Quality articles from March 2002

Quality archives from March 2002

Firestone revisited. (From the editor).(Editorial)
March 1, 2002... How much does labor strife affect quality? Every situation is different. But a new examination of data on defective Firestone tires suggests that the impact can be significant. A study released in January by Princeton University economists...

Decipher the RCFA paradox: performing root cause failure analysis saves time and money, the same reasons most companies cite for not implementing it. (Training Trends).(Root Cause Failure Analysis techniques and advantages)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... What's the most common objection when the topic of Root Cause Failure Analysis (RCFA) comes up? "We don't have time to do RCFA," is the cry heard most frequently. And the irony of that statement is that most people don't have time because...

Coming events. (Industry News).
March 1, 2002... April * Basic Introduction to Implementing SPC, Detroit, April 11. Stat-A-Matrix, (800) 472-6477. * Vibration and Shock Training, Baltimore, April 15-17. Equipment Reliability Institute, (805) 564-1260. * Implementing Malcolm...

Manufacturing on the mend? (Industry News).(Commerce Department and Institute for Supply Management report manufacturing industry recovery)(Brief Article)(Industry Overview)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2002... It seems that things are getting a little brighter for the manufacturing sector. According to the Commerce Department, orders to U.S. factories rose 2% in December 2001, higher than the 1.5% increase that most analysts predicted. The increase...

The L.S. Starrett Co.(equipment-leasing program)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The L.S. Starrett Co. (Athol, MA) has rolled out the Starrett Equipment Finance program. The equipment-leasing program allows customers to defray their initial investment.

Dyneon LLC.(Alabama Department of Environmental Management award)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The Decatur, AL, manufacturing plant of Dyneon LLC (Oakdale, MN) was awarded the Director's Award in Pollution Prevention from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.

Oxford Instruments Analytical (Elk Grove Village, IL) has acquired certain assets of CMI International.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Oxford Instruments Analytical (Elk Grove Village, IL) has acquired certain assets of CMI International. The acquisition allows Oxford Instruments to extend its product range to include coating measurement instruments.

Vermont Thread Gage.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Vermont Thread Gage, a new subsidiary of Vermont Precision Tools Inc. (Swanton, VT), will be located in Franklin, KY.

Xygent Inc.(Advanced CMM Inc. named Xact Technology Provider)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Xygent Inc. (Warwick, RI), developer and distributor of an enterprisewide metrology architecture and applications suite, has named Advanced CMM Inc. (Wixom, MI) an Xact Technology Provider. The agreement authorizes Advanced CMM to provide...

Motion Industries Inc.(new branch opens)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Motion Industries Inc. (Birmingham, AL) has opened a new branch in Greenwood, SC.

FeinFocus USA.(labaratory expansion)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... FeinFocus USA (Stamford, CT) has completed the expansion of its laboratories in Stamford, CT, and San Jose, CA. Both locations offer test and inspection services.

Q-Panel Lab Products.(new headquarters)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Q-Panel Lab Products (Cleveland) has opened its new headquarters. The 53,000-square foot facility houses administration, manufacturing, research and development.

Eagle-Picher Hillsdale.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Eagle-Picher Hillsdale (Inkster, MI) has received the Spicer Driveshaft Preferred Supplier Award from Dana Corp. (Toledo, OH). The Hillsdale Div. met the requirements of a QS-9000 company and achieved a supplier rating of more than 90% for four...

Nixon Tool Co. Inc.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Nixon Tool Co. Inc. (Richmond, IN) has achieved ISO 9001 certification.

GM revamps design process. (Industry News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... General Motors Corp. (Detroit) has named Mark Hogan, currently the president of e-GM, to the position of group vice president of advanced vehicle development. Working with design, Hogan will oversee the work associated with vehicle programs...

Name change reflects global scope. (Industry News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The American Society for Testing and Materials, a voluntary standards development organization, has changed its name to ASTM International. The organization's name change reinforces its acceptance of worldwide input for its standards...

SAM adds Oriel to lineup. (Industry News).(SAM Group acquisition details)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The SAM Group (Edison, NJ), a quality improvement consulting and training organization, has acquired Oriel Inc. (Madison, WI). Oriel joins Stat-A-Matrix Inc., Stat-A-Matrix Institute and Stat-A-Matrix FDA Services Inc. to become part of the SAM...

NIST welcomes new director. (Industry News).(Arden L. Bement Jr. )
March 1, 2002... Nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by Congress, Arden L. Bement Jr. has been sworn in as the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) 12th director. Bement was most recently the David A. Ross Distinguished...

Fala DM Group.(promotes Antonio Sirano)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Antonio Sirano has been named the manager of quality assurance at Fala DM Group (Farmingdale, NY).

Panasonic Vision Systems Group/OEM.(promotes Jim Roselius)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Jim Roselius has been promoted to national sales and marketing manager for Panasonic Vision Systems Group/OEM (Secaucus, NJ).

Xygent Inc.(promotes Andrew C. Genor)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Andrew C. Genor has been named president and chief executive officer of Xygent Inc. (Warwick, RI).

GSI Lumonics Inc.(promotes Alfonso J. DaSilva)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Alfonso J. DaSilva has been appointed vice president of worldwide service and support at GSI Lumonics Inc. (Wilmington, MA).

Tinius Olsen Testing Machine Co. Inc.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... C. Robert Tait Jr. has been appointed president of Tinius Olsen Testing Machine Co. Inc. (Willow Grove, PA).

Genesis Systems Group.(promotes Joel Lorentzen)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Joel Lorentzen has been appointed vice president and general manager of Genesis Systems Group's (Davenport, IA) new dimension tooling.

Haas Factory Outlet.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Mark Perreault has been appointed product manager for measurement technologies at Haas Factory Outlet (Bloomfield, CT).

Electrical problems. (Sophronia's Solutions).(repair and management techniques)(Brief Article)
March 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. The brain teasers presented here are based on real-world situations that are encountered by...

ISO with ASPs. (Quality Innovations).(quality control management techniques)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Keeping up with paperwork is key to ISO certification, but it is also one of the biggest hassles for manufacturers. This is especially true for smaller shops that may have limited manpower, resources and computer expertise. These companies may...

Desire for accuracy drives digital tools: handheld measuring tools have withstood the test of time. (Measurement, Test And Inspection).
March 1, 2002... Ciceri Smith was a quality-driven manufacturer. He made wire mesh at his plant in Edinburgh, Scotland, and he wanted to improve quality by providing his workers with a micrometer that they could easily read. What he wanted was a micrometer on...

Sound practices: ultrasonic gaging advances: innovations in digital signal processing software enable new capabilities for nondestructive ultrasonic thickness gaging in the factory. (Software & Analysis).
March 1, 2002... For more than 50 years, quality control practitioners have relied upon ultrasonic techniques as a way to nondestructively gage the thickness of manufacturing materials. In the early days, these measurements often required a series of complex...

Seeing machine vision in a different light: as machine vision comes of age, get to know this yield enhancement tool and its capabilities. (Management).
March 1, 2002... In case you haven't looked lately, machine vision technology has done a lot of growing up since the first systems arrived on the scene some 30 years ago. Once thought of primarily as inspection tools useful for separating good parts from bad,...

The quest for open systems: some believe that true factory open-architecture computing may finally be just around the corner. Here are four criteria for identifying it. (Controlling The Manufacturing Process).
March 1, 2002... No one doubts the enormous benefits that open-architecture computing holds for quality control systems and continuous improvement programs. Using an open computing network, a supervisory control system would be able to feed all production data...

Closing the loop on corrective action. (Case Studies).(Rockwell Automation's compaliance with the ISO 9000 standard)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The ISO 9000 standard requires that when a quality problem occurs, an organization must determine its cause and take appropriate corrective action to ensure that it doesn't happen again, and that each step in the process must be documented. ...

3-D measurements solve fit problem. (Case Studies).(Ford Motor's use of Applied Precision's 3-D optical measurement systems)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... As consumer demands for convenience and comfort increase, many automotive interior components are becoming more complex. One example is the headliners used in minivans, which often combine functions of style, crash protection, comfort controls...

Vision measures jet engine blades. (Case Studies).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Avtex LLC (Avon, CT), a systems integrator, was facing both a challenge and an opportunity provided by Pratt & Whitney (East Hartford, CT), a leading manufacturer of aircraft engines. To comply with internal safety regulations, Pratt & Whitney...

Gage checker software.(advertisement)
March 1, 2002... New software is available for the 828 CiM and PC-model length-measurement systems. The 828 features a Pentium 3 processor and Windows NT-based software. The software can manage the verification process for an unlimited number of gages and has a...

High-strain rate testing.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2002... The VHS8800 Series of high-rate servohydraulic test systems for the automotive industry is designed for a range of high-strain rate testing including tensile, puncture, compression and flexure testing of materials, joints and components. It has...

Laser Alignment Kits.(advertisement)
March 1, 2002... The Laser Microgage 1000 Alignment Kits feature a compact laser transmitter and a digital receiver system. The Laser Microgage 1000 transmitter and digital receiver system are used for precision mechanical alignment of machinery and equipment....

Document control.(advertisement)
March 1, 2002... ProDocTivity 7.0, an upgrade of the ProDocTivity software program, meets ISO 9000 criteria for documentation of procedures. The company says the new version, which works with Windows XP and OLE functions, simplifies documentation revision...

Scanning CMM. (CMMS).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Sheffield Endeavor FlexScan CMM has a [+ or -] 9 F temperature tolerance range and built in vibration resistance. The CMM is integrated into MeasureMax inspection software. It can handle an analog probe, touch-trigger probe or both. With the...

Gage CMM. (CMMS).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Gage 2000 H is a CMM and layout tool. The machine has an open architecture horizontal design with an air-assisted floating base. It uses a single point, power-assist drive system for semiautomatic 3-D movement. The machine uses Reflex measuring...

CMM Gage. (CMMS).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Umpire CMM has a measuring volume of 350 by 350 by 300 millimeters. It works with measuring CAD-based virtual DMIS software. Each axis on the machine has hardened linear guides with bearing spreads. Ballscrew drive shafts are directly coupled...

Counting scale. (Material Test).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Rangercount portable counting scale has an RS232 interface for two-scale counting applications. The high resolution scale uses a 16 megahertz 16-bit chip for fast stability and indication. It has 0.2 gram repeatability to 120 pounds by 0.01...

Pressure gage. (Material Test).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Model PI digital pressure gage ranges from 0-15 to 0-10,000 psi with gage, absolute, vacuum or compound reference. Accuracy is 0.2%. The gage has a 4 1/2-digit display. Units of measure are field-selectable and include bar, millibar, pascal,...

Load cell. (Material Test).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... WMC Series load cell is available in 1, 2, 3, 5, 7.5 and 10 kilopond force capacities. The interface can be used in industrial automation applications. Threaded studs on both ends allow for mounting. Interface Inc. (480) 948-5555 ...

Bench scales. (Material Test).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Trooper Series bench scales have capacities and readability ranging from 6 pounds by 0.001 pound to 60 pounds by 0.01 pound. The scales have net, gross, tare functions, user-selectable weighing units, keyboard toggle between selected weight...

Laser measurement. (Material Test).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Laser General V-100 Quantifier inspects high-volume cylindrical parts. It uses tilt head laser technology, split laser beam and three-wire modeling of threads. The product measures entire parts to print specifications at rates up to 300 per...

Help with SPC: Quality Online's Reader Forum is a place where manufacturing quality professionals can post questions and get answers about SPC--or any quality related topic. (Quality Online).
March 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 one recent exchange. From...