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Non-Conformity Management is a critical activity for each organization striving to achieve the required performance standards and obtain customers' satisfaction, particularly when new technologies are introduced. This activity is usually based on Root Cause Analysis, which is able to solve each relevant nonconformity and is even more important while introducing new technologies and products. A significant limitation in the use of RCA approach relates to the resolution path, usually being very specific for each nonconformity. This paper describes a holistic model capable of managing and proactively reducing nonconformities. This approach allows the identification and resolution of entire sets of nonconformities which, if considered as separate, would appear of little interest; yet, if properly abstracted from the specific problems and regrouped in appropriate holistic clusters, the approach may highlight new critical NCs families to focus on that would not have been detected otherwise, thus allowing further business improvement potential. 

Additive Manufacturing is increasingly growing in importance in the manufacturing environment, allowing to realize very complex product designs. Identifying the real machine capability is becoming fundamental as additive manufacturing technologies are starting to substitute conventional manufacturing processes. This aspect holds particularly true in the case of Laser Powder Bed Fusion technology. In this case, the method to investigate and determine the actual machine capabilities still represents an open point. In this paper, we propose an analysis of a well-known test artifact from an Axiomatic Design standpoint; based on the results and the review of the Customer Needs, we develop an improved design which is able to ensure a robust analysis for a reliable machine performance check.

In the oil and gas industry, repair activities are critical to keep the maintenance costs of turbomachinery equipment down. Several repair technologies can be applied to various components of turbomachines. When dealing with gas turbines, the repair of turbine rotor blades has always been a very sensitive topic, given their critical application and their impact in terms of cost on the whole turbine lifecycle. Specifically, cracking and wearing of blade tips are some of the most common failure modes. Thus, the repair of these failure modes is of paramount importance, both for the original manufacturer as well as its aftermarket competitors. The present paper describes blade tip repair technologies from an original equipment manufacturer standpoint. Three different approaches are introduced and described for tip restoration. Laser cladding is presented first, since it is one of the most common technologies for this application, and then original equipment manufacturer which is currently being applied is presented. Then, cold metal transfer and direct metal laser melting technologies are investigated. A technologic and financial assessment is made to drive the technology selection for the turbine blades restoration.

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