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QUALITY & STANDARDS

Quality & Standards: The Efficiency Equation (May 2008)

The refrigeration industry currently has a number of standards and methods of measurement in place to provide a helpful guide for determining the energy efficiency of equipment. These methods, such as the Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER), allow engineers to compare different compressors and operating conditions, ultimately finding a combination that fits the application at hand.

by Rajan Rajendran


Quality & Standards: Modern Motors (May 2008)

Why is UL changing its motor standards? This is generally the first reaction when people hear that UL is changing its venerable UL 1004 and UL 2111 standards for electric motors. Part of this reaction is due to the perception in some quarters that UL serves as the “Safety Police.” Another part of the reaction may be due to the comfort level that engineers have with the previous set of requirements that were first printed in 1972 and are well recognized by manufacturers.

by Frank Ladonne


Quality & Standards: Confidence in Clothes (Nov. 2007)

Programs like Energy Star and the American Water Works Association’s Water Wiser initiative have become increasingly pervasive in recent years demonstrating consumers’ increasing support for the environment. These and other conservation initiatives continue to grow in scope and in their influence over consumers’ purchasing decisions.

by Patrick Davison


Quality & Standards: Stricter on Safety (Nov. 2007)

In recent years, there has been a trend to upgrade household and similar appliances with electronic controls. For these types of products, this represents a significant change because they have previously employed “low tech” controls, including components such as electromechanical thermostats, thermal overprotection devices, and mechanical switches. Electronic controls have a potential to be interfered with which may cause inadvertent operation and related safety hazards.

by Steve Grimes
Mark Haynes


Quality & Standards: A Sound Diagnosis (Nov. 2007)

If a robotic vacuum cleaner works while no one is home, does it still make a sound? That new spin on the tree falling in the forest may not inspire you to a night course in philosophy, but it does underscore an important point in the realm of sound quality: there is a distinction between the objective reality and the subjective experience. The former relates to the physical phenomenon of generating sound pressure waves that can be quantified and characterized by a variety of standard metrics such as intensity level, frequency, harmonics, and so on. This objective aspect is often referred to as noise.

by Larry Adams


Quality & Standards: Beyond Reverse Engineering (May 2007)

Like technology itself, the labels we use to describe technology-driven processes are fluid, a function of a particular time, place or stage of development. Even if we use a computer primarily for word processing, we don’t call it a word processor anymore. A term such as turnkey CAD, prevalent two decades ago, is now as dated as groovy or right on!

by Ping Fu


Quality & Standards: Integrating Biometrics (May 2007)

These days, there are only a few people left who haven’t heard of biometrics. This technology is becoming popular for a variety of applications where personal identity verification is needed. Typically, this is based on improvements in security, convenience, or both.   

by Catherine J. Tilton


Quality & Standards: Lessons from Failure (May 2007)

Performing failure analysis involves determining the root cause or causes of the failure of a product and involves a careful examination of potential contributing factors and their interdependence. To a large extent, the process of failure analysis depends on the experience of the analyst and needs to be tailored to each project.

by Dale B. Edwards
Barbara J. Gedeon
Alan I. Kasner


Quality and Standards: A Waffler that Wows

Wafflers that imprint interesting designs have become very popular, and Jarden’s Tilia subsidiary makes a variety of them sold under the VillaWare brand, including one that makes heart-shaped waffles and others that imprint the image of popular cartoon characters. In an effort to push the waffle envelope, the Tilia design team came up with the idea to develop a waffler that would imprint a bouquet of roses.

by Richard Babyak


Quality and Standards: Compliant Components

European Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) compliance has been in force since July 1. Many manufacturers who fall within the scope of the regulation have done what they believe is due diligence by collecting Certificates of Compliance or Declarations of Compliance from their suppliers.

by Greg Monty


Quality and Standards: Weathering Forecasting

Manufacturers can build service life prediction (SLP) models for weathering studies by using xenon arc Weather-Ometers and proper design of experiment (DOE). By inputting environmental data from the outdoor exposure location, manufacturers can predict service life.

by Henry K. Hardcastle III


Quality & Standards: Limiting Leaks

From lawn mowers to espresso machines, any fluid-handling appliance requires leak testing to demonstrate readiness for market release. Usually, the same leak testing methods that are used in prototype designs are also the best ones for assembly processes.

by Jacques Hoffmann


Quality & Standards: Measuring Magnetic Fields

The new European standard EN 50366:2003, published under the 73/23/EEC Low Voltage Directive, pertains to manufacturers and marketers of household appliances and similar apparatuses, sometimes referred to HHA devices. The requirement, effective as of Feb. 1, 2006, established a method to show compliance with the European Council Recommendation 1995/519/EC concerning human exposure to low-frequency electromagnetic fields.

by Jack Black


Quality & Standards: Reducing Recalls

When a company hears that it is involved in a federal product recall, the news can generate tremendous anxiety throughout the organization. Inevitably, questions will arise.

by John Drengenberg


Quality and Productivity

Automated test equipment yields better quality and productivity.



















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