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Lean Enterprise Institute
(LEI: Cambridge, MA) -- Join LEI for the largest workshop event of 2012 in Indianapolis, Indiana. 17 one-day and two-day workshops compile a curriculum that includes LEI’s most popular workshops focusing on the social and technical aspects of a lean transformation. All workshops contain elements of…
Jeffrey Varney
When discussing process management and improvement, I often talk about the concept of “random acts of improvement.” People, with good intentions, are off trying to make their part of the organization better, more efficient, simpler. But often these changes are done locally, in silos, without…
Visual Workplace Inc.
(Visual Workplace: Byron Center, MI) -- Visual Workplace Inc. introduces Sigma 16 specialty vinyl. Three new options are available to suit varied application needs. Dry erase vinyl is ideal for visuals such as scheduling, processes, and maintenance. Etched vinyl is well-suited for creating logos or…
New River Kinematics
(NRK: Williamsburg, VA) -- The past 15 years have seen an expansion of metrology use throughout the manufacturing process, particularly in the case of large-scale manufacturing. The need for greater efficiencies has made the demand for precision measurement greater than ever. Generally speaking,…
University of Michigan
(University of Michigan: Ann Arbor, MI) -- This course, based on the book, Toyota Kata, by Mike Rother (McGraw-Hill, 2010) presents the next level of thinking in lean and operations management.
It’s been difficult to maintain lean improvements. Organizations’ efforts have generated many successes…
AMACOM
(AMACOM: New York) -- Most people learn best through experience. Yet new managers are often tossed onto the front lines with absolutely no experience handling the toughest challenges they’ll face—people problems.
The Management Training Tool Kit, by Alan Clardy, Ph.D. (AMACOM, 2012), includes all…
APQC
In 2010, the American Productivity and Quality Center (APQC) identified the Seven Tenets of Process Management to help classify an organization’s process management capabilities. Adherence to these pillars helps build and maintain strong processes across an enterprise. By applying these tenets,…
Meggitt
(Meggitt: San Juan Capistrano, CA) -- Meggitt Sensing Systems, designer and manufacturer of sensing and monitoring systems that measure physical parameters in extreme environments, has announced the North American market introduction of its Sensorex SX41200 and SX41400 series: two families of…
Kistler
(Kistler: Novi, MI) -- Kistler, a global supplier of precision sensors, systems, and instrumentation for the dynamic measurement of pressure, force, torque, and acceleration, has announced the North American market introduction of the Type 2516B, a rugged, handheld engine peak meter, designed to…
Gene Grilli
Editor’s note: This is the second of a two-part series on leak rate testing. Read part one here.
Today’s topic concerns another “imagined” leak rate standard: accuracies that are one or two orders of magnitude more precise than any equivalent application in the same industry.
When we track down…
Umberto Tunesi
We’ve all seen “Cinderella processes,” those processes that, although they do all the work in the company, are underevaluated, almost ignored by auditors.
I recently conducted a survey on 20 auditors. It was intended to analyze what processes are emphasized in ISO/TS 16949 audits, as well as any…
MOHR
(MOHR: Richland, WA) -- With the global fresh-produce market worth an estimated $675 billion, more than $100 billion in the United States alone, consumer satisfaction is an important goal not only for the fresh produce industry but also for the wider economy. Despite this, fresh produce supply-…
FARO
(FARO: Lake Mary, FL) -- FARO Technologies Inc., a global source for 3D measurement technology, has announced the FARO Tour 2012, a series of 12 open houses featuring the company’s popular Paul Jr. Designs Motorcycle and all-new Vantage Laser Tracker. The tour begins at IMTS in Chicago, Sept. 10–15…
Laboratory Testing Inc.
(Laboratory Testing: Hatfield, PA) -- Laboratory Testing Inc. (LTI) has added fracture toughness testing to the list of materials testing services performed by the laboratory to ensure the safety, reliability, and integrity of materials. The fracture toughness test is performed on a specimen with a…
Strategy
(Booz & Co.: New York) -- Bazaarvoice and Booz & Co. have partnered to help companies develop stronger capabilities for customer centricity—or putting customers at the center of business strategy—by capitalizing on the wealth of digital information being created by and about their customers…
Delcam
(Delcam: Salt Lake City) -- The 2013 release of Delcam’s PowerSHAPE CAD system includes enhancements to its direct modelling and reverse engineering capabilities that will make the software both more flexible and easier to use. In addition, the solid and surface modeling options have been made…
NIST
Thanks to a new reference standard developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), law enforcement agencies will have an easier time linking the nearly 200,000 cartridge cases recovered annually at U.S. crime scenes to specific firearms.
Cartridge cases—the empty shells left…
Gallup
Many companies measure employee and customer satisfaction without much to show for it. That’s because their surveys—whether one magic question for customers or 100-plus-item monstrosities for employees—often focus on the rational and exclude the emotional. However, it’s vital to measure emotional…
InfinityQS
(InfinityQS: Chantilly, VA) -- InfinityQS International Inc., a global provider of manufacturing intelligence and enterprise quality, announced Simon Ellis, the practice director of supply-chain strategies at IDC Manufacturing Insights, as the keynote speaker for its sixth annual user conference,…
Tracey Lynn King, Brian A. Stockhoff, Mary Beth Edmond
Editor’s note: This is the third of a three-part series on quality in healthcare. Part one described the Juran Model for Patient Safety, and part two identified elements of a patient safety officer program.
With between 44,000 to 98,000 patients dying each year in hospitals as a result of medical…
Georgia Institute of Technology
(GA Tech: Atlanta) -- Dive into lean thinking with our Aug. 21, 2012, Lean Boot Camp: Training a Lean Champion. Apply lean thinking tools and techniques that impact profits, lead time, inventory, quality, and customers.
Learn how to: • Recognize the value of lean techniques • Map both current and…
Carl Zeiss Microscopy
(Carl Zeiss: Phoenix, AZ) -- At the 2012 Microscopy & Microanalysis conference in Phoenix, Carl Zeiss Microscopy introduced an extension of its Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FE-SEM) platform MERLIN. Customers can now choose between MERLIN Compact, MERLIN VP Compact, and MERLIN…
Nikon Metrology Inc.
(Nikon: Brighton, MI) -- The newest product in Nikon’s iGPS family is the i5 Integrated Sensor (i5is), a fully integrated five-degree-of-freedom measurement device offering higher accuracy over an extended range, ideal for applications ranging from vehicle tracking to automated assembly of large…
Kyle Cahoon
When work days (and nights) are spent conforming to customer compliance standards, investigating customer complaints, or struggling with data collection software, then finding time for continuous process improvement seems unrealistic if not impossible. Tasks pile up, demands increase, and products…
The Conference Board
(The Conference Board: New York) -- The Conference Board Employment Trends Index (ETI) edged up in July, after declining in June. The index now stands at 108.11, up from the revised figure of 107.68. The July figure is 5.9-percent higher than a year ago.
“The Employment Trends Index increased…
