TEMPE, AZ-The Institute for Supply Management reported that manufacturing activity increased in April with the manufacturing index hitting its highest mark since last May. On the other hand, commodities prices continue to rise at a rapid rate, with metals and energy being the areas of greatest concern.
CLEARWATER,
FL-More than 120 of the top quality measurement professionals in the United
States gathered in the sun for four days of the 2007 Manufacturing &
Measurement Conference & Workshop (MMCW) in Clearwater, FL, April 23 to 26.
Held at the Marriott Sand Key resort, attendees heard from top professionals in
manufacturing about the challenges and solutions of making measurement and
quality an effective tool for their companies.
ORLANDO-The
2007 ASQ World Conference on Quality and Improvement, “Fueling Innovation
Through People and Quality,” April 30 to May 2, offered attendees a chance to
learn from experts and other quality professionals.
SCOTTSDALE,
AZ-CyberMetrics Corp. a privately held software and solutions provider founded
in 1988, has acquired American Quality Systems Inc. (AQS), a provider of
low–to–mid priced calibration, and maintenance management software products.
The acquisition of American Quality Systems is another in a series of events
chronicling a continued period of growth for CyberMetrics Corp. In February,
CyberMetrics announced it had posted record company revenues during the fiscal
year ending December 31, 2006. Sales of CyberMetrics’ flagship product,
Gagetrak, increased 25% and the company’s overall operating margin rose by nine
percentage points during that timeframe.
MELVILLE,
NY–Nikon Instruments Inc. announces the appointment of Yoshinobu Ishikawa as
president and chief executive officer. Ishikawa will be in charge of all
Nikon Instruments divisions in North America and Latin America.
PHOENIX-Nearly
half of the current membership of the American Measuring Tool Manufacturers
Association (AMTMA) gathered for a three-day meeting March 14 to 16 in Phoenix.
The annual meeting had several firsts-its first end user as a member, its first
meeting under the leadership of the members themselves and its first in-depth
look at the market in which their measurement tools are used.
WIXOM,
MI-Wenzel GmbH of Germany has acquired Xspect Solutions Inc. (Wixom, MI).
Xspect Solutions has been the distribution partner of Wenzel in North America
since its formation in 2002, and has been the Wenzel Distributor of the Year
for both 2005 and 2006. Xspect has engineered market penetration in the United
States, which now represents the largest market for Wenzel CMM products outside
of its domestic German market. Xspect Solutions supplies new Wenzel CMMs with
its OpenDMIS software to the North American markets, and Xspect Solutions
annual sales exceeded $15 million in 2006. Its corporate customers include John
Deere, General Electric, TRW, Federal-Mogul, Cummins, Delphi and Whirlpool.
Details of the sale were not disclosed.
WASHINGTON,
D.C.-Vice President Dick Cheney and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez
presented three U.S. organizations with the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality
Award, the nation’s highest honor for organizational performance
excellence.
The 2006 Baldrige Award recipients are: Premier Inc., San Diego, service;
MESA Products Inc., Tulsa, OK, small business; and North Mississippi Medical
Center, Tupelo, MS, health care.
TEMPE,
AZ-Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in February following
a decline in January, while the overall economy grew for the 64th consecutive
month, according to the nation’s supply executives in the Manufacturing
Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Report On Business.
AKRON, OH-As part of a major investment in its North American plants, British packaging giant Rexam has awarded an exclusive five-year contract to Applied Vision for complete inspection systems services.