisement)
July 1, 2002... REPLY 104 The Model DS-4 digital torque tester has an accuracy of [+ or -] 5% full scale, [+ or -] 1 least significant digit and measures torque in first peak, peak and real-time modes. It has programmable setpoints that provide both an...

Borescopes. (New Products).(advertisement)
July 1, 2002... REPLY 105 Microborescopes view and inspect small confines. The scopes are 0.5 millimeter to 4 millimeters in diameter. The scopes have an optional 375-degree orbital scan, dedicated body design and quick disconnect. Instrument...

Part Tracking. (Data Acquisition).(advertisement)
July 1, 2002... The ArcAgent system uses Part Tracking technology, a state space tracking algorithm to verify the complete process of one or more robots through a complex set of welds on an assembly or part. The system monitors process faults on individual...

Recorders. (Data Acquisition).(advertisement)
July 1, 2002... The 5000 Series graphic data acquisition recorders have custom screens and plant mimic, remote PC access and operator interface via Ethernet connection, file transfer protocol and batch functionality. Screen Builder allows operators to...

Frequency counter. (Data Acquisition).
July 1, 2002... Model 1856C counter measures frequencies from 5 hertz to 2.4 gigahertz. The counter has an eight-digit display with up to 10 hertz resolution to 2.4 gigahertz, 1 hertz resolution to 100 megahertz and 0.1 hertz to 10 megahertz. In period mode,...

Materials analysis. (Data Acquisition).
July 1, 2002... Fischerscope Multi Measurement System measures coating thickness. An operator can combine and configure different test methods to do a number of coating thickness measurements. It comes with GCS software, which functions as a statistical...

Data collector. (Data Acquisition).(advertisement)
July 1, 2002... Microlog CMVA 60, Version 3.81 data collector uses Configuration Wizard timesaving firmware with self-test capability and automatic triaxial data collection via a Triax Accelerometer. The collector can store up to six operator-defined preset...

Centerless grinder. (Machine Tools).
July 1, 2002... Model 4520C centerless grinder has a CNC rotary diamond truing of 12-inch diameter. The machine can grind parts ranging in diameter from 0.05 inch to 1.57 inches. It includes full guarding and mist control. Automated part handling systems can...

Benchtop meter. (Machine Tools).
July 1, 2002... The benchtop meter measures -2 to 15.99 pH with [+ or -] 0.01 pH accuracy. The meter measures -999.9 to 999.9 millivolts with [+ or -] 0.2 millivolt accuracy. It also measures up to 9,999 concentration units with [+ or -] 0.5% accuracy and -5...

Force gage. (Machine Tools).
July 1, 2002... 80A Series is a handheld force gage that reads pounds and kilograms. It can be used for push-pull forces in material testing, manufacturing assembly, maintenance and inspection. It has an accuracy of [+ or -] 0.3% and a measuring range of 2 to...

Pressure tester. (Machine Tools).
July 1, 2002... Model ABPT-10K is an automated, Windows-based hydroburst tester. The tester has a maximum pressure of 10,000 psi and an accuracy of 0.25% of full scale. Tests can be done in less than five minutes. Data can be stored and used by programs such...

Surface roughness. (Surface Analysis).
July 1, 2002... SJ-401 portable surface roughness tester measures 35 different parameters. The tester has a wide traverse range of 800 microns and a resolution of 0.000125 micron. The tool doesn't require recalibration or other adjustments. It meets all ANSI,...

Surface area analyzers. (Surface Analysis).
July 1, 2002... SA-9600 Multipoint Series surface area analyzers measure areas from 0.1 to 2,000 square meters per gram. The analyzers have single and triple station analyzers, as well as three-station sample preparation facility for continuous analysis of a...

Roundness measurement. (Surface Analysis).
July 1, 2002... Talyrond 290 roundness measuring machine does inner and outer diameter or flat to round surfaces. It is automatic. An automatic center and leveling table handles parts up to 450 millimeters in diameter and weighing up to 75 kilograms. It can be...

Gages: lost and found Quality's Online Reader Forum addresses what to do if a lost piece of equipment turns up and is past its calibration date. (Quality Online).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Quality Online's Reader Forum, found at www.i-boards.com/bnp/qm/default. asp, provides an electronic meeting place for quality professionals to share ideas and get help with problems. Here is an excerpt from a recent exchange regarding gage...