Quality articles from March 2001

Quality archives from March 2001

Fight Manufacturing Woes.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... It seems as if major manufacturers are trying to prove me wrong. In December, on the heels of our first capital spending survey, I was convinced that manufacturing was back. Then the bad news started trickling in. First, there was a slight...

Online With Six Sigma.
March 1, 2001... Six Sigma may be an unfamiliar term for some, but for others it is a way of life. This month's Web review looks at different Six Sigma-related sites. http://www.6-sigma.com. The Six Sigma Academy Web site offers visitors a look inside the...

Feedback.(Brief Article)(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2001... From "Quick Takes" in response to the column, "Better Than 5 Years Ago?" My company is in the primary end of the food chain. We produce ductile iron castings for multiple markets, such as truck, rail, construction and SUV driveline...

QUALITY Survey of the Month.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... During the month of January, Quality asked visitors which gaging process was preferred, shop floor or laboratory. Seventy-one percent of Quality Online respondents prefer to use gages on the shop floor, while 29% prefer to use gages in the...

Manufacturing Sector on the Rebound.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The manufacturing sector of the U.S. economy has started to regain some of the ground it lost at the end of last year, according to officials at the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). NAM Chairman W.R. Timken Jr. said the fourth...

Qualtech Provides Space Diagnostics.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Qualtech Systems Inc. (Wethersfield, CT) has been selected by Honeywell Space Systems (Phoenix) for development of a demonstration system that could provide remote, model-based diagnostics for the International Space Station. For the project,...

Machine Tools Contribute $1 Trillion.
March 1, 2001... Traditional economic measures of productivity alone do not reveal the full extent of economic benefits contributed by machine tools and related advanced manufacturing techniques, according to a study released by The Association for...

Engineering Enrollment Slides Again.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2001... The shortage of engineers won't be ending any time soon. According to the Engineering Workforce Commission, enrollment in university engineering programs is declining. In the fall of 1999, 323,718 students enrolled in university engineering...

Jetcam, Virtek Partner Up.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Jetcam (Monaco), a provider of software design and CNC programming for the sheet metal industry, Virtek (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada), a provider of precision laser technology, will work together to provide a customized version of the JETCAM...

Lockheed `Pilots' Electronic Updates.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. (Fort Worth, TX) will begin providing electronic technical data to the air forces of the countries using the F-16. Technical manuals of aircrafts undergo major revisions twice a year with special supplements...

Quality Tools Available Via Internet.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Graduate students and professors at Penn State's Quality and Manufacturing Management program have created a Web site to distribute free analytical tools that companies can use to improve their products and processes. The site,...

People News.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Rene Laferriere has joined Fred V. Fowler Co. Inc. (Newton, MA) as executive vice president of sales and marketing. Donald Moran also has joined the company as national accounts manager. Brian Werner has joined the Atech/Zeiss Div. of...

Pratt and Whitney Acquires AASD.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Pratt and Whitney (East Hartford, CT), Div. of United Technologies Corp., has acquired the Astronautics and Aerosciences Div. (AASD, Bellevue, WA) of Adroit Systems Inc. AASD develops technology in fluid mechanics and advanced combustion...

Transmation Calibrators Named Product of the Year.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Transmation Products Group, Div. of Transmation Inc. (Rochester, NY) has been named product of the year in Plant Engineering's 14th annual awards competition. The company's PDA calibrators won a bronze award. "Our line of PDA calibrators...

Boeing Wins Defense Awards.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The National Center for Advanced Technologies presented its 2000 Defense Manufacturing Excellence Awards to a joint team of Boeing employees and the U.S. Air Force Systems Program. The joint U.S. Airforce and Boeing Joint Direct Attack Munition...

Motorola Outsources Operations at Two More Factories.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Motorola (Schaumburg, IL) has contracted out its manufacturing again, first to Flextronics (San Jose, CA) and now to Celestica (Toronto). Celestica will assume operation of the Motorola plants in Mt. Pleasant, IA, and Dublin, Ireland. By...

CSA Appoints Leger as Director.(CSA International)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Yves Leger has been appointed to the director of internal operations at CSA International (CSA, Toronto). Leger will work with CSA's alliance network to ensure effective delivery of certification and testing services on a global basis. The...

Correction.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The article, "Give Your Process the Right Flow" (December 2000, p. 34), contains incorrect information. Flowcharting business processes is not a requirement of ISO 9001: 2000. Flowcharts are an example of how business processes, and other...

Midsized Manufacturers Increase Internet Use.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Midsized manufacturers are increasing their use of the Internet, according to a study by Fleet Capital (Glastonbury, CT). Of the 300 chief financial officers interviewed, 57% said their companies receive some portion of their sales from the...

Analyzing Downtime: Part 2.
March 1, 2001... (EDITOR'S NOTE: This month's Wheeler's Workshop continues the analysis of downtime, which was the subject of the February column.) Traditionally, brain teasers are thought of as puzzles to solve using logical thought process in a...

Diameter Gage Goes Round and Round.(Gagemaker Inc.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Jet engines, power generators and other large parts present a challenge when measuring diameter because of their size. Bar gages and periphery tapes are two ways to measure the part. A third way is a product that counts the revolutions of a...

Calibrate Correctly for Roughness.(calibration methods and techniques)
March 1, 2001... When surface roughness varies, careful instrument calibration is vital. Of all the measurements taken on metal parts, from conveyorized production-line items to specialized, one-of-a kind parts, a company's greatest concern stems from a...

Keep Your Tools Working.(daily verification of micrometers, calipers and gages)
March 1, 2001... Daily verification of micrometers, calipers and gages is part of a calibration program that can help a tool work its best. A daily regimen of gage verification, combined with empirical and statistical information gained during scheduled...

A Live Tool Makes Stamper's Fantasy a Reality.
March 1, 2001... Technology used to measure variances in hardness and thickness in a die has the ability to compensate for minor variances or stop the process altogether. A die that can measure thickness and hardness in-process is a fantasy for most...

Capitalize on ISO Changes.(ISO 9001)
March 1, 2001... A conversion guide for the ISO 9001: 2000 standard helps organizations plan for the transition. The dust has settled, the tablets have been handed down from the mountain and copies of the improved, orderly and understandable ISO 9001: 2000...

Documentation Process Goes Automated.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Cummins Inc. (Columbus, IN), a diesel-engine manufacturer, wanted to become ISO 9001 and QS-9000 certified, which requires documenting manufacturing processes. The company faced the hurdle of organizing its documents that were stored on...

CMM Boosts Manufacturing.(coordinate measuring machine)(Von Duprin Div.)(LK Metrology Systems Inc.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... A manufacturer of emergency, quick-release exit devices has found a way to boost the efficiency of it manufacturing process by using a coordinate measuring machine (CMM). Von Duprin Co. (Indianapolis) needed a way to help ensure the...

Software Standardizes SPC Efforts.(statistical process control)(Photronics Inc.)(StatSoft Inc.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Today, statistical process control (SPC) is effectively used by Photronics Inc. (Brookfield, CT) to help ensure quality of its products. Quality is vital for the manufacturer of photomasks, which are high precision quartz plates containing...

NEW PRODUCTS.(multiple companies)
March 1, 2001... Vision sensor In-Sight 2000 is a machine vision sensor. The sensor has a software library that includes PatFind, and a part location tool based on PatMax technology. Operators can select tools and parameters from drop-down menus and link...

Give Clear Instructions.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The reason for scrap may not be the new employees, but it may be their training. If it seems that new employees aren't grasping the scope of their jobs, then a variety of reasons could be the cause, and the biggest culprit might be their...