All Features
Dan Wilson
What happens when product for an automated sorting line dries up? Production grinds to a halt, and workers stand around waiting for maintenance to come restore the flow. Overhead costs increase as the minutes tick away. As equipment ages, this happens more frequently. Sometimes the solution isn’t…
Timothy F. Bednarz
All employees are unique as to what drives them to do their best and excel in their profession. Most work as expected, but the motivated employee will go to great lengths to exceed expectations. The key is for managers to discover what truly drives people. Once their motivation is understood,…
Umberto Tunesi
According to official statistics, the root cause of most accidents that befall us at home, on the road, or at the workplace is “distraction.”
However, if we were walking around in Mr. Ishikawa’s skin, we would immediately say that distraction is itself an effect of a number of causes. And if we…
Kimberly Egan
Nutrition labels have been much in the news lately, presumably because we have once again won the fattest nation contest. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and various nutrition researchers have all put out some thought-provoking information for us to ponder.
The problems
First, people don’t…
John F. Early
In part one of this two-part series, quality by design was discussed as a business problem involving successive gaps in new product introduction. A five-phase architecture was introduced. Part two looks at the last two elements of this architecture, customer-focused optimization and dominance over…
Matthew Barsalou
Editor’s note: This is part two of a four-part series on the history of quality. For a description of the early years of the quality movement, see part one. For the later years, see part three and part four.
After the end of World War II, U.S. industry had become a seller’s market, and the…
Matthew E. May
Iam an avid cyclist. Last year I purchased a piece of electronic equipment for my cycling habit, produced by Garmin, called the Edge 500. It’s a nifty little gizmo that I mounted on my bike’s steerer tube.
It uses GPS to track speed, routes, distance, incline/decline angles (which allows me to…
Tech-X
(Tech-X: Austin, TX) -- Tech-X Inc., an ERP software startup based in Austin, Texas, has released a full-suite, integrated cloud solution for quality management called Cetec Compliance.
The software, which is offered online for free, will help companies quickly meet the core requirements of ISO,…
(NTMA: Washington, D.C.) -- In President Obama's Feb. 12, 2013, State of the Union Address, he promoted several manufacturing initiatives but warned:
"...None of it will matter unless we also equip our citizens with the skills and training to fill those jobs... let's also make sure that a high…
Dawn Keller
As I sat down to examine cost of quality (COQ) at Minitab, I flashed back to my certified quality engineer (CQE) exam almost 20 years ago. I can still vividly remember staring down at a particularly difficult cost of quality question and wondering why I didn’t just follow my fourth-grade career…
John F. Early
If you are a proficient Six Sigma Master Black Belt or Black Belt, you are almost guaranteed lifetime employment. Most enterprises continue to create new quality problems that somebody will need to fix. Or as Joseph M. Juran characterized it, almost every product development process is a hatchery…
Davis Balestracci
What exactly is “culture?” As Jim Clemmer puts it, “Culture is ‘the way we do things around here’… especially when the boss isn’t looking.”
As I asked in my January 2013 column: Do cultures’ (unwritten) expectations unwittingly create the leaders they have? Are various guises of “traditional…
Leica Geosystems
(Leica: Norcross, GA) -- The new Leica DISTO E7500i laser distance meter stands for easy and effortless outdoor distance measurement. The unique combination of digital Pointfinder and 360° tilt sensor allows measurements that are not possible with conventional distance meters. In addition, with…
Michael Causey
Turns out that some paranoid people have a reason to, well, be paranoid. Researchers from the London Business School issued a report last year finding that many people at work who thought they were being talked about were probably right.
Maybe some in the medical device industry can be forgiven…
Roger Richardson
Delta Sigma Co. (DSC) specializes in developing systems, software, and tools to automate large, complex assembly tasks and manufacturing processes. The company is involved in the design, development, production, and deployment of systems used for the research and development, production, quality…
Paul Naysmith
Seven Quality Tools of an Improvement Ninja, Part 1 The cause and effect diagram
Seven Quality Tools of an Improvement Ninja, Part 2 The check sheet
Seven Quality Tools of an Improvement Ninja, Part 3 The control chart
CMSC
(CMSC: San Diego CA) -- The Coordinate Metrology Society (CMS), the eminent membership association for measurement professionals, is hosting the 29th annual Coordinate Metrology Systems Conference (CMSC) on July 22–26, 2013 at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina.
This event caters to users of…
Mark R. Hamel
(Lean Math: Hartford, CT) -- We would like to announce a new entrant into the lean blogosphere, it’s called Lean Math (leanmath.com).
We know what you’re thinking: “Lean Math?!” Now, that’s a subject that evokes passion in the heart of every lean practitioner… right?
But, the truth is effective…
Bruce Hamilton
I was reminded this week how problematic the conceptual blind spots in our management systems can be. An otherwise insightful and passionate-to-improve organization that I was visiting was caught in a vicious production cycle that I’ll refer to ineloquently as “piling on.”
That is, each…
Robb McIvor
Being that this is Valentine’s Day, I can think of no better time and place to express my undying love—for the technical presentations that are offered each year at the Coordinate Metrology Systems Conference.
CMSC 2013, which is being held at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina July 22–26,…
Matthew Storm
When customer experience is your product, how do you deliver the highest quality and differentiate your business? That was the question facing Robin Gomez, the director of consumer insights at GSI Commerce, as he and his team embarked on a mission to deliver far greater value to their clients.…
Quality Transformation With David Schwinn
The day I wrote this column, Jan. 21, 2013, the second presidential inauguration of Barack Obama took place. A presidential inauguration is a celebration of America and what it stands for. In the news coverage, someone quoted American author Alex Haley as saying, “Find the good and praise it.” It…
BYK-Gardner
(BYK-Gardner: Columbia, MD) -- BYK-Gardner, worldwide partner of the automotive, paint, and plastic industries for quality control of color, appearance, and physical properties, is offering two free posters for technical use: the Color Theory poster and the Viscosity Conversion Chart.
The Color…
(IAC: Brea, CA) -- IAC Industries, best known for its Dimension 4 Series premium workstations and Workmaster industrial workbenches, introduces Smart Mobile Stations. Smart Mobile Stations are mobile utility carts that enable users to take computers, printers, scanners, files, tools, and other…
Jeff Cope
In 2013, machine shops are focused more than ever on finding ways to improve their business. From implementing new processes and adapting to new materials to major investments in new equipment, manufacturers across the supply chain must drive improvements that translate to bottom-line results.…
