A provider of test and measurement devices for telecommunications, optical and wireless systems has replaced traditionally machined RF shields with precision die cast parts in its handheld cable and antenna analyzers, reducing the unit cost of about a dozen different shields.

Shigeo Shingo introduced the concept of poka-yoke (pronounced POH-kah YOH-kay) in 1961, when he was an industrial engineer at Toyota Motor Corp. The initial term was baka-yoke, which means fool proofing.

For a recent remodeling project, laser scanning was used to take a survey of the interior of the central nave and the north and south aisles of St. Albans Cathedral.

Kamen, Germany-based Sentronik GmbH has reduced the time required to develop radio frequency identification (RFID) labels from 7 to 10 days to 2 to 3 days by simulating the labels with Flomerics’ MicroStripes electromagnetic simulation software.

Concerned about its own facility’s excessive energy usage, a New York-based metal products manufacturer paired up with Power Concepts LLC, a Manhattan-based consulting engineering firm, to conduct an energy feasibility study at the company’s production facility.

It is rare today to find a product that can truly withstand the test of time. Yet in one Florida testing lab, Tinius Olsen has been a constant presence for nearly 54 years.

Monitoring temperature and/or humidity conditions is an essential ingredient of a wide range of quality assurance applications. There are many common methodological errors, however, in ways that this task is approached that either compromise quality standards or add unnecessary time and expense to the monitoring task.

It’s been more than 10 years since GE’s aggressive adoption of Six Sigma launched a renaissance of quality methods, and some 20 years since Motorola first began minting Black Belts and concentrating on defects. And yet, despite hundreds of documented successes and thousands of committed Six Sigma practitioners, criticism of and skepticism about Six Sigma remains as strong, and probably stronger, than ever.

When Jay and Carol Jones of Granville, MA-based Noble & Cooley Drum Co. learned that one of the firm’s Civil War-era military drums had surfaced, they wanted a closer look. So they called Instrument Technology Inc. (ITI) of Westfield, MA.

Richardson Manufacturing (Springfield, IL) is in the heart of earth-moving country, and their primary customers are the makers of enormous machines that push, haul and scrape dirt. During their 50-year history, Richardson has become a fully integrated engineering and production metalworking company. They accept CAD drawings from customers, then manage the parts from prototyping through production, and along the way make whatever fixtures are required to build them.