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DataNet's Quality Roots Run Deep


DataNet founder, Hugh Greenberg, reminisces about the company's 67 year quality legacy.

Although DataNet Quality System was formed in the golden age of computers and software, the company’s origins go back decades earlier. Hugh Greenberg, the company’s founder, recalls how a manufacturing company established in Detroit during World War II evolved into a leading real-time Statistical Process Control software company.

In a recent interview, Greenberg described how DataNet traced its quality roots back to 1941 and Detroit Gauge, a group of companies that supply tools, testing equipment and measurement devices to automotive and aerospace manufacturers. Greenberg, a quality-conscious entrepreneur with an economics degree under his hat, took the helm of Detroit Gauge in 1961. Under his leadership, Detroit Gauge capitalized on the advent of the jet engine, tooling a number of expensive and complex turbine engine parts for commercial and military aircraft.

Riding on the moon

In the ’60s, the United States was engaged in the space race with the Soviet Union. President John F. Kennedy publicly pushed for America to be the first to land on the moon. Detroit Gauge was called upon to help build the “ride” on the moon.

Having gained a reputation for precision tooling and machining, the company was asked, through its customer Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, to fabricate wheel housings for the Lunar Roving Vehicles which would be used for manned Apollo missions in the ’70s. The moon buggy, as the LRV was affectionately called, was a challenge for Detroit Gauge, not only because of the novelty of the project but because the titanium metal used was difficult to machine.

And while Greenberg takes pride in his company’s role in the lunar missions, he chuckles as he points out that the product his company worked so hard to deliver will never again be seen on earth. NASA left the LRVs on the moon. They were mounted with video cameras to capture the Apollo capsules’ return to earth. The moon buggies are on the list of “artificial objects” that currently remain on the moon’s surface.

No less glamorous, Detroit Gauge was also instrumental in ensuring the astronauts made it safely to the moon and back. The company manufactured valves for the engines and booster rockets that propelled many of NASA’s Apollo missions in space.

Star Wars

In the ’80s, the company’s expertise and meticulous attention to quality again would be called upon by the U.S. government and United Technologies to help fulfill another president’s vision for the future. This time it was President Ronald Reagan and it wasn’t to explore space but secure it: the Strategic Defense Initiative. The SDI was an ambitious program to use ground and space-based systems to protect the United States from attack by nuclear ballistic missiles. Though the SDI was never fully developed or deployed, Detroit Gauge delivered an ultra-sensitive nozzle for the radar system used to target rogue missiles.

The complexity of the project posed a problem that, for a bit, unnerved Greenberg. His concern was who would be liable if anything went wrong with the machining of the nozzle which was valued at roughly $6 million.

“I called United Technologies,” Greenberg recalled. “The Air Force’s specifications were so precise -- the grinding had to be within .0002 of an inch -- that the machinery could very easily fail to hold the required tolerances. If there was a problem and we were held liable, it could be a devastating outcome. Thankfully, United Technologies trusted us to do the job accurately and agreed to hold us harmless.”

As Greenberg described it, “The nozzle was about the size of a table. It was delivered on a Boeing 747 at the Willow Run Airport (45 minutes outside of Detroit). The entire process — from the time the piece was unloaded and delivered to us for machining until it was safely returned — was guarded by officials from both United Technologies and the Air Force.” The project was also performed under Greenberg’s close scrutiny. The machining of the nozzle was performed perfectly and the finished product was delivered as promised.

Quality begets quality

During the 1980s, the focus on quality sharpened in manufacturing industries, and SPC in particular was gaining attention as an effective method for improving quality. With the advent of electronic data output from production machinery and in-process checking devices, Greenberg saw the opportunity to analyze process performance at the point of production. Greenberg and his management team at Detroit Gauge began investigating the development of software to automate SPC. “Coming from a background of manually inspecting parts and logging data, I appreciated the value that real-time Statistical Process Control software could provide to manufacturers,” Greenberg explained.

“Looking back at how quality analysis was done at that time, it was in great need of improvement. There were tables and tables of people with gauges and devices inspecting parts and writing the information on sheets of paper,” Greenberg said. “Companies were inspecting after the product was finished. Checking for quality was not only tedious, but the information gathered was often too late to save entire lots from becoming scrap. It was a random, primitive process that took a lot of time, personnel and wasted money.”

WinSPC software and DataNet Quality Systems are born

In 1989, Greenberg began investing in the development of Windows-based SPC software. After exhaustive efforts, WinSPC was released in 1990, making it the first real-time SPC software for Windows on the market. In 1995, Greenberg formed the DataNet Quality Systems division of Detroit Gauge to expand the development and marketing of WinSPC software solutions.

Greenberg highlighted the benefits to manufacturers: “With WinSPC software, manufacturers can check the process in real time, while the product is being made, and respond to process trends before scrap is even produced. By investing in real-time SPC at the point of production, companies can achieve a return on investment in months, not years. It is a proven way to reduce costs, increase quality and improve efficiency. And the best part of this is that gains from using WinSPC are readily achievable in virtually every manufacturing industry."

Greenberg directly credits DataNet's roots in quality for WinSPC's rise to the top of the real-time SPC software market and its sustained presence in that position.

Today, Greenberg is a regular advisor to DataNet's current CEO Stephen A. Arnett and Arnett is quick to acknowledge the impact of Greenberg's legacy. "He grounded us in a tradition of quality and had a real respect for the shop floor. In his advisory role, he helps us take that grounding and add to it advances in statistical manufacturing theory and practices. And that uniquely positions us to bring comprehensive solutions to our customers that are practical and transformational. We really couldn't ask for a better history." 
 
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