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Quality Digest
(Juran Institute Inc.: Southbury, Connecticut) -- Juran Institute has partnered with the Los Angeles Unified School District to implement a Six Sigma improvement initiative.LAUSD is the second-largest school district in the nation, providing educational services to more than 700,000…
Steven Ouellette
There is something that will get you into trouble if you don’t know about it, and which in my experience very few Black Belts or even Master Black Belts know about. It’s only in the mind of the person doing the research, and no software program will know about it. This mysterious property is “…
Quality Digest
(Minitab Inc.: State College, Pennsylvania) -- Minitab Inc. recently released a fully translated Korean version of Minitab 15 Statistical Software, its flagship product and the leading package used to implement Six Sigma and other data-driven quality improvement programs worldwide.Minitab 15…
V. Viswanathan
For quite some time a major question has been cropping up in my mind: Is Six Sigma’s application in software development as effective as it is in the manufacturing industry?The answer is “No.” The savings and benefits that occur in the software industry due to Six Sigma and other process-…
Steven Ouellette
There is something that will get you into trouble if you don’t know about it, and which in my experience very few Black Belts or even Master Black Belts know about. It’s only in the mind of the person doing the research, and no software program will know about it. This mysterious property is “…
Quality Digest
(U.S. Navy: Great Lakes) -- A team from Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Midwest headquarters wrapped up the command’s first lean Six Sigma event in Great Lakes on Aug. 17, after a week dedicated to improving its support to commands throughout the region.By applying the concepts of…
Fred L. Eargle
It probably started when my favorite diner served my coffee cold three visits in a row. “Why can’t I get a hot cup of coffee?” I thought. “This is the Quality Diner.” After all, I always left a nice tip. In fact, I had become so accustomed to leaving the suggested tip, that I didn’t connect it with…
Quality Digest
(ANSI: New York) -- Because of a new standard from the International Electrotechnical Commission, your washing machine and refrigerator may soon start "talking" to your television. “Home Network Communication Protocol over IP for Multimedia Household Appliances,” IEC 62457—slated for publication…
Quality Digest
(APQO: Chicago) -- The Asia Pacific Quality Organization has announced the winners of the International Asia Pacific Quality Awards. Record numbers of companies and countries participated in this seventh year of the awards.The following organizations won the World Class Award: Large Manufacturing…
Quality Digest
(TIA: New York) -- The U.S. Toy Industry Association has announced plans to implement new systems to bolster the safety testing and inspection of toys sold in the United States. “The safety of children is our primary concern, and the safety record of our 500 manufacturer members is exemplary”…
Quality Digest
(Galactic Suite: Barcelona, Spain) -- Earthlings seeking adventure beyond the stars may not have much longer to wait. The Galactic Suite—the first hotel in outer space—is expected to open its airlocks in 2012. Resembling a kind of molecular model structure, the three-bedroom hotel will consist…
Fred Mason
All this talk about work in past columns—and the end of summer looming—makes me think about golf. You may not discuss golf and measurement in the same breath, but there are a lot of critical measurements involved in golf. There are also a lot of variables in angle, force, and direction to be…
NCSL International
(NCSL International: Boulder, Colorado) -- The William A. Wildhack Award is presented annually to recognize outstanding contributions to the field of metrology and measurement science, consistent with the goals of the National Conference of Standards Laboratories International.
This year’s winner,…
(SAKOR Technologies Inc.: Okemos, Michigan) SAKOR has launched its newest product line, the HybriDyne series of hybrid vehicle driveline test systems. Combining SAKOR’s core capabilities in combustion engine and electric motor testing, the HybriDyne is a comprehensive test solution for calibrating…
Quality Digest
(ARTEL: Westbrook, Maine) -- Data taken at Yellowstone National Park during Mission No. 2 of the ARTEL Extreme Pipetting Expedition show that pipettes deliver volumes inaccurate by up to 37 percent when handling fluids at temperatures different from the pipettes. Called thermal disequilibrium…
Quality Digest
(Agilent Technologies Inc.: Santa Clara, California) -- Agilent has announced the availability of a new embedded local oscillator (LO) measurement capability for its PNA Series network analyzers. With its ability to accurately test frequency converters without having to directly access a common…
Quality Digest
(ISO: Geneva) -- With international trade largely dependent on freight containers, a new International Organization for Standardization standard on the technology used to track their movement has the potential to minimize handling costs, improve inventory tracking and availability of accurate…
Denise Robitaille
“Nonfulfillment of a requirement.” That’s the clear and concise definition of a nonconformity offered up by ISO 9000:2005–“Quality management systems—Fundamentals and vocabulary.” The definition leaves little room for ambiguity. A nonconformity is the identification of an incident involving either…
David Blanchard
Not long ago, the economic outlook for small- and medium-size manufacturers in the United States looked problematic. The latest China-U.S. trade talks had ended with little progress on the key issue of the undervalued Yuan, and slow economic growth had led to a decrease in optimism among…
Quality Digest
(ANSI: New York) -- During the month of September, the American National Standards Institute is partnering with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in support of National Preparedness Month. ANSI joins nearly 1,600 national, regional, state, and local organizations in an effort to convince the…
Quality Digest
(Simmons Bedding: Atlanta) -- Officials from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration invited executives from Atlanta-based Simmons Bedding Co. to Washington, D.C., to recognize the company’s efforts in safety and health management.Edwin G. Foulke, Jr., head of OSHA and assistant secretary…
Quality Digest
(NHTSA: Washington) -- U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters recently announced new side impact safety requirements for all passenger vehicles. It is expected that the upgrade, developed by the Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, will avoid the loss…
Quality Digest
(Marlin Steel Wire Products: Baltimore) -- Highlighted in a recent publication from the National Association of Manufacturers are stories about how various U.S. companies are handling the challenges of health care, energy costs and availability, Chinese competition, regulation, tort lawsuit…
Quality Digest
(World Congress: Woburn, Massachusetts) -- The World Congress Leadership Summit on Driving Process and Performance Excellence convenes senior executives from hospitals, health systems, medical, and specialty group practices to discuss innovative approaches on process improvement and best…
Quality Digest
(DeLeeuw Associates Inc.: East Hanover, New Jersey) -- DeLeeuw Associates Inc, recenty announced its participation in IQPC’s Lean Six Sigma West Summit in Las Vegas, Sept. 19-20, 2007.On Wednesday, Sept. 19, Bryan Carey, CSI’s senior vice president of strategic consulting and managing director…
