During his recent presentation at the 2009 Quality Measurement Conference, Ted Doiron of NIST called gage blocks, “a zombie technology.” He defined this as, “a dead technology given a semblance of life, but awkward and inefficient, by a supernatural force (human inertia) usually with evil (costly) effects.”

Ask any machinist how statistical process control (SPC) helps him manage his processes. The response is not likely to be positive. It is not uncommon for control charts to be placed around machines and other equipment, showing a history of how certain process parameters or key process characteristics (KPCs) have been performing.

A shipbuilder minimizes risk and maximizes performance through the use of engineering simulation software.

A medical device manufacturer saves production time by switching from manual measuring instruments to a multisensor coordinate measuring machine.

Efficiently managing processes is key to the success of a business. That is all the more true in this tiring economy. An early step in process management is identifying and documenting the main processes. A powerful visual tool, process mapping has been in use for many years.

Requirements for product testing vary widely within the market. Clearly, a variety of means can accomplish this task, from simple photoelectric sensors to expensive custom vision systems.

Douglas Woods, president of the Association for Manufacturing Technology, testified in front of the U.S. House Committee on Small Business. He discusses his time in front of the committee, as well as what specific government plans are helping, and can help, the manufacturing industry.

Quality Magazine's 2009 Professional of the Year recipient, H. James Harrington, discusses his view of the role of the quality professional today, quality improvement and poor quality costs. Harrington has more than 50 years of experience in the quality field.

Bob Hewell, director of quality and missions success at Lockheed Martin's MS2 Tactical Systems - Clearwater, FL, Operations discusses the success this 2009 Quality Plant of the Year winner has achieved by driving a culture of continuous improvement.

Manufacturing Quality Engineer Melissa Bailey discusses the challenges many manufacturers face and the some of the solutions Personna American Safety Razor (Knoxville, TN) has implemented to succeed in order to become the 2009 Quality Plant of the Year recipient in the Small Plant Division.