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One of the most promising surgical options for treating spinal injury and deterioration of spinal discs is the use of artificial discs to replace the patient’s natural spinal disc.

Torque testing is an important quality-control step in nearly every manufacturing sector. Properly testing rotary parts for torque with handheld or automated gages can prevent everything from un-openable bottle caps to loose fasteners. Or, in a grave example, if GM properly acted on failed rotational torque tests of ignition switches in some of its mid-2000s models, 13 lives would have been saved.

Forget Hamlet. What’s going on? That is the question.

Data collection is about addressing this most important question in strategy. Maybe “What’s going on?” is the greatest question ever asked. Right up there with “Where are we?” and “Who are you?”

The Vickers and Knoop microhardness testing methods have become invaluable for the testing of a variety of parts, which have what can be referred to as “shallow layer hardness.” Such characteristics as surface hardness, thin cross section, coating hardness, and case depth are measured using the microhardness testing methods. These methods also can be useful for selective testing of particular grains or constituents such as those found in powdered metal parts.

Modern manufacturing relies on consistency, and tolerances are tighter than they’ve ever been. Production capabilities are up to the task, and CMM systems help ensure that completed or in-process parts are within tolerance. The real challenge comes when anything goes wrong.