All Features
Kevin Meyer
I’ve always been interested in technology—its uses, advantages, and disadvantages. Regular readers know that I often advocate for manual solutions first, like whiteboards to run factories and a handwritten notebook for notes.
Some believe that I’m against technology, but nothing could be further…
Sonal Sinha
Regulations such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the UK Bribery Act, and the Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (specifically Section 1502 on conflict minerals) have compelled companies to extend their compliance and monitoring efforts beyond the four walls of…
Peter J. Sherman
Who says business luncheons are a waste of time? Recently, I enjoyed one of the most productive business luncheons of my career. In February, I was dining with two senior-level professionals at an IT staffing firm. After the usual chitchat about the recent snowstorms and traffic snarls, we started…
Matthew E. May
Except... it’s not a bar. And it’s three economists, not one.
Three economists on a road trip to Maine after an academic conference in Boston wandered into a local shoe store looking to kill some time. Little did they know it would spark a nationwide trek in search of Main Street business lessons…
Knowledge at Wharton
Should a car be treated like a piece of software? That is essentially what Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, has done. The billionaire, who made his fortune by co-founding and selling PayPal, recently dropped a bombshell on the automotive industry: In the spirit of the “open source” movement, he…
Most of us, at one point or another, have been faced with making a decision to purchase a software application. Whether a simple application to manage your schedule or a more complex quality management software, the challenge is the same: How do you decide if a software application meets your…
Donald J. Wheeler
One of the common tools of quality assurance is acceptance sampling. Acceptance sampling uses the observed properties of a sample drawn from a lot or batch to make a decision about whether to accept or reject that lot or batch. Textbooks are full of complex descriptions of various acceptance…
Paul Naysmith
From where I sit, flying high in the air, I can see the deep royal blue of the Atlantic. White waves are cresting around an island below, outlining the green and brown blob that, without a map, is nameless and unknown to me. I’m on my way to one of the islands off the east coast of Canada, an…
MIT News
Plastic is becoming a major problem worldwide: In 2012, the United States alone produced roughly 32 million tons of plastic waste, while recycling only about 9 percent of its plastic, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
This is because of the growing use of “nonrecycled” plastics,…
John Keyser
I recently conducted a few exit interviews for clients, asking people about their reasons for leaving. What did they value about the organization? What advice would they offer that could benefit the organization? What would they like to see changed, if they were to come back? I asked these and…
Sunnen Products Co.
(Sunnen: St. Louis, MO) -- Sunnen GR-2245/2241 bore gauges combine rugged design with precise, reliable measurement to 0.0001 in. for heavy-duty large-part machining. Standard models are capable of checking bore diameters from 2 in. (50.8 mm) to 12 in. (300 mm) and bore lengths up to 24 in. (600…
Michael Causey
If someone out in there in the wild wonderful world of the web takes a potshot at your drug or device, the first thing to do is take a deep breath and think. Any crisis communications executive worth her salt will tell you it’s often best to let the attacker eat silence rather than draw more…
Jack Dunigan
If efficiency is the economic use of human, psychological, and material resources, what is effectiveness? Go ahead and think about it. I’ll wait…
Like many of you, I find the online Business Dictionary to be a useful resource. Here’s how they define effectiveness:
The degree to which objectives…
NIST
Particles of soot floating through the air and comets hurtling through space have at least one thing in common: 0.36. That, reports a research group at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), is the measure of how dense they will get under normal conditions, and it’s a value…
Akhilesh Gulati
By electing President Obama in 2008, the people of the United States opted for change. In the May 2014 elections in India, the people of India opted for change by nominating N. Modi for Prime Minister after a long run by the Congress Party. The recent surges in polls and a realignment of…
S-T Industries
(S-T Industries: St. James, MN) -- The new 7600 Series Horizontal Video Inspection System from S-T Industries is an all-new design from the ground up. It features independent X and Y axes, which allow this instrument to handle very substantial part weight without significant error from deflection…
Nikon Metrology Inc.
A microfocus computed tomography (CT) system from Nikon Metrology is being used by BorgWarner Poland to improve research and development of turbochargers for passenger cars, light trucks, and commercial vehicles. The high-power (450 kV) X-ray equipment is able to penetrate the dense materials used…
Barry Young
What do you do when 20 ultra-rare violins from the 1730s show up in town, ready to be measured? Further, what exactly would you want to learn from these measurements? For many of us, the first thing that jumps to mind is, “Why do these particular instruments sound so much better than others of…
Rick Kerkstra
Burton Precision, based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is a machine tool distributor specializing in the application of metrology and 3D printing products. The company’s involvement in manufacturing crosses a breadth of industries with technologies that have a direct effect on successful product…
Ryan E. Day
“We don’t have any binder full of best practices for you. You are it. If you don’t want to change the world—go home.” —Brett Wheatly of Ford Motor Co., to the first candidates for coaches of the fledgling Consumer Experience Movement (CEM) program
When Chris Hunsicker, potential coach to Ford…
Hermann Ries
In the world of quality management systems (QMS), the nature of the relationship between risk management and preventive actions is often confused and misunderstood. Indeed, some believe that a thorough risk assessment process replaces the need for preventive action.
In fact, risk management and…
Mark Murphy
When you’re listening to someone give you criticism, delving more deeply into feelings is often a really bad move. It can make the criticism last longer and feel worse.
Neurologists know why. The older part of our brain, the brain stem, rules our most basic human drives (e.g., fight, flight, food…
Christine Schaefer
How is a company to decide whether to use the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence, the ISO 9001 quality management system, or both? To explore some key distinctions between the comprehensive business model provided by the Baldrige framework and the quality management system provided by…
American Customer Satisfaction Index ACSI
(ACSI: Ann Arbor, MI) -- Americans ate out an average of four meals per week in 2013, according to data from the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). This is a 60-percent increase since the end of the Great Recession. Consumers are more likely to spend on dining out as the economy improves…
Umberto Tunesi
In my August 2013 column titled “Beethoven’s Fifth and ISO 9001:2015,” I commented on the ISO 9001 Committee Draft (CD). As is typical of me, I wasn’t soft. Now the interim draft international standard (DIS) is available for voting on by ISO members, and I’d like to offer my opinion about this…
