Articles by Leah Pickett

Looking into new software for statistical process control (SPC) can be challenging and often confusing at the outset. This is because many providers claim to have similar features like real-time data collection and easy installation, though results may vary.

When the temperature drops, so does the ability of many cars and trucks to safely and smoothly operate. To prevent this, automakers often turn to winter testing facilities and quality testing companies to verify their products’ durability and drivability on icy roads, through snow, and in temperatures well below 0 degrees Celsius.

Keeping track of documents is essential for maintaining an audit-ready quality management system (QMS). 

The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to the growing network of physical objects that are embedded with sensors to enable connection with each other and exchange of data.

In a previous article, we observed how multi-sensor CMMs can perform 2D and 3D measurements interchangeably in a single run. Today, high-precision CMMs also can carry out form measurement functions, says David Wick, product manager at ZEISS Industrial Metrology.

It is indisputable that automated controls have made the post-process monitoring of finished parts faster and easier than ever before. Even when applied after machining is complete, intelligent controls can provide three essential quality functions: automatic logging of the process routes and outcomes of cutting operations, on-machine verification, and post-process reporting.

The first step to process improvement is machine performance measurement and diagnosis. However, it’s a step that many OEMs and service providers—even quality professionals—fail to approach with as much rigor as other steps, like process setting and in-process control. 

Last year, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) introduced the Better Practice and Better Project awards to honor exceptional energy-efficiency solutions. 

Applications for industrial X-Ray CT—a 3D measurement technique that enables nondestructive inspection of an object’s internal and external features—are growing beyond the confines of the nondestructive testing (NDT) space that CT has occupied since the mid-1990s.

As this year's event made clear, 3D printing has reached a tipping point.