All Features
Verisurf Software Inc.
(Verisurf: Anaheim, CA) -- Verisurf Software, Inc. and InspectionXpert Corp. are partnering to provide integrated InspectionXpert and Verisurf functionality to accelerate the process of completing first-article inspections. The new partnership provides quality inspectors with an integrated solution…
FARO
(FARO: Lake Mary, FL) -- Trimble and FARO have signed an OEM and distribution agreement for 3D laser scanners. Under the agreement, FARO will provide Trimble with an OEM-differentiated product based on its successful FARO Laser Scanner Focus3D platform. Trimble will offer the OEM product throughout…
Neil McLeod
Speed seems to be part of Brian Coombs’ life. As engineering lead for mechanical design at Bloodhound SSC, the United Kingdom’s project to retain the world land speed record with a jet- and rocket-powered 1,000 mph (1,610 km/h) car, he leads a team of engineers that is responsible for the design of…
Timothy F. Bednarz
Alack of critical thinking within organizations can be severely damaging. Critical thinking is needed for problem solving and for generating innovative ideas and solutions. Without it, new paths and avenues fail to be fully explored and forged.
When organizations lack creative thinkers, their…
Stewart Anderson
When Sean and Jayne Douglas started their winery, they knew that differentiating their product would be critical for success. The wine industry in Canada, as in most other countries, is populated by numerous producers all selling wine but differentiated—perhaps by developing unique blends, altering…
Steve Richerson
Big companies like GE, IBM, Walmart, as well as many smaller companies like Tennant, Centiva, and Stonyfield, have recently locked their GPS coordinates onto a really intriguing destination: market profitability through ecological sustainability.
These companies are heading toward a sustainable…
Anthony Burns’ opinion piece, “Six Sigma Psychology” published in the Oct. 25, 2012, edition of Quality Digest Daily, piqued my interest. I read it in anticipation of discovering a candy house waiting at the end of a long dark path, along with suggestions about how to avoid the oven. Perhaps I’d…
PLX Inc.
(PLX: Deer Park, NY) -- PLX Inc., a designer and manufacturer of unique optical instruments and systems, has developed a ball-mounted hollow retroreflector (BMR) made of ceramic to be used in nonmagnetic environments.
The ceramic BMR is available in two center accuracies within 0.0005 in. and…
Paul Naysmith
Cheese is by far one of the greatest foods. It is my only ambrosia, wrapping around my taste buds and sending fireworks of pleasure around my brain. In particular, I love the nutty flavor of Switzerland's holiest of cheeses: Emmental. When you meet me, I will happily bore you into a coma when I…
Mike Cudemo
Today's markets are growing globally and moving faster. Supply chains are leaner. Quality interruptions have dramatic financial and brand loyalty impact. To be effective, quality management systems (QMS) must keep pace, but unfortunately, everything is relative.
Figure 1 compares the average days…
Gallup
The rising cost of healthcare in the United States coupled with the absence of return on investment for Americans’ health is an important concern for many leaders across the country. And as many health systems adopt new strategies to reduce patient readmission rates and improve Hospital Consumer…
Arun Hariharan
Years of experience working with businesses—especially in areas related to quality, customers, and continuous improvement—have taught me some lessons. One of the most valuable is knowing the right question to ask.
Although it may seem like common sense, many of us hear wrong questions, and even…
Bruce Hamilton
I attended a very nice presentation recently by a person who has been leading the lean charge for several years at a major medical center. As he reflected on key elements of his organization’s success, however, he made a statement that set off my hooey detector. “It’s most important to start with…
Tammy Serensits
One focus of the regulations implemented by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) during the past several years has been on quality in batch-to-batch production in the pharmaceutical industry. Batch quality not only ensures safe product for consumers, it also has the added benefit of saving…
Josh Cable
Editor’s note: This is part two of a two-part series. To read part one, “Making the Leap from Manufacturing Manager to Consultant,” click here.
Before launching a career in consulting, consider the time away from family and other sacrifices that have to be made, but also consider the potential…
Knowledge at Wharton
The theme of the recent 2012 Wharton Management Conference, “Changing the Game: Leadership in Crisis,” is an apt one for the auto industry. Daniel Ammann, CFO of General Motors Co. (GM), addressed these leadership issues in a keynote presentation at the conference and in a Knowledge@Wharton podcast…
Patrick Stone
Compounding pharmacies, where the creation of a particular pharmaceutical product to fit the unique needs of a patient is done, have enjoyed the protection of their state pharmacy board, or they don’t distribute outside their home state (no interstate sales). This means that compounding pharmacies…
Donald J. Wheeler
While an XmR chart is commonly used as a process behavior chart, it may also be used as a test of homogeneity for a finite number of values. This column explains the difference in these two uses of the XmR chart and compares the homogeneity chart with the W-ratio test, which I presented in my June…
ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions
(Carl Zeiss: Maple Grove, MN) -- Carl Zeiss has announced a new entrustment agreement to support Dunwoody College of Technology, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with two Zeiss coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) and CALYPSO metrology software. Two of Dunwoody’s programs, Engineering Drafting…
Olympus
(Olympus: Center Valley, PA) -- InHelp, the new inspection data management and reporting software for Olympus IPLEX videoscopes, streamlines many aspects of on-site remote visual inspections. The software greatly improves work efficiency and simplifies inspections by organizing stored images on the…
Matthew Littlefield
Since W. Edwards Deming and the quality revolution, numerous quality management software systems have emerged during the past several decades. However, the quality software market in general has been ill-defined, making it difficult for quality professionals to discuss the space and compare vendors…
Mike Deng
With China’s electronics manufacturing industry developing in leaps and bounds each year, the country has become a hub for this industry. Yet with this ascent comes a multitude of new challenges.
Rapid technological development, pressure from rising operational costs, and growing demand for…
ISO
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, each year one in six people becomes sick, more than 127,000 are hospitalized, and about 3,000 die of foodborne illness. The annual economic cost in the United States alone is about $77 billion.
Adding to the risk, the food supply…
Kistler
(Kistler: Novi, MI) -- Kistler, a global supplier of precision sensors, systems, and instrumentation for the dynamic measurement of pressure, force, torque and acceleration, has introduced to the North American market two multi-channel connectors with onboard sensor and mold identification…
Bob Sproull
Much of my career has been spent helping manufacturing companies improve their profitability. Although most improvement experts in the world use lean Six Sigma to initiate improvements, it’s been my experience that the element of focus is missing.
By focus I simply mean where I focus my improvement…
