Quality articles from June 2003

Quality archives from June 2003

Don't care? hah! (From the Editor).(Editorial)
June 1, 2003... Many involved with quality tell me that there is nothing new in manufacturing, or that no one cares about it. These naysayers have not had my schedule during the past month. The trade shows I've attended and phone calls, letters and e-mails...

Shingo award winners named. (Industry News).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... LOGAN, UT--Dubbed the "Nobel Prize of Manufacturing" by Business Week, the Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing selected 15 winners from a record pool of applicants and finalists. The Shingo Prize focuses on lean manufacturing that...

Coming events. (Industry News).(Calendar)
June 1, 2003... JULY * Lean Technical Workshops, Hartford, CT, July 7-11. Lean Enterprise Institute, (617) 713-2900. * Introduction of Basic Stats, Quality Stats and Factorial DOE, Princeton, NJ, July 8-11. Minitab, (800) 4483555. * ISO 9001:2000...

Instron. (Business News).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Instron (Canton, MA) now offers verification and calibration services. Instron can perform calibrations exceeding standards or tailor calibration programs to meet unique customer requirements. Instron's technical field engineers perform all...

Mitutoyo America Corp. (Business News).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Mitutoyo America Corp. (Aurora, IL) established the Integrated Measuring Solutions Group to offer integrated measuring and manufacturing solutions to manufacturers who need customized measurement solutions in combination with unique fixturing...

Vacuum Technology Inc. (Oak Ridge, TN) and Sterling PCU (Dayton, OH) have formed an alliance. (Business News).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Vacuum Technology Inc. (Oak Ridge, TN) and Sterling PCU (Dayton, OH) have formed an alliance to offer production and test equipment to manufacturers of heating, ventilating and air-conditioning equipment, refrigerators and automotive heating...

Eriez Magnetics. (Business News).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Eriez Magnetics (Erie, PA) has opened a new manufacturing and sales facility in China. The plant is located in Shanghai's Pudong free trade zone.

Teradyne's Assembly and Test Div. (Business News).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Teradyne's Assembly and Test Div. (Boston) has combined its SCE manufacturing execution software with the QualityStream quality management software from MetricStream Inc. (Santa Clara, CA). The combined product will enable manufacturers to...

Regal Marine Industries. (Business News).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Regal Marine Industries (Orlando, FL) uses CATSWeb software from AssurX Inc. (Morgan Hill, CA) to track corrective and preventive actions taken at its manufacturing plants in Valdosta, GA, and Orlando, FL.

Manufacturers invest in e-commerce. (Industry News).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... WASHINGTON, D.C.--Despite the recession, manufacturers are continuing to invest in e-commerce initiatives, according to a survey by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and Ernst and Young LLP. "Manufacturing e-business has...

Pratt & Whitney purchased. (Industry News).(Pratt and Whitney Measurement Systems Inc.)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... PLAINVILLE, CT--The Pratt & Whitney Metrology business unit of Siemens Measurement Systems was divested from Siemens Energy & Automation. Incorporated in Connecticut, the wholly owned acquiring company is Pratt & Whitney Measurement Systems...

Precision group focused on CMMS. (Industry News).(American Society for Precision Engineering)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... CHARLOTTE, NC--The American Society for Precision Engineering (ASPE) is focusing on the developments in the technology of coordinate measuring machines at its upcoming conference June 25 to 26. This meeting will focus on such topics as the...

Automation Hall of Fame seeks sponsors. (Industry News).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... NEW YORK--The Automation Hall of Fame (New York) has announced a program to expand public understanding of the role of technical innovation in contemporary life and is looking for corporate sponsors. The four-fold program includes an...

Boeing awards preferred supplier. (Industry News).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... ALBANY, OR--Pacific Cast Technologies (PCT), a subsidiary of Ladish Co. Inc., was awarded Preferred Supplier Certification at the Silver Level by The Boeing Co. (Chicago). Pacific Cast Technologies supplies investment cast titanium parts for...

California trade shows cancelled. (Industry News).(Assembly West and Fiberoptic Automation Expo)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... NORWALK, CT--NEPCON West 2003, Assembly West and Fiberoptic Automation Expo have been cancelled. The co-located events were scheduled for October 28 to 29, at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center (San Jose, CA). Noting the continued...

The Precision Metalforming Association. (Association News).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... The Precision Metalforming Association has announced new sponsors of its Awards of Excellence in Metalforming. The additional sponsors are A.J. Rose Manufacturing Co., SKD Automotive Group and Pitcher Insurance Agency Inc. The awards recognize...

APICS, the educational society for resource management. (Association News).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... APICS, the Educational Society for Resource Management (Alexandria, VA) is premiering an interactive educational event, "Supply Chain Management: An Interactive Experience;' at its 2003 APICS International Conference and Exposition, Oct. 6-9 in...

ASME Congress adds design conference. (Industry News).
June 1, 2003... WASHINGTON, D.C.--ASME's International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition will be colocated this year with two other major conferences--the Research, Design and Development Expo, and the Defense Research and Engineering Conference...

Entela Inc. (People News).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Peter Sansone has been named account manager for Entela Inc.'s Toronto, Canada, office.

BYK Gardner USA. (People News).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Mike Burns has been named director of sales, color systems, and Elaine Becker has been named product manager, color systems, for BYK Gardner USA (Columbia, MD).

Oxford Instrument Measurement Systems. (People News).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Sam House has been appointed product manager for the contact coating thickness product line for Oxford Instrument Measurement Systems (Elk Grove Village, IL).

The Luminous Group. (People News).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Anthony Roark has been named quality system facilitator for The Luminous Group (Farmington Hills, MI)

We moved back. (Quality Mailbag).(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2003... Dear Editor, Our company manufactures medical devices and began manufacturing in China in 1995. The Chinese factory took our regulatory programs and FDA documentation and used them to distribute goods that we had rejected for import to the...

Proud of statistics. (Quality Mailbag).(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2003... Dear Editor, I read with interest your comments in Quality concerning Six Sigma (March 2003). I found your comment, "My experience with it had always been as a system that was created to keep statisticians employed and little else" to be...

Wrong company. (Quality Mailbag).(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2003... Dear Editor, I just started reading my April 2003 issue of Quality magazine and noticed you said the Apache and Blackhawk helicopters are manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. (Our Duty, p. 6). The Blackhawk is manufactured by...

Could Deming have been wrong? Despite a waning interest, Deming's methods are as powerful as ever. (Probing The Limits).
June 1, 2003... I'm a true believer in W. Edwards Deming's teachings, but because thorough implementation of his teachings are almost non-existent, it forces me to ask, "Was he wrong?" If Deming's teachings can lead the way to revolutionary improvements...

Watch your language: say what you do and do what say--nothing more. (Other Dimensions).
June 1, 2003... J. Stephen Van Heyde is a lawyer with Baker & Hostetler LLP in Columbus, OH. As legal counsel for the American Measuring Tool Manufacturers Association (AMTMA) he recently gave a presentation at that group's spring meeting, held March 6 to 8 in...

Thermal imaging predicts machine maintenance: by monitoring heat distribution, problems with production machinery can be stopped before they start. (Training Trends).
June 1, 2003... All types of manufacturing and processing depend on the optimal functioning of multiple complex and failure-prone electromechanical systems. Equipment failure can result in the unexpected shutting down of critical production lines, increasing...

A chilling process. (Quality Brain Teasers).(quality control for food processing plant and castings)
June 1, 2003... 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. The brain teasers presented here are based on real-world situations that are encountered by...

Crimp and save: direct recording of quality assurance data helps improve crimp bond. (Quality Innovations).
June 1, 2003... It seems like such a little thing--crimping, or bonding, a metal terminal to the end of a wire. But if it's not done properly, over time plenty can go wrong. The wire might slip out of the terminal, or the joint might weaken. If there's too...

JSF designed with joint effort: three-dimensional design software and a laser tracker aid in the design of America's next generation of high-powered jet fighters. (Quality Measurement).(Joint Strike Fighter)
June 1, 2003... When completed, the Joint Strike Fighter will be the world's most advanced stealth fighter and as it goes through the development phase, engineers are using 3-D design software and laser tracker technology to ensure that this national security...

The quest for quality with force measurement: today's force and torque gages can qualify most products. (Quality Test & Inspection).
June 1, 2003... Be it the strength of a packaging box, the sharpness of a scalpel, the holding power of an adhesive or the extent to which a screw tightens, all products have to conform to a certain set of quality standards established by their respective...

SPC for nonstatisticians: a "by the book" look at statistical process control. (Quality Software & Analysis).
June 1, 2003... A statistical process control (SPC) program is only as good as its data. Data can point out problems, tell their causes and how often they happen. Data can show how much variation is in the process, and when the process is out of control. It...

'Pushing' forward in materials test: new materials test equipment adds functionality and capacity. (Quality Management).
June 1, 2003... The conventional wisdom is that material test equipment hasn't changed much over the years. But, you couldn't tell that from the new releases. Many of today's hardness testers, torque and compression machines, and other testing systems, feature...

Ryerson transitions to new ISO standard. (Case Studies).(Ryerson Tull)
June 1, 2003... Ryerson Tull, a leading distributor and processor of metals, needed to transition its ISO process from a paper-based method to an online method that would automate and integrate its quality management system and allow the company to transition...