Recently an American-based German manufacturer was awarded a contract to produce some parts for a Japanese company. According to the contract, critical surface areas of the parts were to meet roughness criteria as defined by the R_z parameter. This appeared to be no problem. However, it turned out that the R_z specified was not the current ISO or U.S. standard version they were used to, but a much older Japanese domestic standard dating from 1982.

Traditional measurement of surface texture using 2-D profilometers has major limitations. It gives satisfactory results for isotropic surfaces that present identical features regardless of the direction of measurement. The method also can be applied to some anisotropic surfaces in accordance with ISO 4288, such as turned surfaces with representative profiles that are perpendicular to tool marks. But it does not provide a general solution.

Must quality engineers and product managers always be at odds? The former seeks perfection while the latter pushes for greater throughput. With the latest improvements in leak detection devices, both agendas can be served, as the best examples of this testing equipment help speed the quality control process without sacrificing accuracy.

Acceptable product performance is the ultimate goal of any manufacturer. This requires not only well-controlled material input and process control for making acceptable products, but also a way to ensure that, when products are used where failure could be dangerous or expensive, a screening method ensures the rejection of unacceptable products. Performance-based screening using NDT is an approach to guarantee that high-performance, quality parts are shipped to the customer.

Infrared thermography is the science of detecting and measuring variations in heat emitted by an object and transforming them into visible images. It is a rapidly developing technology for nondestructive testing (NDT) in many applications. Recent advances in imaging equipment allow for more rapid data acquisition and higher spatial resolution, thus opening up new areas of application.

Problems can arise in factories that use 3 by 5 cards to keep track of gages. In fact, calibration problems are one of the top sources of nonconformances during ISO 9000 audits. Commercial software is available for managing a calibration program, but for small shops an Excel spreadsheet may do just as well. Learn how to program a spreadsheet to remind personnel when calibrations are due.

In a fiercely competitive global economy, manufacturers and their suppliers are challenged to continuously improve quality and maintain compliance with government and industry mandates-with limited labor and resources. All the while, OEMS are increasing their dependence on suppliers for complex products, assembly operations and services.

Quality control professionals, inspectors and machinists have a new cost-effective, reliable option for maintaining wireless data integrity. A complete, robust wireless data collection system that uses a wireless mesh network offers many advantages over conventional data collection.

Genchi Genbutsu, a Japanese QC concept, which loosely translates to “go to the actual spot and see for yourself,” or, in other words, go to the site and form an opinion first-hand, can be applied to the hot area of mobile data collection, in which process measurements are carried out in areas of the plant that auditors or inspectors could not otherwise access with their gages.

One of the jobs of metrology system manufacturers is to make better, more sophisticated products. Ironically, however, they are frequently met with the argument that because inspection is essentially a nonvalue-added process, their efforts in product development run counter to their customers’ needs. Their customers need to reduce costs, and inspection is a cost. Ergo, the price of high-end form and surface metrology systems-and the development of ever more sophisticated ones-is not justified. Instead, they are told, they should concentrate on simpler, more accurate, reliable and less expensive gages for inspection.