Check out the October 2019 edition of Quality: Using software to refine the steel manufacturing process, optical measurement devices, thread classes, plug gages, Quality 4.0 and much more!
It is a cold hard fact that steel production in Europe can hardly be made economically viable unless manufacturing facilities use the very latest equipment and technology. And there is no alternative to operating 24/7.
Sometimes adopting lean manufacturing means adding more people to a process. Eric Ethington, a lean product and process development coach, previously worked in the auto supply business. In a pump assembly product line, the typical cell had six operators.
If you were to ask an assembler at a Tesla factory how they measure the diameter of a piston, the response could very well be “what’s a piston?” If the same question were asked, a traditional combustion engine assembler would likely exclaim “with calipers, of course!”
I was recently retaught a lesson that, ironically, I teach for a living. The consulting firm I work in covers not only lean, but also consults and guides clients along with building and improving their quality management systems.
Quality 4.0 must be a significant contributor to the Industry 4.0 revolution happening in manufacturing, however, right now there is a significant gap between the two.
Whether you work in a quality control laboratory at a major automotive manufacturer or are performing research at a university, it is common to encounter a universal testing machine that was manufactured before the 21st century.
Thread classes for product threads, and by extension the gages used to inspect them, can become a bit of alphabet soup. Some find the requirements confusing.
Optical measurement refers to noncontact measurement using various light sources. It usually requires at least one lens, a light source and a detector.
At the end of the day, nothing matters more than customer satisfaction. Fundamentally, this sounds quite simple; make the customer happy, and all is well. Keeping customers happy and loyal to your brand, however, is not as easy as it sounds.
It’s titled Senate Bill (SB) 206. Recently passed by the unanimous vote of state legislators in California, the measure would allow student athletes to hire agents and make money from their name, image, and likeness.
The American Measuring Tool Manufacturers Association (AMTMA) is an organization whose members manufacture, supply, and/or calibrate precision gages and measuring instruments. If you use this type of equipment, the odds are it came from one or more AMTMA member companies.
Before a recent boxing match, a trainer had his fighter repeat “I’m the man! I’m a tiger! I’m a beast! I’m invincible!” That motivation was effective until shortly after the bell. About two minutes after the match began, the fighter was KO’d by his opponent who actually knew how to box!
With more than a billion bicycles thought to be in existence (more than double the number of automobiles), it’s safe to say that a lot of people enjoy cycling.
Fatigue is a failure mechanism caused by repeated cyclic loading that leads to cumulative damage within a material, and ultimately catastrophic failure. “Between 80% to 90% of all mechanical service failures can be attributed to Fatigue,” according to the American Society of Metals – Metals Handbook 1975 & 2008.
Materials testing in metal additive manufacturing (AM) involves characterization of raw materials and evaluation of finished parts. The raw materials used in metal AM processes include powders, filaments and sheets.
Zeta potential (ζ) is a key indicator of the stability of colloidal dispersions. The higher the magnitude of the zeta potential (that is, highly positive OR highly negative), the more stable the colloid.