All Features
Denise Robitaille
“Nonfulfillment of a requirement.” That’s the clear and concise definition of a nonconformity offered up by ISO 9000:2005–“Quality management systems—Fundamentals and vocabulary.” The definition leaves little room for ambiguity. A nonconformity is the identification of an incident involving either…
David Blanchard
Not long ago, the economic outlook for small- and medium-size manufacturers in the United States looked problematic. The latest China-U.S. trade talks had ended with little progress on the key issue of the undervalued Yuan, and slow economic growth had led to a decrease in optimism among…
Quality Digest
(ANSI: New York) -- During the month of September, the American National Standards Institute is partnering with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in support of National Preparedness Month. ANSI joins nearly 1,600 national, regional, state, and local organizations in an effort to convince the…
Quality Digest
(Simmons Bedding: Atlanta) -- Officials from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration invited executives from Atlanta-based Simmons Bedding Co. to Washington, D.C., to recognize the company’s efforts in safety and health management.Edwin G. Foulke, Jr., head of OSHA and assistant secretary…
Quality Digest
(NHTSA: Washington) -- U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters recently announced new side impact safety requirements for all passenger vehicles. It is expected that the upgrade, developed by the Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, will avoid the loss…
Praveen Gupta
As I teach Six Sigma in my classes, I try to create projects for myself, and often it’s the same project over and over. This time, my project was to use Six Sigma to reduce my extra weight.In 1986 one of my clients distributed a “heart for life” goodie bag on Christmas. In the bag was a measuring…
Quality Digest
(Marlin Steel Wire Products: Baltimore) -- Highlighted in a recent publication from the National Association of Manufacturers are stories about how various U.S. companies are handling the challenges of health care, energy costs and availability, Chinese competition, regulation, tort lawsuit…
Quality Digest
(World Congress: Woburn, Massachusetts) -- The World Congress Leadership Summit on Driving Process and Performance Excellence convenes senior executives from hospitals, health systems, medical, and specialty group practices to discuss innovative approaches on process improvement and best…
Quality Digest
(DeLeeuw Associates Inc.: East Hanover, New Jersey) -- DeLeeuw Associates Inc, recenty announced its participation in IQPC’s Lean Six Sigma West Summit in Las Vegas, Sept. 19-20, 2007.On Wednesday, Sept. 19, Bryan Carey, CSI’s senior vice president of strategic consulting and managing director…
Bill Kalmar
Being confined to a hospital bed can bring more discomfort than the malady that prompted the admission. Crowded rooms with other patients in various stages of illness, tasteless meals delivered with apathy, loud announcements for lost doctors, and a staff more concerned about planning their next…
Bill Kalmar
Being confined to a hospital bed can bring more discomfort than the malady that prompted the admission. Crowded rooms with other patients in various stages of illness, tasteless meals delivered with apathy, loud announcements for lost doctors, and a staff more concerned about planning their next…
Quality Digest
(ASQ: Milwaukee, Wisconsin) -- The American Society for Quality recently submitted a written statement for the record to a congressional subcommittee that is focusing on food quality and safety in the United States. The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the Committee on Energy and…
Quality Digest
(ANSI: New York) -- The American National Standards Institute recently announced the recipients of its 2007 Leadership and Service Awards. Recipients were recognized for their significant contributions to national and international standardization activities, as well as an ongoing commitment to…
Quality Digest
(AIAG: Detroit) -- New guidelines developed by the Automotive Industry Action Group aim to improve the quality of automotive parts, helping to lower warranty claims and reduce recalls. The automotive industry spent almost $12.8 billion in warranty claims in 2006, according to Warranty Week.AIAG…
Quality Digest
(ISO: Geneva) -- From shampoo to toothpaste to make-up and skin cream, hundreds of thousands of cosmetic products will now benefit from improved quality and safety, thanks to a new standard published by the International Organization for Standardization.Cosmetics are articles intended to be rubbed…
Quality Digest
(ASQ: Milwaukee, Wisconsin) -- How can education leaders ensure that schools reach their full potential and meet the needs of the business community? The 15th annual National Quality Education Conference explores solutions to these challenges through this year’s conference theme: “Building Better…
Quality Digest
(TÜV SÜD America: Danvers, Massachusetts) -- TÜV SÜD America Inc., a testing- and certification-services firm, was recently recognized as a notified body, able to perform all related services for EMC Directive 2004/108/EC. The European Commission acknowledged TÜV SÜD America as a valid organization…
Douglas C. Fair
Just weeks after earning my industrial statistics degree, I hired on with a major aerospace company. My first “real” job entailed working with engineers and operators to deploy statistical process control (SPC) in a large machine shop. I quickly found out that the warm, coddling confines of a…
Scott Deming
Today’s world is filled with savvy consumers. They know how to find the best deals. They’re up on all the latest trends. If there’s a hot new product on the market, they don’t want to miss it. (Remember those iPhone lines!). A remarkable blend of exuberance and skepticism leaves many business…
Quality Digest
(NCQA: Washington) -- Preferred provider organizations (PPOs), which cover nearly two-thirds of all privately insured Americans, will be required to report on the quality of care and service their members receive under standards that were released on Aug. 1 by the National Committee for Quality…
Quality Digest
(Commonwealth Fund: New York City) -- As health care quality and patient safety concerns rise, the latest Commonwealth Fund health care opinion leaders survey finds leaders united behind several key reform measures: more than half (56 percent) support the creation of a new public-private…
This figure shows the 3-dimensional dose distribution of the prostate upon completion of implanted seeds. Based on patient tests, Lee’s inverse planning system uses 15% fewer seeds. Photo by Eva Lee A California medical software company has launched…
Quality Digest
(FDA: Washington, D.C.) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently announced that manufacturers of certain drugs approved to treat Type 2 diabetes have agreed to add a stronger warning on the risk of heart failure, a condition that occurs when the heart does not adequately pump blood.…
Quality Digest
(HHS: Washington D.C.) -- As part of the efforts to design and establish a public-private partnership to succeed the American Health Information Community by fall 2008, HHS has issued the final white paper describing the vision for and attributes of a successor to the AHIC. The purpose of the…
Quality Digest
(ISO: Geneva) -- A new International Organization for Standardization technical report is aimed at reducing the number of patients harmed, or even killed, due to the misuse or malfunction of software for health care. In the past, health-related software was primarily applied to relatively…
