Quality Magazine

Quality Magazine January 2018

2018 January

Check out the January 2018 edition of Quality: How modular fixturing works and much more!

Cover Story

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Modular tooling

Modular Fixturing: How It Works

Many have found that modular tooling is a key decision making process for working with all types of measuring systems.
Linda Marino
January 1, 2018

Recently, I walked through the premier U.S. exposition featuring world class manufacturers of measuring systems in Chicago and modular fixturing is now even more popular than ever. I guess the concept is now a proven “missing link” and wrestling with parts and work holding challenges are nearly a thing of the past.


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Features

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ERP Software

ERP Software: Get Thee to the Cloud—or Get Left Behind

ERP software vendors still provide on-premise and mixed ERP options for manufacturers, but the future is in the Cloud.
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Leah Pickett
January 8, 2018

While enterprise resource planning (ERP) software has existed as a manufacturing tool for nearly five decades, digital manufacturing has taken a giant leap forward over the past several years with companies increasingly adopting Software as a Service (SaaS) or Cloud ERP models. 


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Back to Basics: Six Sigma

Back to Basics: Six Sigma

A Six Sigma Master Black Belt provides an introduction to the methodology’s basic ideas and concepts.
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Edward McMenamin
January 1, 2018

Don’t bite off more than you can chew, and really understand the methodology before attempting a large Six Sigma project. Those are the first words of advice for a Six Sigma novice from Six Sigma Master Black Belt John Vandenbemden.


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What to Consider When Buying a Material Tester

What to Consider When Buying a Material Tester

There is a material tester for every need.
Toby Rogers
January 8, 2018

Whether it’s called a compression tester, tensile tester, dual-column tester or twin-column tester, material testing machines go by many names. So, when users need to find the best machine to test their products, the market can appear to be a difficult one to navigate. 


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It's All About Growth: Quality's 18th Annual Spending Survey

It's All About Growth: Quality's 18th Annual Spending Survey

Quality’s 18th Annual Spending Survey reports budget increases for a range of product categories.
January 1, 2018

January is not typically considered a season of growth, but Quality’s research reports a lot of it. It’s spending survey season and quality professionals are starting to invest in new equipment. 


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Thread ring and plug engagement.

Thread Basics: Go / No-Go Acceptance

It can be beneficial for manufacturing companies to offer thread specific training to both machinists and quality personnel.
Philip Gronback
January 1, 2018

The basic concept of a thread plug is to provide a quick inspection for machinists and quality inspectors to verify that the threads are within the accepted tolerance so that it interacts with the mating part correctly. 


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Columns

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Other Dimensions

The Fix is In

What they think they have to fix is often a mess created by the last “fix.”
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Hill Cox
January 15, 2018

As I lied once before on these pages, I tend to avoid getting political in these columns with the exception of the occasional cheap generic shot. But since this is the first column of the new year, it’s that time again when the past year is reviewed and the number crunching begins. 


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From the Editor, Darryl Seland

Finding the Best Quality Approach

Particularly when many exist.
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Darryl Seland
January 15, 2018

Whether in our work or personal lives, whether for an individual endeavor or to benefit an entire organization or whether collectively or subconsciously, we’ve all asked the question: What is the best approach to getting the best result? 


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Guest Column

How to Host the Great American Job Fair

Millions of jobs need to be brought back to American shores.
Luke Dodge
January 15, 2018

Everybody knows that our jobs have been going overseas. It’s been happening since the ‘80s and for decades nobody did much to stop it. In recent years people have recognized this as a problem for the structural soundness of the American economy and have begun taking action to reverse it.


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Speaking of Quality

Certificates v. Certifications in the Quality Industry

The confusion between certificates and certification still exists.
January 15, 2018

Back in October 2012, our column was dedicated to clearing up the difference between training certificates and certifications. At the time, ASQ had been offering certifications for the quality professional for nearly 45 years. 


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Face of Quality

Dorian Shainin’s Influence on Quality Professionals, Part II

Quality professionals can learn much from the Shainin System.
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Jim L. Smith
January 15, 2018

I recently attended a lecture by an industrial statistician. Part of the lecture included a summary of Dorian Shainin’s body of work. I had to smile as the lecturer spoke about Shainin’s “exaggerated claims” of the results attributed to his methods and his infamous “pre-control.” 


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Vision & Sensors

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Higher speed acquisition and processing in machine vision

Practical VGR: Cutting-Edge Technologies and Applications

Let’s look at some of the latest vision and robotics technologies and related applications.
David L. Dechow
January 1, 2018

Machine vision technologies for Vision Guided Robotics (VGR) have greatly enhanced the flexibility and capability of robots in many industrial applications, expanding the value of robots in markets ranging from automotive to food to pharmaceutical to warehousing/distribution/order fulfillment. 


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It is important to take cable length into account for CoaXpress and USB.

CoaXPress Explained

Learn more about CoaXPress.
Jim Hendrix
January 15, 2018

Do you need to build a system with an imaging component and are you wondering about the simplicity and functionality of CoaXPress? Perfect, because that is the topic of this article.


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Intuitive interface used to set up vision sensors. Source: Cognex

The Capabilities of Vision Sensors

Let’s take a look at the capabilities and potential applications of vision sensors.
Robb Robles
January 8, 2018

A wide range of single-purpose point sensors such as proximity sensors, lasers and photocells have long played a key role in virtually all factory automation systems by detecting the presence of parts or assemblies, performing measurements, and identifying colors.


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Machine vision has taken a turn towards 3D.

3D Sensors in Machine Vision

As most players in the image processing industry know, there are several different ways to get a 3D image.
Margarita Palmer
January 8, 2018

For several years now the technologies used in machine vision have gotten more sophisticated, and at the same time the applications for quality checks are solved with a new ease. 


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Voodoo Manufacturing tripled their 3D printing production with UR cobots. Source: Universal Robots

Collaborative Robots: Don't Fear the Cobot

Collaborative robots, or cobots, are infiltrating factories on a global scale. But can robots and humans really work together in harmony? We asked the experts.
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Leah Pickett
January 1, 2018

According to the 2017 World Robotics Report, conducted by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), more than 1.7 million new industrial robots will be installed in factories around the world by 2020. 


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Smart cameras inspecting parts

Smart Cameras in a Manufacturing Environment: Today and in the Future

The combination of dramatically improving hardware and modern software technology has made smart cameras capable, inexpensive, and easy-to-use.
Christopher Chalifoux
January 1, 2018

The benefits of smart cameras have made them an ideal match for a manufacturing environment. Combining a camera, processor, software and communications in one small, low-power package, smart cameras are highly integrated optical inspection tools for controlling quality and increasing productivity—required tasks in manufacturing.


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Products

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XIMEA 8K Camera

XIMEA 8K Camera

January 1, 2018

The well-known line called xiB already offers 4K and 5K models with 12 and 20 Mpix resolution and fast speed. Now new CMV50000 sensors from CMOSIS (AMS) are included in this camera family. 


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