A great deal of attention has been paid to the decline of manufacturing in America, and I've been accused of being a town crier since the 1980s, when I began to see our nation lose its edge to foreign competition. My concerns have proven well-founded.

Charlie Fischer, VP Technical Division, retiring end of April

A response to the September 2013 Voices piece on how gear standards are written, from one who's been there.

Methods of examining large ring gear teeth to detect surface breaking discontinuities have often been time-consuming and limited in terms of data collected. Methods such as visual and magnetic particle inspection can miss critical discontinuities. However, a new ASTM international standard provides a more effective method for gear examination using eddy current array, a technology that has been widely used but, until now, not standardized.

Readers respond to our "Job Shop Lean" column and the "My Gear is Bigger than Your Gear" article.

The new chairman of the AGMA Technical Division Executive Committee explains what's involved in the process of developing technical standards at the AGMA.

Following is a report from The Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation (MAPI). Founded in 1933, the alliance contributes to the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing by providing economic research, professional development, and an independent, expert source of manufacturing information.

Readers respond regarding the article from March/April 2013.

"Design for manufacturability" (DFM) is a well-established practice, essential to realizing the successful transformation of concepts into mass-produced gears and motion control devices. And yet, all too often issues that could have been avoided are identified very late in the process that impact production costs and schedules. This suggests that key DFM principles are often underutilized in practice and are not applied consistently - or to the degree necessary - to avoid these negative results.

In the August issue, we examined the lean tools that will and will not work in high-mix, low-volume manufacturing facilities. Now, we will examine how to implement the tools that will work in the job shop with an approach that expands the capabilities of value stream mapping.