All Features
Mike Thelen
As is the case with any lean implementation in a traditional environment, culture change is the most difficult obstacle to success. A company can hire consultants, develop work teams, and begin lean initiatives, but if it only talks the talk, the initiative soon becomes just talk.The…
Quality Digest
A sheet of laser light illuminates the surface of the heat exchanger during the air-velocity measurement experiment.(NIST: Gaithersburg, Maryland) -- Air-source heat pumps typically deliver 1 1/2 to three times more heating energy to a home than the electric energy they consume,…
the American National Standards Institute
(ANSI: Washington) -- A tripartite task force commissioned by the governments of the United States, the European Commission, and Brazil recently completed a review of existing bioethanol and biodiesel standards to identify where greater compatibility could be achieved in support of the global…
Quality Digest
(Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality: Rockville, MD) -- According to a new study funded by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, most doctors’ think that current systems to report and share information about errors are inadequate.…
Quality Digest
(Lumetra: San Francisco) -- Investing in culturally-appropriate, community-based interventions substantially improved rates of A1C testing among Latinos with diabetes, according to a new study published in the February American Journal of Public Health. Proper diabetes care management is essential…
Quality Digest
(World Bank: Astana, Kazakhstan) -- The World Bank’s board of executive directors recently approved a US$117.7 million loan for the Kazakhstan Health Sector Technology Transfer and Institutional Reform Project. The project will introduce international standards to the Ministry of Health and…
Quality Digest
(AQHA: Washington, D.C.) -- The annual American Quality Health Association meeting will be held in San Francisco, California, Feb. 26–28, 2008. National health care leaders from quality improvement organizations, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and other public and private…
Mike Richman
Dr. Tomas Gonzalez, senior vice president and chief quality officer for Valley Baptist Health System of Harlingen, Texas, is a busy man. Not only does he direct quality process improvement at Valley Baptist’s two hospitals, he’s also a physician and a certified Master Black Belt. Valley Baptist…
Quality Digest
(Systat Software Inc.: Chicago) -- Systat Software Inc., a developer and supplier of award-winning scientific software and services, has launched MYSTAT 12, a freely downloadable statistical analysis software package designed specifically for use by students and the teaching community.MYSTAT…
Quality Digest
(PowerSteering: Cambridge, Massachusetts) --PowerSteering, an on-demand, enterprise project portfolio management (PPM) software used to manage Six Sigma, information technology, product development and other enterprise initiatives, has announced its full support of an open, "bipartisan"…
Anthony D. Burns
Six Sigma captured the imagination of CEOs around the world. There have been many claims of its successes yet these have at least partially been attributed to the Hawthorne Effect, which implies that if enough money is thrown into any methodology, at least some short-term results can reasonably be…
Quality Digest
(Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey) -- The U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) has set a standard for government agencies through its recent achievement of being the first Department of Defense organization to receive the 2007 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality…
the Better Business Bureau
(BBB: Washington) -- A report issued recently by the Identity Theft Prevention and Identity Management Standards Panel (IDSP) helps to arm businesses, government agencies, and other organizations with the high-quality tools needed to protect themselves and their customers against the theft and…
Bill Kalmar
When finalizing my plans for a new year, it’s always gratifying to realize that all previous plans have been completed. As I recently went through this annual process, I noticed several issues affecting customer service and quality that I’d inadvertently left on the back burner. Consider this an…
Quality Digest
(ANSI: New York) -- A working group of safety experts and industry, government, and consumer leaders moved forward recently with the development of a proposed new safety-assurance program for toys.The proposal has been developed by a working group formed by the U.S. Toy Industry Association board…
Quality Digest
(ISO: Geneva) -- The International Organization for Standardization and its partner International Electrotechnical Commission have published a new guide on the vocabulary of metrology, the science of measurement and its application.ISO/IEC Guide 99:2007—“International vocabulary of metrology—Basic…
Mike Micklewright
Question:How did the quality consultant always exceed the expectations of his customers?
Answer:By exceeding the number of invoiced days quoted on his proposal.
¯ I’m so excited! ¯ And I just can’t hide it! ¯
Many of us still refer to ISO 9001:2000 as the “new” standard. Also, many of us know that…
Quality Digest
(FERC: Washington) -- The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission recently approved eight new mandatory critical infrastructure protection (CIP) reliability standards to protect the United States’ bulk power system against potential disruptions from cyber security breaches. These reliability standards…
Quality Digest
(ISO: Geneva) -- A new ISO/IEC guide to developing service standards for consumers will benefit standards developers and be of value to service providers in reducing customer complaints and cutting the business costs of poor service.ISO/IEC Guide 76:2008—“Development of service standards—…
Quality Digest
(SME: Dearborn, Michigan) -- The Society of Manufacturing Engineers recently announced it has entered into an agreement with Hannover Fairs USA (HFUSA) to participate in the Berlin International Air Show in Berlin, May 27–June 1, 2008. SME will assemble an international panel discussion on…
Quality Digest
(ANSI: New York) -- As the world mourns the recent death of Sir Edmund Percival Hillary, the New Zealand-born adventurer who first reached the peak of Mount Everest in 1953, a growing number of climbers are planning to conquer the tallest mountain on Earth.Although thousands have already climbed…
Quality Digest
(FDA: Rockville, Maryland) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has sent letters warning seven pharmacy operations that the claims they make about the safety and effectiveness of so-called bio-identical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) products are unsupported by medical evidence, and…
Quality Digest
(FDANews: Falls Church, Virginia) --The Food and Drug Administration recently issued proposed changes to the drug-manufacturers’ clinical good manufacturing practices (CGMPs) (21 CFR 210/211). The revised standards would affect three major areas: water quality, verification by a second…
Quality Digest
(FDA: Rockville, Maryland) -- After years of study and analysis, the Food and Drug Administration has concluded that meat and milk from clones of cattle, swine, and goats, and the offspring of clones from any species traditionally consumed as food, are as safe to eat as food from…
Quality Digest
(Food Safety and Security Summit: Washington, D.C.) From farm gate to dinner plate, the 10th annual Food Safety and Security Summit, held March 17–19, 2008, at the Washington, D.C., Convention Center, is the largest and most established food safety and security expo and conference in North…
