All Features
Donald Hillger
This year, 2016, marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Metric Association (USMA). Our mission is to help the United States complete its transition to the metric system. Although we’ve always expected that the adoption of the metric system here was just around the corner, all…
American Customer Satisfaction Index ACSI
(ACSI: Ann Arbor, MI) -- Manufactured nondurable goods include household products that consumers typically use every day. This sector as measured by the ACSI is comprised of food manufacturing, personal care and cleaning products, soft drinks, breweries, apparel, and athletic shoes. According to…
Kevin Meyer
“Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.”
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Like most people, I maintain a fairly long to-do list of personal and professional projects. It’s a few pages long—especially the honey-do portion. Because the list can be intimidating,…
Quality Digest
(Quality Digest: Chico, CA) -- Hexagon CEO, Ola Rollén, was detained in Norway on Oct. 29, 2016, on suspicion of insider trading stemming from personal investments unrelated to Hexagon.
According to the company, the Norwegian economic crime authority has accused Ola Rollén of insider trading in…
Barbara A. Cleary
Among the “10 top business trends that will drive success in 2016,” reported in an end-of-2015 Forbes article by author and consultant Ian Altman, was the point that “Top performing companies will focus on connecting customers.”
Citing examples that include Uber, AirBnB, Kickstarter, and others,…
Lolly Daskal
Two men—one old, one young, both reading newspapers—were sharing a park bench on a lovely afternoon. The younger man asked his seatmate for the time, but the old man said, “No,” and went back to reading his newspaper. The young man asked, “I’m sorry, have I offended you in some way?”
The old man…
Marci Crane
Of the myriad ways in which the Earth’s inhabitants could potentially be destroyed, a zombie apocalypse is undoubtedly one of the least impressive. Though a zombie apocalypse is decidedly scary, unpleasant, and would “get the job done” as the unromantic expression goes, it tends to lack the…
Joby George
Having difficulty managing quality and quality-related data? You’re not alone. Many manufacturers struggle with this these issues due to paper-based or other disparate systems being used to track, manage, and report on quality events. Walk about a production room floor, and there’s a good chance…
(Edgetech Instruments: Hudson, MA) -- Edgetech Instruments, a global leader in the manufacture of moisture and oxygen analyzers, now certifies chilled-mirror hygrometers made by other major manufacturers. Edgetech Instruments also has replacement sensors and complete subassemblies for other brands…
The Un-Comfort Zone With Robert Wilson
In the past two decades, I have been dumped by two friends who disagreed with my political opinions. The first because he didn’t like who I voted for in a presidential election; the other because I refused to sign a petition supporting a political cause I disagreed with. At first I was hurt…
Roger Lehman, Erik Van de Loo
Making decisions about mergers, change processes, or even hiring can be nerve racking. Leaders or managers need to consider whether they’ve covered every angle and every option. This includes exploring feelings or biases about a problem and possible obstacles to decision-making. If something doesn…
Timothy Woodcome
An integrated management system (IMS) combines multiple management system standards to which an organization is registered. The management systems are developed, implemented, and maintained via one system with processes that cover each standard’s requirements.
For example, the processes required…
Eston Martz
At last month’s Minitab Insights conference, experts from a wide range of industries offered some great lessons about how they use data analysis to improve business practices and solve a variety of problems. I shared five tips from quality leaders in yesterday’s column; here are five more.…
Harry Hertz
Yes, it’s time for the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) to pay attention! Having recently seen an article in The Guardian about the new additions to the OED, it seemed a good time to take a somewhat tongue-in-cheek look at the 10 words I would propose for inclusion in that venerable reference for…
Eston Martz
If you were among the 300 people who attended the first-ever Minitab Insights conference last month, you already know how powerful it was. Attendees learned how practitioners from a wide range of industries use data analysis to address a variety of problems, find solutions, and improve business…
Jason Furness
Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from Manufacturing Money (Amazon Digital Services, 2015) by Jason Furness and Michael McLean. See the article on the Manufacturship blog.
I n martial arts, the level of skill of the practitioner is recognized by the use of different colored belts to be worn with…
Industrial companies are facing critical challenges rooted in slow growth, globalization, the effect of disruptive technologies, and unforeseen competitive threats. A new report from global management consulting firm, L.E.K. Consulting, reveals how those companies are responding—and what the…
NIST
(NIST: Gaithersburg, MD) -- The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Advanced Manufacturing National Program Office has launched a new industry-facing website, ManufacturingUSA.com. In September 2016, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker announced Manufacturing USA, the new…
(The Shingo Institute: Copenhagen) -- The Shingo Institute, part of the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University, has set Nov. 30, 2016 through Dec. 2, 2016, as the dates for the European Shingo Conference. The purpose of this conference is for attendees to hear leaders in…
Electronic temperature compensation has been successfully applied to shop-floor gauges for more than 25 years. It’s become a mature technology and proven to be one of the most easily cost-justified means to achieve gauge correlation and eliminate the most common cause of high-resolution gauge…
Michael Causey
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) Director Jeff Shuren outlined the agency’s ambitious 2017 goals at an important session that was part of the conference of the Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society that was held Sept. 18, 2016, in San…
Since the launch of the Patient-Focused Drug Development (PFDD) program as part of the fifth authorization of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has worked intensively to explore ways to enhance the patient’s voice in drug development. Recently the FDA…
Karleen Bacoccini
This month, the International Automotive Task Force (IATF) published IATF 16949, the standard for automotive quality management systems. In this article I’ll provide background on the origins of this important industry standard, summarize the key changes from its predecessor, ISO/TS 16949, and…
Jesse Lyn Stoner
Larry was clearly angry. Carl had used his tools (again) without asking, and even worse, hadn’t returned them (again). Larry told me he had given Carl some “tough feedback.”
He told Carl that he was self-centered and insensitive, and in the future he needed to ask for permission before borrowing…
(KROHNE: Peabody, MA) -- KROHNE has announced the H250 Variable Area Flowmeter with M40 Indicator, which combines proven flow measurement with the latest communication capabilities like Foundation Fieldbus. The H250/M40 is ideal for flow measurement applications in the oil and gas industries when…
