All Features
Mike Roberts
A considerable number of executives today still struggle to make quality a top priority. Based on a survey of more than 300 executives, barely 50 percent of companies in large and mature industries currently make quality a top priority. In fact, for some industries such as food and…
NIST
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is soliciting proposals to support significant research in the field of fundamental measurement or the determination of fundamental constants.
Although the fundamental constants such as the speed of light or electron mass are just that—…
Matthew Littlefield
Many organizations have implemented targeted quality management functionalities to address immediate issues. It’s common for these functionalities to be homegrown or bought as off-the-shelf software solutions. As a consequence, however, organizations are now facing the challenge of ensuring that…
Kimberly Egan
On Jan. 4, 2013, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took the first step in its history to regulate produce farmers. The agency issued a 547-page proposed rule that spends a lot of time reducing everything humanity has learned about plants since agriculture emerged in the Fertile Crescent 10,…
Nikon Metrology Inc.
(NMI: Brighton, MI) -- Nikon Metrology Inc. (NMI) announces a software breakthrough with Metrologic Group that provides a complete set of new functionalities and applications for Laser Radar and other NMI products.
Metrologic has combined large-scale capabilities into its popular Metrolog software…
Jim Frost
This flu season has been worse than normal. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data show that the flu has struck early and hard. Influenza cases shot up during December rather than the more usual January or February, and 47 states report widespread influenza cases.
I get a flu…
Kyle Toppazzini
Have you heard the expression “flavor of the month” or the saying “the more things change, the more they stay the same?” I often hear employees use these expressions when faced with a large change initiative. Most executives are aware of these terms, too, although I’m not completely certain they…
Jeff Dewar
“Dad, I'll need a car soon,” came from the lips of my 15-year-old son. A straight-A student, on his way to attaining Eagle Scout rank, and dedicated to the cross-country team, he deserved a hearing. He had been working around the neighborhood doing yard work but had his eyes on the bigger target…
William A. Levinson
It is a basic principle that muda (waste) often hides in plain view, and it persists because people become used to living with it or working around it. Bricklaying, one of the world’s oldest trades, is a classic example.
Frank Gilbreth, a pioneer of motion study, developed a nonstooping scaffold…
Duke University
Duke University engineers have developed a novel “sensor” that is more efficient, versatile, and cheaper for potential use in such applications as security scanners and collision avoidance systems for aircraft, automobiles, or maritime vessels.
The researchers fabricated a unique material known…
Umberto Tunesi
Some of you will surely think the subject of this column is inconsistent with Quality Digest Daily’s line of interest. But, please, first allow me to remind you that sleep is hardly second to food, as far as human health is concerned. Without the proverbial “good night’s sleep,” we function badly…
NeoMetrix Technologies Inc.
(Neometrix) -- STL models are becoming more popular in the world of manufacturing and they come from a variety of sources. Whether they come from scans, CMM, or CAD, STL files can cause headaches to a machinist receiving them. SpaceClaim is a smart 3D software that can make dealing with STL files…
University of Michigan
A nanoscale coating that’s at least 95-percent air repels the broadest range of liquids of any material in its class, causing them to bounce off the treated surface, according to the University of Michigan (UM) engineering researchers who developed it.
In addition to super stain-resistant clothes…
Bruce Piasecki
During the past few months, sports fans around the world have watched the downfall of Lance Armstrong, the most celebrated cyclist of all time. His televised confession interview with Oprah Winfrey—where he admitted to doping, using blood transfusions, and more—riveted the public. But what…
David Rideout
In industrial manufacturing, using measuring instruments to ensure repeatability, reproducibility, and accuracy is imperative to the production process and to the quality and consistency of finished pieces. Repeatability and reproducibility are tracked and maintained through the ongoing…
Ryan E. Day
In May 2012 the United States Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) released the report, “Inquiry into Counterfeit Electronic Parts in the Department of Defense Supply Chain.” As noted in the first and second pages of the report’s executive summary, the committee’s investigation during 2009–2010…
University of Arizona
IBM recently awarded a Smarter Cities Challenge Grant to the city of Tucson, Arizona, and Tucson Water, which will work on technology with the University of Arizona’s (UA) College of Engineering to improve water reliability. Tucson was selected for its proposal to merge two technology improvements…
Jack Dunigan
For centuries inventors have dreamed of a perpetual motion machine, one that will run unattended forever. It doesn’t exist. Leaders have dreamed of a perpetual motion company, too, one that will run without ever needing attention. If there is a common failing in novice leaders, it’s believing the…
Akhilesh Gulati
Editor’s note: This article continues the series exploring the TRIZ methodology, a problem-solving, analysis, and forecasting tool derived from studying patterns of invention found in global patent data. TRIZ identifies 40 principles, of which separation is one.
In an earlier article from this…
Mettler-Toledo
(Mettler-Toledo: Columbus, OH) -- Mettler-Toledo, a leader in the research and development of products and services in the precision instrument industry, introduces the new DataBridge SS vehicle scale software. DataBridge SS is vehicle scale software that can automate vehicle weighing operations.…
Tamar June
A Jan. 11, 2013, email sent by Michael Fauntleroy, program manager for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Electronic Submissions Gateway (ESG), the agencywide solution for accepting electronic regulatory submissions, warns those using the WebTrader for electronic submissions to delete their…
Patrick Runkel
Lionel Loosefit is on trial for violating the assumptions of regression analysis. During day one the prosecution presented evidence showing that the errors in Loosefit’s model were not normally distributed. During day two, the evidence was put to the test during reexamination. Today, the…
Paul Naysmith
Writing articles for Quality Digest Daily has created some positive if unpredicted consequences for me. I’m fortunate that people read what I write and even reach out with feedback. Recently one such reader, just beginning her quality career in Chicago, emailed me, and we started a conversation…
Asia Pacific Quality Organization APQO
(APQO: Rizal, Philippines) -- The Armand V. Feigenbaum Life Achievement Medal, established by the Asia Pacific Quality Organization (APQO) and the Walter L. Hurd Foundation, has been awarded to H. James Harrington for 2012.
“There were many reputable global applicants for this medal and without a…
Davis Balestracci
At the end of my December 2012 column, “Evolving Beyond Platitudes to Holistic Improvement,” I described three different management styles. Management expert Peter Block saw the need to evolve away from traditional management, and in “As Goes the Follower, So Goes the Leader,” he describes a…