All Features
Denise Robitaille
I have long maintained that renumbering procedures from the defunct ISO 9001:1994 standard to reflect the numerical scheme of ISO 9001:2000 is an exercise of questionable value. After all, aren’t they just numbers? What difference can it possibly make if your purchasing procedure is…
Quality Digest
Lean Six Sigma consulting firm Bellwether Services was recently awarded a five-year support agreement by the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA). NAVSEA is the Navy’s umbrella command for its comprehensive quality-improvement and efficiency programs. The Navy has implemented Six Sigma, lean…
Quality Digest
An upcoming conference for financial services professionals interested in Six Sigma will be held in Hong Kong. "Building Profitable Platforms for Growth in Financial Services," will be held Sept. 26–27 at the Royal Garden Hotel in Kowloon, Hong Kong. Preconference workshops will be held…
Quality Digest
Two research companies are partnering to discover the real reasons professionals quit their jobs, and they’re asking for your help.dxResearch and The Benchmarking Exchange report that the purpose of the study is to benchmark the nature and degree of dissatisfaction with an organization…
"Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the languages of all the earth…" —Genesis 11:9 The story of the Tower of Babel occupies but nine verses of the Book of Genesis, but it contains a valuable lesson for today: a multiplicity of languages makes…
Quality Digest
A new book explores the dual use of lean and Six Sigma, and offers tips on how best to synch the methodologies for maximum benefit and minimum risk. In Using Lean for Faster Six Sigma Results: A Synchronized Approach (Productivity Press, 2006), authors Mark Nash, Sheila Poling and Sophronia…
Quality Digest
The Asia Pacific Quality Organization and the Australian Organisation for Quality will host an upcoming conference. QUALCON-APQO 2006 will feature sessions for many industries as they relate to quality, including occupational health and safety management, environmental management systems…
Praveen Gupta
At a recent committee meeting of a professional association, the speaker talked about print media and the Internet. Print media are struggling because the Internet can more easily disseminate information. The Internet is changing the world, and print media are those most directly affected by this…
Quality Digest
DNV Certification and the Project Management Institute will launch the Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3) ProductSuite Certification Program. PMI has nearly 220,000 members in more than 15 countries and is the leading trade group for the project management profession.…
Quality Digest
Omnex Inc. and the Automotive Industry Action Group have formed a global training partnership to provide lean and Six Sigma training to AIAG members. As part of the agreement, Omnex—which has offices in several Indian cities—will represent AIAG in India. Omnex will provide training to AIAG members…
Quality Digest
Rath & Strong recently joined Decisioneering Inc.’s Crystal Ball Six Sigma Partner Program. As a new Six Sigma partner, Rath & Strong will work with Decisioneering to promote Crystal Ball simulation and optimization tools throughout its Six Sigma initiatives. Crystal Ball is…
Quality Digest
Value-Train will host a live, instructor-led webinar on MINITAB software this fall. The company recently held a prototype course on the subject and decided to schedule the training again after it received such positive reviews from it, the company reports. The next class will be held Sept…
Quality Digest
Solectron Corp., a provider of electronics manufacturing and integrated supply-chain services, recently received Stratus Technologies’ 2006 Supplier Excellence Award. Solectron’s Columbia, South Carolina, plant was honored for its outstanding performance in support of the introduction of…
Quality Digest
Kevin Caldwell recently joined the Juran Institute as its vice president for enterprise assurance. Caldwell, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, has more than 30 years of experience in operations, business performance and quality management, for a variety of industries in international and U.S.…
Quality Digest
The Shanghai Association for Quality Management and Shanghai Mobile Communication Corp. recently formed a Scientific Research Base of Quality.The Scientific Research Base of Quality will lead the Shanghai Mobile Performance Excellence Management project, which will help Shanghai Mobile improve its…
Thomas R. Cutler
HR Nicholson Co., “pioneers in the juice industry,” has operated for nearly a century. The company has grown from 45 employees to 75 employees in just the past six years. The family-owned, Baltimore-based manufacturing and distribution company realized that, unlike the first eighty-plus years when…
Quality Digest
Jill M. Considine, chairwoman and CEO of the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. (DTCC) received the top honor as Six Sigma CEO of the Year at the Global Six Sigma Summit & Industry Awards, held June 28. Considine was honored for her leadership and implementation of Six Sigma at…
Quality Digest
Kohler Co. recently selected InfinityQS to provide statistical process control software and services for select plants in the United States. Kohler has used InfinityQS’ SPC software at a plant in Kohler, Wisconsin, for many years. Based on positive results achieved there, the company opted…
Quality Digest
Microsoft Corp. recently announced the winners of its Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences Innovation Awards 2006 competition. The awards were presented at the annual meeting of the Drug Information Association in Philadelphia, and were given to companies that have demonstrated the best use of…
Parsec Automation Corp.
Parsec Automation Corp. has enhanced the 4.04 version of its TrackSYS software to better serve pharmaceutical and medical device–industry users. The company reports that many pharmaceutical and medical-device makers believe that their plants have an operating efficiency in the 60-70 percent range,…
Quality Digest
Veriteq Instruments Inc. recently released the enterprise version it its viewLinc monitoring and alarming software. viewLinc Enterprise is designed for applications demanding immediate notice of out-of-compliance environmental conditions. It is a quick method of arranging complete…
Quality Digest
Kaiser Permanente recently received the Innovations in Healthcare Award from the Adapted Business Leaders (ABL) organization. The award was given in recognition of Kaiser’s successful use of five health-improvement programs developed by HealthMedia Inc.: HealthMedia Succeed, which…
Quality Digest
Stelex University recently provided a training session for the Food and Drug Administration’s National Center for Toxicology Research (NCTR) that focused on computer systems validation. Stelex University is Stelex’s professional education and technical training department. Its training…
Christopher Werner
Although conventional homogenization has served the needs of the dairy industry and other industries for more than a century, the producers of pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical and food products are increasingly turning to high-shear fluid processing when highly precise processing is required…
Quality Digest
A metrology standard currently under development has the potential to save millions of dollars for any organization that shares quality management data with its suppliers or original equipment manufacturers. The standard is being developed by a technical committee organized by the…
