I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season. This may help you with your home decorations…
The importance of the product development process
Published in December 17th, 2008
In the book, Customer Centered Products, Ivy Hooks and Kristin Farry share some observations about the American culture’s urge to improvise…
We have worked with project managers and engineers who believed that solving the unanticipated problems under the gun was “the fun part of the project.”
In my own experience, I have also met many managers and engineers who would prefer to fix problems through testing, rather than through proper drawings and analysis.
Since we have a competitive edge in the U.S. with our comprehensive product development processes, let’s use them to our advantage. Let’s focus on identifying and solving problems in the design phase, before hardware is built.
Functional dimensioning and economic success
Published in December 1st, 2008
“The economic success of manufacturing firms depends on their ability to identify the needs of customers and to quickly create products that meet these needs and can be produced at low cost.”
- Karl T. Ulrich and Stephen D. Eppinger,
Product Design and Development, 2004
A great book! Should be required reading for all product engineers.
My thought is that functional dimensioning supports Karl’s quote because it protects the customer needs and provides the largest possible tolerance for manufacturing.
Receive hundreds of Pocket Guides free with a GD&T Trainer
Published in October 9th, 2008
ETI is having a Fall special.
From October 1st to November 30th, if you order a GD&T Trainer Multi-User or LAN version, you’ll receive 50 free GD&T Ultimate Pocket Guides for every $1000 spent on the software.
For example, if you purchase a GD&T Trainer Multi-User for $2595, you’ll receive 100 Pocket Guides ($600 value)
You can receive up to 650 Pocket Guides (a $3900 value) if your company purchases a 10-seat LAN.
The chart at the right shows some more examples. Click on it to enlarge.
Read more about the GD&T Trainer Professional Edition.
2009 GD&T training schedule posted
Published in October 1st, 2008
Where did the year go? It’s already time to start thinking about next year’s GD&T training plan. 
To make it easier, we’ve already posted the whole year’s public workshop schedule online.
In 2009, we’ll be offering the following workshops at our Detroit area headquarters in Westland, Michigan:
- Fundamentals of GD&T 2-Day (ASME Y14.5M-1994)
- Advanced Concepts of GD&T 2-Day (ASME Y14.5M-1994)
- Tolerance Stacks 2-Day (Concept Driven)
- Intro to Statistical Tolerance Stacks 1-Day (Concept Driven)
All workshops include:
- Course materials/handouts
- An official certificate of completion
- Continental breakfast and snacks
There are also bonus materials given out with each workshop.
If you have 5 or more employees who need training, ETI can bring the training to your site, but our public workshops are perfect for companies who have fewer employees to train and for individuals who need training.
Come visit us next year. We’ll get the snacks ready!
The importance of GD&T
Published in September 9th, 2008
I found some great quotes about the importance of tolerances. They exemplify the importance and impact of GD&T.
Tolerances have far more impact on cost, quality, and customer satisfaction than they have traditionally been accorded. Often during product design, the focus is on the nominal specification and its effect on functional quality.
The discipline and clarity that GD&T brings to the tolerancing task in undisputable. The methods of GD&T are profoundly useful in communicating tolerances, and play a critical role in how tolerances are ultimately relayed to the manufacturing community.
- C.M. Creveling
Tolerance Design – A Handbook for Developing Optimal Specifications
GD&T training around the world
Published in September 4th, 2008
Over the past few years, more and more ETI clients have requested GD&T training outside the U.S. This year, our “global” GD&T training has taken us to more places than ever before.
We started out the year in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. Soon after, we trained in Malaysia, England, and Colombia.
Our upcoming GD&T training schedule takes us to India, Venezuela, China, Thailand, Mexico, and another trip to Colombia, by the end of the year.
In most of these places, the students learned English as a second language. This means the “language of GD&T” will be their third language.
My hat is off to these dedicated students. I can’t imagine learning a new skill in a language other than my own.
To see a map of all the places ETI has trained, click here.
Ancora Imparo,
Alex