Eng2Mfg

Adobe purchased the PRC technology that enables Acrobat to read multiple CAD formats, yet they appear to be waffling on their commitment…

Did you know that your brain uses 20% of the oxygen that enters your bloodstream. The brain only makes up about 2% of our body mass, yet consumes more oxygen than any other organ in the body, making it extremely susceptible to damage related to oxygen deprivation. So breathe deep to keep your brain happy and swimming in oxygenated cells.

An interesting article in Manufacturing Engineering magazine that discusses the need for better inspection in the aerospace industry.   The article describes how lasers and advanced CMMs are being used to handle the emerging needs…

This is from a recent article on the Quality Magazine website:

The Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) is seeking industry volunteers to create a guide to effective error proofing.

Ineffective error proofing in the automotive industry results in poor quality, loss of revenue from repeat issues, low customer retention and additional nonvalue-added activities that reduce quality.

If the automotive industry wishes to address quality issues maybe they should look into DISCUS and their product suite.  From what I hear this is the “bread and butter” of the DISCUS software.

The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) put the PMI (Purchasing Managers Index) at 32.4% for December – a 3.8% point change from November.

It also reported that:

this is the lowest reading since June 1980 when the PMI registered 30.3%

Full article here.

I came across an interesting article about engineering education in the US.  Evidently, 50% of US engineering students dropout:

The United States graduates about 70,000 engineers each year, and another 30,000 with advanced engineering degrees… On average about 50% of U.S. engineering students dropout.

Other majors have about 25% drop out rates. In both cases many students choose another major…

I’ve found that most people I ask cite their reason for leaving as the difficulty of the courses. 

Siemens AG is the German global giant that purchased the Unigraphics PLM company and subsequently renamed it Siemens PLM… Well, according to a recent article, the justice department has found Siemens guilty of paying more than a billion dollars in bribes to win lucrative contracts in countries such as Argentina, Bangladesh and Venezuela. The German engineering company now will pay a total of $1.6 billion in fines to U.S. and German authorities