Quality articles from October 2004

Quality archives from October 2004

Can quality be trusted?(From The Editor)
October 1, 2004... A recent story from the Associated Press reports that U.S. Congress is angry with large drug manufacturers because those companies have been reluctant to release the complete results of their clinical trials in various locations. Congress...

Coming events.(Industry News)(Calendar)
October 1, 2004... NOVEMBER * Implementing and Transitioning to ISO/TS 16949: 2002, Indianapolis, Nov. 1-2. Excel Partnership Inc., (800) 374-3818. * Six Sigma Green Belt Training, Atlanta, Nov. 1-5. Excel Partnership Inc., (800) 374-3818. * ISO/TS...

Calibration goes mobile.(Industry News)
October 1, 2004... PALO ALTO, CA--By introducing mobile, onsite services, the calibration services market is attempting to shake off the effects of a sluggish economy. The economic downturn had compelled end users of calibration services--the manufacturing...

Imagineering Finishing Technologies.(Business News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Imagineering Finishing Technologies (IFT, South Bend, IN) has expanded and upgraded its quality certifications to include ISO 9001: 2000, ISO 14001, AS9100, and Nadcap Chemical Processing and NDT (nondestructive testing) accreditation. IFT...

Carl Zeiss SMT Inc.(Business News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Carl Zeiss SMT Inc. (Thornwood, NY) opened an applications end demo laboratory in Redwood City, CA. The electron microscopy applications lab enables Zeiss to better serve customers on the West coast with applications, sales and service support,...

Lockheed Martin Corp. (Dallas) has ordered a digital X-ray system from Envision Product Design (Anchorage, AK) for use in Inspecting the leading edge of the space shuttle wing.(Business News)
October 1, 2004... Lockheed Martin Corp. (Dallas) has ordered a digital X-ray system from Envision Product Design (Anchorage, AK) for use in Inspecting the leading edge of the space shuttle wing. To meet the requirements of this order, Envision will provide a 3-D...

Makino (Mason, OH) has appointed J.C. Wenzel Co. Inc. (Mandeville, LA) as its exclusive distributor for its machinery in Louisiana and several counties in southern Mississippi.(Business News)(J.C. Wenzel Co. Inc)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Makino (Mason, OH) has appointed J.C. Wenzel Co. Inc. (Mandeville, LA) as its exclusive distributor for its machinery in Louisiana and several counties in southern Mississippi. Makino is a builder of machining centers and EDM equipment.

Indigo Systems Corp.(Business News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Indigo Systems Corp.'s (Goleta, CA) fifth annual Celebration of Giving netted nearly $90,000 for 45 local, regional and national non-profit groups. Employees participate in a yearlong gifting program. Employee gifts are matched by the company....

STR-Registrar LLC.(Business News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... STR-Registrar LLC (Somersville, CT), an international provider of ISO 9000 registration services, has earned accreditation as an AS9100 aerospace quality management system certification/registration body.

Meriam Process Technologies.(Business News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Meriam Process Technologies (Cleveland) has achieved ISO/IEC 17025: 1999 accreditation. Meriam is a manufacturer of instruments and software for the precise measurement and lifecycle management of flow, temperature, pressure and level.

Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Space Technology Sector.(Business News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Space Technology Sector (Redondo Beech, CA) has completed AS9100 registration.

Annual report cites better manufacturing economy.(Industry News)
October 1, 2004... WASHINGTON, DC--"The state of manufacturing, the overall economy and the American worker are much better now than they were a year ago," says Jerry Jasinowski, president of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). Releasing the...

Hexagon to purchase Romer CimCore.(Industry News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... NORTH KINGSTOWN, RI--Hexagon AB has entered into a formal agreement to purchase the measuring equipment businesses of Romer CimCore Inc. (Carlsbad, CA), a manufacturer of portable articulated arm coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) and...

GE Inspection Technologies acquires Hocking NDT.(Industry News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... COLOGNE, GERMANY--GE Inspection Technologies, a division of GE Transportation, has completed its acquisition of Hocking NDT Ltd. (Hocking, St. Albans, England), an internationally recognized designer of eddy current products, ranging from...

Cognex Corp.(People News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... James F. Hoffmaster, chief operating officer of Cognex Corp. (Natick, MA), has added the title and responsibility of president. With his dual responsibilities, Hoffmaster will oversee both of Cognex's operating divisions and will be responsible...

Makino.(People News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Raymond (Scott) Venter has been appointed southern California sales manager for Makino (Mason, OH).

MEC Midwest.(People News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Susan McDonald has joined MEC Midwest (Milwaukee), a manufacturer of custom circuit board hardware, as national accounts manager.

Tower Fasteners.(People News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... John Segraves has been appointed national sales manager of Tower Fasteners (Holtsville, NY).

Brett Kunin was named sales representative of the year and Randy Landgrebe was named manufacturer's representative of the year.(People News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Brett Kunin was named sales representative of the year and Randy Landgrebe was named manufacturer's representative of the year at Harrington Hoists (Manhein, PA).

2004 PMA Awards of Excellence announced.(Industry News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Six companies have been honored with Awards of Excellence in Metalforming from the Precision Metalforming Association (PMA). Presented annually, the awards recognize the high standards of achievement set by the metalforming industry in a...

Perceiving quality.(Quality Mailbag)(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2004... Dear Editor, Your article in the June 2004 issue ("Effectiveness or Quality?" Quality, p. 6) was interesting and your question at the end, very relevant. In my mind, although effectiveness is what ultimately counts, in practically all...

Where is it used?(Quality Mailbag)(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2004... Dear Editor, There is another question that should be added to your index ('Index'-ing Quality News," Quality, July 2004, p. 6). If there is a purchase of materials or equipment, where will it be used or installed? It would be interesting...

Standard defines quality.(Quality Mailbag)(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2004... Dear Editor, With regard to your June 2004 column ("Effectiveness or Quality?" Quality, p. 6), Section 8.5.1 Continual Improvement of the ISO 9001: 2000 standard says, "The organization shall continually improve the effectiveness of the...

Enjoy the magazine.(Quality Mailbag)(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2004... Dear Editor, I receive Quality magazine and immensely enjoy all the articles. You have a great publication. I wanted to send you an e-mail to let you know how much I thoroughly agree with the editorial you wrote in the February 2004 issue...

Don't use 'quality' with suppliers.(Quality Mailbag)(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2004... Dear Editor, I would like to share some of my thoughts on your June 2004 article ("Effectiveness or Quality?" Quality, p. 6). Quality is a word used to describe some kind of adherence to customer expectations and we must be careful how we...

When quality isn't the top priority: managers that blame individual employers for quality problems are probably not looking deep enough for the root cause.(Probing The Limits)
October 1, 2004... I once worked at a plant that did not allow a manager to blame an employee's actions as the root cause in a safety or quality incident investigation--even if the employee blatantly violated a procedure or rule. At first, this policy made...

Add it all up! In-house calibration may cost more than it initially appears.(Other Dimensions)
October 1, 2004... Editor's note: This installment in a multipart series focuses on manufacturers doing their own calibration. The series looks at the reasons why a manufacturer might make this choice, as well as some of the considerations that must be taken into...

Trends in leak tightness testing: leak tightness testing has caused confusion, but a new concept looks to clear the air.(Quality 101)
October 1, 2004... Leak tightness of products is an ongoing concern for many product designers, manufacturers and users. Automotive manufacturers, in particular, are facing increasing demands to reduce emission requirements that can be a result of leakage as well...

Opening cracker wrappers.(Quality Brain Teasers)
October 1, 2004... Anyone 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 workers...

A program for NC probing: probing on NC machines is made easier with new software that is based on a popular CMM software system.(Quality Innovations)(numeric control (NC) machine tools)
October 1, 2004... Producing parts and making sure that they are up to par as close to the production line as possible is a goal of many manufacturers. More and more, companies are looking for ways to bring measurement to the shop floor, including the use of...

Styli increase CMM measurement efficiency: repeatable stylus-changing systems help eliminate inspection bottlenecks.(Quality Measurement)(Coordinate measuring machines)
October 1, 2004... Coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) are widely used throughout manufacturing industries, such as aerospace and automotive, to meet the increasing need for high quality standards and dimensional accuracy. However, in many applications, CMM...

Evaluate materials with eddy current: eddy-current technology has become an important contributor to quality assurance for the automotive industry.(Quality Test & Inspection)
October 1, 2004... The rapid growth in performance requirements of modern automobiles and trucks has brought about a more stringent demand for quality control of automotive materials and components. Eddy-current inspection can be an effective way to ensure these...

Calibration software evolves to total lab management: record keeping in cal labs has moved from binders and card decks to full-blown software suites.(Quality Software & Analysis)
October 1, 2004... As calibration customers and calibration labs seek greater efficiency and standards of quality, calibration software has evolved to help improve such operations as initial recall and final certification. Much like Microsoft Office, calibration...

Medrad works and wins as a team: performance excellence driven by a team culture is the blueprint for success and a Malcolm Baldrige quality award.(Quality Management)(Cover Story)
October 1, 2004... Baseball teams put nine players on the field. Football teams field 11 at a time. Basketball teams start five players and hockey teams start six. For Medrad (Indianola, PA), a medical device manufacturer, their goal is to have all of their more...

Lasers scan turbine blades.(Case Studies)
October 1, 2004... TechJet Aerofoils Ltd. (Israel) needed to find a way to reduce inspection time and improve process on its turbine blades. The inline processing solution it found is seven times faster than prior conventional quality-control methods. TechJet...

Mitsubishi goes beyond MES to incorporate lean.(Case Studies)
October 1, 2004... Going beyond just factory-floor data collection was essential to Mitsubishi Electric Automotive America (MEAA, Maysville, KY). Traditional Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) incorporate the essential tasks of scheduling, collecting and...

Optiscan sensors.(New Products)(GBI Cincinnati Inc)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... The Datapixel Optiscan H-Class noncontact sensor simplifies the reverse engineering and inspection processes by producing a digital copy of a part. This speeds up the reverse engineering and inspection processes, enabling these operations to be...

CMM.(New Products)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... The Reference coordinate measuring machine (CMM) uses Leitz Scanning Probe (LSP) technology for high-speed scanning of geometric shapes and free-form surfaces. LSP technology combines all facets of the probing process including automatic...

Metrology interface.(New Products)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... The P-400 DRO Metrology Interface, a multi-functional gaging terminal, offers an intuitive display and can apply mathematical formulas to measurement data from up to 16 output channels for on-the-spot analysis. It offers statistical process...

Data collection.(New Products)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Inspect 3.0 visual attribute data collection software, designed to reduce the costs associated with scrap, rework, warranty claims and production bottlenecks, has enhanced functionality for defect tracking. The software is a tool for...

Portable XRF.(New Products)
October 1, 2004... This portable X-ray tube-based alloy analyzer offers high sample volume testing for In-Service Positive Materials ID (PMI). Testing on 800 F and hotter surfaces are now routinely performed using these units. A shock-proof mounting and...

Cross scanner.(New Products)
October 1, 2004... The XC50 cross scanner is a high-speed, multi-stripe laser sensor targeting the inspection of features and gap and step in automotive applications. The unit enables efficient scanning of features such as holes, slots, pockets, and gap and step...

Dimensional measurement system.(New Products)
October 1, 2004... The Pinnacle is a large format noncontact dimensional measurement system for high-volume, high-capacity operation in production environments ranging from clean rooms to factory floors. The unit has a precision granite base and column, passive...

Gage interface.(New Products)
October 1, 2004... The FP-4U-TS FlexPort Universal Gage Interface now enables statistical process control (SPC) data collection with the use of a toggle switch. The unit allows data collection by way of foot switch, PC host command, and now a toggle switch. The...

Sensor.(New Products)
October 1, 2004... The Big Beam Sensor has a large measurement area that provides versatility when measuring width and height of solid and opaque targets. The sensor's functionality is not affected by target surface color or reflectivity. The sensor uses a...

Measurement system.(New Products)
October 1, 2004... The Optiflex QCZ-2000 Granite Z series inspection and measurement system is a compact and easy-to-use turnkey systems packed with features including state-of-the-art color video, quality zoom optics and the new Metronics QC200 Series Geometric...

Remote inspection system.(New Products)
October 1, 2004... TechnoPack XTM, a complete remote visual inspection (RVI) system, offers a wide range of design features, including the LaserTrue laser-measuring system and Clearview Technology. The system can be rolled right to the worksite--everything,...

Gaging system.(New Products)
October 1, 2004... The MicroComp microcomputer-based gaging system has a gaging resolution to 0.1 micron, a high-accuracy LVDT probe, and a user-friendly, menu-driven LCD. The on-screen menus allow easy part set up, part changeover, data transmission, zeroing and...