Quality articles from September 2006

Quality archives from September 2006

'Metrics' on long-ago promise.(FROM THE PUBLISHER)
September 1, 2006... Someone out there thinks Americans are stupid. Or, that we are too slow. Or, perhaps that we are too skeptical. These are the only conclusions I can come to after waiting for a change in this country that was promised to us more than 35 years...

Coming events.(INDUSTRY NEWS)(Brief article)(Calendar)
September 1, 2006... OCTOBER 2006 3-6 LEAN SIX SIGMA GREEN BELT AND BLACK BELT TRAINING BEGINS, San Diego. Juran Institute, (800) 338-7726. www.juran.com 9-10 MINNESOTA QUALITY CONFERENCE, Bloomington, MN. Minnesota Section of ASQ, (651) 779-1824....

Vehicle design plays role in quality perceptions.(INDUSTRY NEWS)
September 1, 2006... WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA -- The way technology is integrated into new-vehicle design, particularly interior features and controls, is considered by consumers to be as important to quality as are defects and malfunctions, according to the J.D. Power...

Hydraulic Institute.(appointment of Thomas E. Ferguson )(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Flowserve Corp. (Dallas) announces that Thomas E. Ferguson has been elected president of the Hydraulic Institute for 2006-2007. He also will serve as a member of the board of directors. Ferguson, a vice president of Flowserve Corp. and...

MAG Industrial Automation Systems (Sterling Heights, MI) has aligned Cincinnati Machine, Giddings & Lewis Machine Tools and Cincinnati Automation and Test (formerly CL Automation) to work as a business segment serving the aerospace, construction equipment, oilfield equipment, power generation and general machining markets.(MAG Industrial Automation Systems )(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... MAG Industrial Automation Systems (Sterling Heights, MI) has aligned Cincinnati Machine, Giddings & Lewis Machine Tools and Cincinnati Automation and Test (formerly CL Automation) to work as a business segment serving the aerospace,...

Building on an existing partnership that creates seamless integration between enterprise-resource planning systems from CMS Software Inc. (Toronto, Ontario), and manufacturing execution system products from Mattec Corp. (Loveland, OH), the two companies have agreed to solidify their relationship further with the goal of industry leadership in manufacturing industries worldwide.(CMS Software Inc. partnership with Mattec Corp)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Building on an existing partnership that creates seamless integration between enterprise-resource planning systems from CMS Software Inc. (Toronto, Ontario), and manufacturing execution system products from Mattec Corp. (Loveland, OH), the two...

Decisioneering Inc. (Denver) announced that Rath & Strong (Lexington, MA) has joined Decisioneering's Crystal Ball Six Sigma partner program.(Decisioneering Inc. partnership with Rath and Strong)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Decisioneering Inc. (Denver) announced that Rath & Strong (Lexington, MA) has joined Decisioneering's Crystal Ball Six Sigma partner program. With this agreement, Rath & Strong will work with Decisioneering to promote the use of Crystal Ball...

Geomagic.(Technology of the Year by the Council for Entrepreneurial Development)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Geomagic (Research Triangle Park, NC) has been awarded Technology of the Year by the Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED). The honor, presented at CED's annual 2006 Entrepreneurial Excellence Awards, held in Durham, NC, recognized...

Authors address Global Six Sigma Summit.(BUSINESS NEWS)(Malcolm Gladwell, Dr. Subir Chowdhury and Joseph Grenny)(WCBF's Global Six Sigma Summit)
September 1, 2006... LAS VEGAS -- WCBF's Global Six Sigma Summit, held June 27 to 30, offered attendees a chance to hear three bestselling authors--Malcolm Gladwell, Dr. Subir Chowdhury and Joseph Grenny--offer their perspectives on decisionmaking, leadership and...

Richard Wismer.(Newage Testing Instruments appoints Richard Wismer)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Richard Wismer has joined Newage Testing Instruments (Southampton, PA) as sales engineer for hardness testers and systems in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and western Pennsylvania. Wismer has extensive experience in hardness testing, having...

Index Corp.(appointment of Tony Wells)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Tony Wells has been appointed North American sales manager for Index Corp. (Noblesville, IN). In his new assignment, Wells will be responsible for developing Index and Traub sales in the United States, Canada and Mexico through regional sales...

Aspectrics Inc.(appointment of Allen Bickel and James Yano)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Aspectrics Inc. (Pleasanton, CA) announced that Allen Bickel and James Yano have joined the company. Bickel is Aspectrics' Eastern sales manager and Yano, vice president of marketing and product management.

Laboratory Testing Inc.(appointment of Frank Peszka)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Frank Peszka has been appointed quality assurance manager at Laboratory Testing Inc. (LTI, Hatfield, PA). He joined Laboratory Testing in October 2004 as quality assurance specialist with more than 30 years experience as a quality assurance...

Ametek Specialty Metal Products.(appointment of Ryan Smith Diane Shortt)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Ametek Specialty Metal Products (SMR Wallingford, CT) has named a new business unit manager and sales manager for metal strip and specialty wire products manufactured at its Wallingford, CT, facility. Ryan Smith was named business unit manager,...

Envirosight LLC.(appointment of Jason Kelley)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Envirosight LLC (Randolph, NJ) announced the promotion of Jason Kelley to national sales manager. Kelley, who previously served as eastern regional sales manager, is now responsible for managing Envirosight's North American sales force, as well...

Omnex Inc.(appointment of David A. Lalain)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Omnex Inc. (Ann Arbor, MI) has named David A. Lalain as its executive vice president of quality solutions and president of its new entity, the Omnex Quality Culture. Lalain brings more than 33 years of experience in quality systems leadership...

Lean Learning Center.(appointment of Ron Holcomb)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... The Lean Learning Center (Novi, MI) announces that current lean consultant and trainer Ron Holcomb has been made a partner in the company. He is a regular guest lecturer at the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, University of...

Tech Group.(appointment of Wendy Hayes)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... The Tech Group (Scottsdale, AZ) announces Wendy Hayes has joined the company in the newly created position as engineering quality director. In her role, Hayes is responsible for upgrading quality system capabilities to support drug handling,...

Applied Manufacturing Technologies Inc.(appointment of Joseph Campbell)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Applied Manufacturing Technologies Inc. (AMT, Orion, MI) appoints Joseph Campbell as chief operating officer for AMT's worldwide operations. Campbell's responsibilities will include engineering, sales, marketing and technical operations. He...

RLE International North America.(appointment of John Wentzel )(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... RLE International North America (Detroit) appoints John Wentzel as its president. Wentzel's responsibilities will include all North American operations with global responsibility for manufacturing engineering. Wentzel brings to the company more...

FKI Logistex.(appointment of Martin Clark)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... FKI Logistex (St. Louis) announces that Martin Clark has been promoted to the position of director of marketing and business development for FKI Logistex Manufacturing Systems North America. Clark, with more than 20 years of material handling...

R.J. Kovel.(PEOPLE NEWS)
September 1, 2006... R.J. Kovel has released "It All Begins with Deming & Crosby: A Story About Transforming Your Thinking and Achieving Quality in Business and Life:' To order, call (248) 594-4000, e-mail strategic@ allvantage.com or visit www.valuestandard.com.

May manufacturing technology consumption up 21.4%.(INDUSTRY NEWS)(United States Manufacturing Technology Consumption)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... MCLEAN, VA -- May U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $319.40 million, according to the American Machine Tool Distributors' Association (AMTDA) and The Association For Manufacturing Technology (AMT). This total, as reported by...

Valenite Gaging Systems now VGage LLC.(VGage LLC)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... OAK PARK, MI -- Valenite LLC sold Valenite Gaging Systems in July. The new business, VGage LLC, will remain in the same location with the current staff. The new company will continue to build on the 43 years of experience of Valenite Gaging...

PMAEF awards $34,370 in grants.(INDUSTRY NEWS)
September 1, 2006... CLEVELAND -- The Precision Metalforming Association Educational Foundation (PMAEF) awarded a total of $34,370 in grants to six programs created to enhance the U.S. metalforming workforce. PMAEF congratulates all of the grant recipients from...

B.C. MacDonald & Co. launches Metrology Center.(B.C. MacDonald and Co announces the creation of a new business unit)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... CHICAGO -- B.C. MacDonald & Co. (St. Louis) announces the creation of a new business unit, Metrology Center, in Lisle, IL. With more than $2 million of 3-D metrology and dimensional gaging systems on display, metrology professionals will be...

Changing audits to be a value-adding activity: many companies choose to expend minimal efforts in auditing their products against the intent of the requirements.(PROBING THE LIMITS)
September 1, 2006... By focusing on the intent of quality audits and disconnecting the concepts of opportunity to improve from performance problems, audits can become a key tool of strategic advantage in a business. I think a major factor that separates...

Hiring skills and expertise: start at the beginning.(OTHER DIMENSIONS)(Column)
September 1, 2006... I am not a human resources specialist. In fact, there are those who question if I am a human. I'll leave that debate for another time, but I do know that I suffer all the frustrations of humans when it comes to hiring staff. In fact, many...

Using lean in a transactional world: operators have much to gain by using lean in transactional processes.(QUALITY 101)
September 1, 2006... Some of the greatest value of implementing lean manufacturing is often not adequately addressed or understood in most manufacturing facilities. If merely using lean on the production floor, more is to be gained by using lean in transactional...

Updating process behavior charts.(BRAIN TEASERS)(quality control)
September 1, 2006... Anyone who has faced a production problem with a need to solve it by using production data can relate to the notion of a brain teaser. The brain teasers presented here are based on real-world situations encountered by workers in manufacturing...

One-stop solution for manual machines: a new digital readout can be used for many manual machine tools, including milling, turning, boring and drilling machines.(QUALITY INNOVATIONS)(ND 780 from Heidenhain Corp.)
September 1, 2006... Heidenhain Corp.'s (Schaumburg, IL) new universal digital readout (DRO) system, the ND 780, is compatible with most manual machine tools, including milling, grinding, turning, boring and drilling machines. It can be used for bench gaging,...

A question of wavelength.(QUALITY MEASUREMENT)(Cover story)
September 1, 2006... While it is true there are differences between instruments that measure form and those that measure surface finish, both measuring processes are fundamentally the same. In both processes, a probe or stylus is moved along some ideal circular or...

Look into microscopy: digital microscopy increases the speed that data is obtained and analyzed.(QUALITY TEST & INSPECTION)
September 1, 2006... Microscopic technology applications and research today extend from the normal research lab to most types of manufacturing floors. While microscopy research enables and encourages technological innovation, it is consumer demands, in the end,...

Synchronized measurement reduces calibration time: measurements take only a few minutes with nonstop synchronized data collection.(QUALITY SOFTWARE & ANALYSIS)
September 1, 2006... The conventional process for measuring computer numeric control (CNC) displacement errors is static--the machine stops at every measurement increment, dwells for a few seconds, settles and then collects the positioning data. For small...

Quality leadership 100: dedicated employees and quality go hand-in-hand, according to the annual survey.(QUALITY MANAGEMENT)
September 1, 2006... More and more companies, both large and small, have 100% of their employees dedicated to quality, according to the results of the annual Quality Leadership 100 survey. Not only are employees dedicated to quality, but one common aspect among the...

Machining solutions.(IMTS PRODUCT showcase)
September 1, 2006... The ProdMed line of machining centers is suited for manufacturing medical implants, including dental and orthopedic, and also medical equipment, including surgical and general instruments. The machining centers, including the HSM 400U ProdMed,...

Grinding machines.(IMTS PRODUCT showcase)
September 1, 2006... The following machines will be on display at IMTS: USACH 150-TT ID/OD grinding up to 17-inch part diameters; USACH 200-T4 ID/OD grinding up to 32-inch part diameters; and CT 750 CNC B-axis ID/OD grinding up to 8-inch part diameters. USACH...

Isolation system.(IMTS PRODUCT showcase)
September 1, 2006... The type of isolation system for quality equipment is chosen based on its isolation characteristics as compared to the measured floor vibration. The most commonly used isolators for quality control equipment include elastomeric pads, or...

Motion system.(IMTS PRODUCT showcase)
September 1, 2006... The Automation 3200 motion, vision end I/O system, has a software-only controller with 32 axes of synchronized motion control. The NMotion SMC retains the best features of previous controllers and combines them with a control architecture. The...

Form measurement.(IMTS PRODUCT showcase)
September 1, 2006... A new version of the MarForm MMQ series of geometry gages, the MMQ 34 Formtester, has the measurement capabilities, accuracy and repeatability of the MMQ 44 version, including a large measuring and load capacity for its size. It has a...

Bar feeder.(IMTS PRODUCT SHOWCASE)
September 1, 2006... The Mini-Rhinobar system, designed for high-speed, small stock applications with quick feed tube changeover, is engineered for Swiss type CNC screw machines and small, fixed head CNC lathes. Feed tubes are available in 1/8-inch increments,...

On-machine inspection.(IMTS PRODUCT SHOWCASE)
September 1, 2006... The PowerGAGE is a portable measurement device that enables manufacturers to verify parts meet the CAD file's specs to within 0.0002 inch--right on the machine that is producing the part. It can perform CAD-to-part analysis. PowerGAGE resembles...

Automatic measuring.(IMTS PRODUCT SHOWCASE)
September 1, 2006... The automatic measuring system has an integrated part-handling robot. In operation, the robot will take an automotive piston part to six different gaging devices, each measuring different features. It will measure areas such as the pin bore,...

Modular fixturing.(IMTS PRODUCT SHOWCASE)
September 1, 2006... The CARFIT modular fixturing system for inspection has the features of a dedicated fixture using standard modular components. The CARFIT CMF system is frame based and is suitable for high-volume manufacturing, pilot production, master checking...

Precision borescopes.(IMTS PRODUCT SHOWCASE)
September 1, 2006... The Hawkeye Pro Precision borescopes provide detailed images of surface finish irregularities, burrs and other defects that can affect the quality of machined, molded and welded parts. The improved images of the line are a result of several...

Data collection.(IMTS PRODUCT SHOWCASE)
September 1, 2006... DataSure is a wireless data collection system with proprietary design features. Using radio transmission, it covers thousands of square feet while preserving the integrity of measurement data. For shop use, metrology labs or large, plant-wide...

End mills.(IMTS PRODUCT SHOWCASE)
September 1, 2006... The end mills are produced from select sub-micro grain carbide. They include: Hard Cut, which can handle material ranging from construction steels and tool steels to cast iron; S-Hard-Cut for milling hardened steels and cast irons; and N-Cut,...

Air Gage.(IMTS PRODUCT SHOWCASE)
September 1, 2006... The Micro II Air Gage Readout provides measurements of tapered internal and external diameters. The air gage instrument has a built-in microprocessor, digital and analog displays, RS-232 serial data outputs, and auto calibration with master...

Mini sensors.(IMTS PRODUCT SHOWCASE)
September 1, 2006... A line of long-range 4-millimeter and 5-millimeter unshielded sensors sense distance out to 5 millimeters. As extensions of a line that includes a 3-millimeter sensor with a 3-millimeter range, these give operators the ability to use smaller...

Modular fixturing.(IMTS PRODUCT SHOWCASE)
September 1, 2006... The entire product range of the Alufix fixturing system will be displayed at IMTS. Items shown will include a fender fixture made completely out of standard components taken from Alufix Classic fixturing system. A fixing process using support...

Optical comparator.(IMTS PRODUCT SHOWCASE)
September 1, 2006... The Model MV-14-S 14-inch optical comparator includes a digital readout with a 5.7-inch LCD screen, direct measurement of circles, angles, points, lines, distance and slots, auto-enter, looping, auto-finish, multiple languages, SPC export,...

Confocal technology.(IMTS PRODUCT SHOWCASE)
September 1, 2006... LEXT, a laser scanning confocal technology, is designed for applications requiring ultra-precise measurement and observation, such as MEMs fabrication, advanced materials processing, nanoscale production and semiconductor wafer manufacturing....

Digital readout.(IMTS PRODUCT SHOWCASE)
September 1, 2006... The Quadra-Chek 300 (QC300) is an advanced digital readout system combining multiple video measuring functions in a single compact display unit. Proprietary technology combines video display, cross line generator and automated edge detection....

Roughness gage.(IMTS PRODUCT SHOWCASE)
September 1, 2006... An addition to the Lasercheck line of noncontact surface roughness measurement gages, the ultra compact measurement head is 1 by 0.75 inches and weighs a few ounces. Measurements are less than 1 second and repeatable. This miniaturization...

CMM fixturing.(IMTS PRODUCT SHOWCASE)
September 1, 2006... The company is offering a line of 1/4-20 modular CMM fixturing to hold parts while probing with a CMM. All the standard aluminum fixture plates are alpha numerically labeled, offering the ability to document fixture setups. Several locating and...

Control Software.(IMTS PRODUCT SHOWCASE)
September 1, 2006... WinMax Control Software, with a Windows-based interface, has more than 25 features and will be standard on all Hurco vertical and turning machines. To create a platform beneficial to machinists, software engineers made sure each feature they...

Universal CMM.(IMTS PRODUCT SHOWCASE)
September 1, 2006... The Universal CMM consists of a laser tracker combined with the Leica T-Scan or the Leica T-Probe II. Designed for the automotive and aerospace industries, the LTD840 laser tracker enables manufacturers to perform wireless probing and scanning...

CAD-CAM system.(IMTS PRODUCT SHOWCASE)
September 1, 2006... The Version 22 2-D and 3-D CAD-CAM system will debut at IMTS 2006. The V22 provides an operator-friendly interface, fully associative job tree for managing jobs from start to finish, operator-definable operation sequences, complete tool and...

CNC spin machine.(IMTS PRODUCT SHOWCASE)
September 1, 2006... The SP-7260 has a teach-in joystick and advanced SpinCAD CNC programming software. It has a 72-inch swing, 60HP spindle and a 4-station automatic turret to handle multiple spinning and machining operations. With SpinCADTM CNC programming...

CMM.(IMTS PRODUCT SHOWCASE)
September 1, 2006... The Global 555 model is an extension of the Global CMMs line and has a compact size that works well for small parts. The 500-millimeter Z stroke accommodates an articulating probe head and retains valuable working volume over 400-millimeter Z...

NITON Analyzers.(IMTS PRODUCT SHOWCASE)
September 1, 2006... NITON Analyzers are portable nondestructive elemental analysis instruments. The new NITON XLt 898He positively identifies alloy grades and quantifies 27 elements ranging from Mg to Sb simultaneously. THERMO ELECTRON CORP. (800)...

Lab focuses on hardness testing productivity.(CASE STUDIES)
September 1, 2006... In 1999, Atif "Ott" Odeh established Atrona Material Testing Laboratories Inc. (Machesney Park, IL) to provide metallurgical and materials analysis and related engineering services. Atrona Laboratories is housed in a 10,500 square-foot,...

Operator interface facilitates blade inspection.(CASE STUDIES)(Goodrich Corp. used Brown & Sharpe Inc.'s coordinate measuring machines)
September 1, 2006... Making it easier, and less intimidating, for machine operators to inspect turbine engine blades on the shop floor has helped Goodrich Corp.'s Turbomachinery Products team in Chandler, AZ, add a new level of precision to its quality control...