European space company RUAG to launch Alabama manufacturing operation

Made In Alabama News Center

July 31, 2015

DECATUR, Alabama – Switzerland-based RUAG announced today that it will launch an

Alabama manufacturing operation after forming a strategic partnership with United Launch Alliance, which produces rockets at a factory in Decatur.

RUAG, one of Europe’s leading suppliers of products for the space industry, said the new Alabama operation will produce carbon-fiber components for ULA’s Atlas V rocket and for the planned Vulcan rocket. RUAG has previously produced Atlas V components at factories in Zurich and Emmen but will move that work to Decatur.

The project will create at least 100 jobs at ULA’s Decatur facility, the sole production source for the Atlas V and Delta VI launch vehicles that blast critical national security, communications, GPS and research satellites into orbit.

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Thompson Engineering chosen to lead design team for I-10 Mobile River Bridge

By Michael Finch II

on July 23, 2015 at 6:21 PM, updated July 23, 2015 at 7:06 PM

A selection committee chose Mobile-based firm Thompson Engineering Thursday to oversee the design process for the Interstate 10 bridge and Bayway widening projects.

Thompson will assist the Alabama Department of Transportation with completing the environmental impact study required by the federal government in order to build the bridge, in addition to other structural design work.

That will include studying storm surge for the two-lane widening of the Bayway, termination points in Baldwin County, a vibration analysis for historic structures and providing information for a bicycle-pedestrian path, said Vince Calametti, region engineer for the department of transportation.

For the rest of the story visit AL.com.


 

Is Quality a Result or a System?

By Jamie Flinchbaugh, Co-founder and Partner, Lean Learning Center in Novi, Mich.

Aug 4, 2015

Harold Dodge, one of the founders of quality management, changed our view on quality with a vital statement: “You cannot inspect quality into the product.” Dr. Deming helped

make the quote famous. The only problem with this statement is that it is decades old yet not nearly fully adopted by manufacturing organizations or even their quality functions.

This starts with trying to understand what quality really means. Does it mean within specification? If you truly observe the behaviors and decisions of many companies, this would be their working definition. But this is useless if the specifications don’t meet customer expectations, wants or needs.

For the rest of the story visit Industry Week.