All Features
Bruce Hamilton
A piece of popular lore, provided by Shigeo Shingo, is that the original name for mistake-proofing (poka-yoke) was actually fool-proofing (baka-yoke). Shingo chided managers at Panasonic for using the latter term, as it disrespected workers by essentially calling them fools.
Shingo substituted…
John Paliotta
In today’s hyper-competitive global economy, customer satisfaction is increasingly being driven by software. Software is the primary controller of the human interface with electronic devices and substantial parts of the core functionality. For many companies building devices, software is the brand…
Christine Schaefer
Being a Baldrige examiner: What is the experience like? Some have compared the work—especially during the final phase of an evaluation—to being in a rigorous MBA program. Others may find it’s like being part of a dispersed but highly engaged task force, as teams collaborate online and on the phone…
Peter Holtmann
The auditing profession is changing. Auditors are getting older. Technology is changing the way auditors work. Companies now work 24/7 around the globe, speaking different languages and integrating different cultures, forcing auditors to adapt to a new work reality. How is all this affecting the…
(Shingo Institute: Logan, UT) -- The Shingo Institute, part of the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University, will hold its 28th International Shingo Conference on April 25–29, 2016, in Washington, DC at the Renaissance Washington Downtown Hotel and Convention Center.
Past…
Quality Digest
Below are the scrambled names of 10 notable figures in the history of the quality profession. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to decode each of these names. Send your answers to us at qdcontest1@qualitydigest.com. Of those submitting correct answers, one name will be chosen at…
Ideagen
(Ideagen: Reston, VA) -- Information management software vendor, Ideagen, has launched the latest version of its quality, safety, and compliance management product, Q-Pulse.
Q-Pulse 6.1 comes with a notable enhancement to the Document Management module that includes PDF conversion and tighter…
Ryan E. Day
No, they don't manufacture faucets, they don't run a major American airline, and they are not an elite special ops military unit. Headquartered in Taiwan, Delta Products Corp. is a global leader in switching power supply solutions, thermal management solutions, and DC brushless fans. Delta also…
Robert Half International Inc.
Leading a business is only getting harder, recent research found. In the Robert Half Management Resources survey, 66 percent of chief financial officers (CFOs) said it is more challenging to be a company leader today than it was five years ago. Just 4 percent of executives said the challenges have…
Quality Transformation With David Schwinn
I teach management and leadership. Recently, the topic in one of my classes was change and stress. I asked my students, who are nearly all employed and range in age from 19 to 55, what caused them the greatest stress in the workplace. Among the various responses were several related to how they…
Fred Schenkelberg
The planning of environmental or reliability testing becomes a question of sample size at some point. It’s probably the most common question I hear as a reliability engineer: How many samples do we need?
Also, when evaluating supplier-run test results, we need to understand the implications of…
Automated Precision Inc.
All machine tools need maintenance, adjustment, and calibration over time. For precision multi-axis machines, scheduled service including machine conditions, performance, and calibration are necessary to maintain machine performance, thereby reducing scrap or rework. Regular calibration is also a…
Harry Hertz
Having recently bought some furniture at a big box store, I couldn’t help seeing these three dreaded words were boldly printed on the outside of the carton: “Some Assembly Required.”
As I opened the box, I wondered what I’d find. Would there be lengthy assembly instructions and lots of different…
Annette Franz
There’s a well-known quote by Henry Ford that goes like this, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” It’s fair to note that some don’t believe he actually said that, but let’s go with it.
Ford is often cited when naysayers tell us that customers don’t know…
PQ Systems
(PQ Systems: Dayton, OH) -- PQ Systems announces the release of SQCpack 7, a comprehensive update to their best-selling statistical process control (SPC) solution that helps organizations utilize the power of data analysis to improve quality. New Six-Way Analysis presents an at-a-glance overview…
Quy Huy
Middle managers could take the lead in a changing corporate world, if they would only recognize that their primary value is emotional, not functional. Once again, middle managers appear to be on the wrong side of history.
We constantly hear that millennials—already the most-represented generation…
Davis Balestracci
“It is impossible to tell how widespread data torturing is. Like other forms of torture, it leaves no incriminating marks when done skillfully. And like other forms of torture, it may be difficult to prove even when there is incriminating evidence.” —J. L. Mills
When will academics, Six Sigma…
Exact Metrology
(Exact Metrology: Cincinnati, OH) -- Exact Metrology announced today the signing of an agreement with ProCon X-Ray for exclusive rights to distribute the company’s product line throughout the United States.
ProCon, located in Germany, has been developing X-ray systems for nondestructive testing…
Steve Daum
In daily conversations, I field questions from plant managers, quality managers, engineers, supervisors, and plant production workers about the challenges of applying statistical process control (SPC) methods. Following are the five most prevalent and costly mistakes I witness in the application…
Craig Cochran
ISO 9001 might be the most confusing document in business history. I first became aware of the standard in the late 1980s when my manager handed it to me and said, “See if you can figure this thing out. Our plant has to get certified.”
I took the document back to my desk and attempted to read it…
Scott Berkun
The first industrial revolution may have been the most dramatic we will ever have. This is an unpopular notion because we suffer from what Tom Standage called “chronocentrism,” which is the belief that the present is the most amazing time ever in history, and our inventions will transform the…
Bill Remy
A recent article in The Wall Street Journal reported that quarterly profits and revenue at big U.S. companies are poised to decline for the first time since the 2008 recession, as some industrial firms warn of a pullback in spending.
The authors point out that industrial companies are being…
Jeffrey Eves
Sponsored Content
In 1996, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) first released the ISO 14000 family of standards, which provided tools for organizations wanting to manage their environmental responsibilities. In the years since, ISO 14001—“Environmental management systems—…
Leo Sadovy
Having a mentor is the No. 1 factor in increasing the steepness of your personal learning curve. So says my oldest, Garik, a Park Scholar at North Carolina State University (class of 2012), during a discussion he recently had with the incoming Park Scholar class of 2019.
To accept the value of…
(Exemplar Global: Sydney, Australia) -- Exemplar Global Inc., a global provider of professional credentialing and training certification, has acquired The Auditor Online from Paton Professional, a publisher of quality, standards, and regulatory compliance books, training, and other media.
The…
