All Features
Denise Robitaille
"For want of nail a shoe was lost For want of a shoe a horse was lost For want of horse a rider was lost For want of a rider a battle was lost For loss of a battle a kingdom was lost And all because of a horseshoe nail." In researching the origins of this familiar cautionary maxim, I…
Quality Digest
The United States National Committee (USNC) to the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) will host the 2010 IEC General Meeting in Seattle.The 10-day event, scheduled for Oct. 6–15, is expected to draw more than 1,500 delegates from around the globe for technical and policy…
Bill Kalmar
In a recent Volkswagen Jetta commercial, a pleasant conversation between two friends is abruptly interrupted by a horrific accident. Fortunately there are no injuries thanks to the air-bag system in the Jetta. Similar experiences are provided by Allstate Insurance warning us to buy a…
Quality Digest
Most large U.S. multinational companies have undergone—and are currently undergoing—great changes, according to a recent study. The typical company is using an average of five change-management strategies to navigate internal barriers, indicates the report. Predictably, the vast majority…
Quality Digest
A new book defines quality using the fictional story of an eclectic group of characters trapped inside a train car during a snowstorm. Written as a business fable, On Track to Quality (Lighthouse Point Press, 2006) uses a casual narrative and character dialogue to examine and define the…
Quality Digest
The National Committee for Quality Assurance and Pfizer Inc. have jointly released a publication that profiles strategies and recommendations for improving the quality of care for older adults. Quality Profiles: The Leadership Series—Focus on Enhancing Care for Older Adults offers a…
Quality Digest
The Automotive Industry Action Group recently launched its Supply Chain Institute, an organization that will offer quality aptitude certification to validate the effectiveness of quality core tools training received from any organization. The goal of the Supply Chain Institute is to reduce…
Quality Digest
The Greater Boston Manufacturing Partnership (GBMP) recently announced four recipients of the Northeast Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing.The prize is awarded annually and is available to businesses in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Rhode Island. Applicants are…
Quality Digest
Business process management (BPM) is an ideal platform for implementing Six Sigma, according to a recently released book.In 2006 Workflow Handbook (Workflow Management Coalition, 2006), author Setrag Khoshafian highlights the similarities of BPM and Six Sigma as they relate to…
Quality Digest
Eastman Kodak Co. recently named Pitney Bowes Management Services “Supplier of the Year.” Pitney Bowes reports that its use of Six Sigma helped it achieve cost efficiencies and process improvements that resulted in significant savings to Kodak. This is the fourth supplier recognition…
Praveen Gupta
Six Sigma has gained a reputation as a data-driven statistical methodology for process improvement. If the statistical methodology by itself were responsible for Six Sigma’s success, then there would be nothing new in Six Sigma. Methodologies based on data-driven statistics have been known for many…
Quality Digest
The Dow Chemical Co. recently received an award for leadership in energy management. The award was presented at the 28th-annual Energy Technology Conference, which brought together members of the international industrial energy community. The award recognized Dow for its global focus on…
Quality Digest
Nu-Biz, a South African software company, recently partnered with Decisioneering Inc.The partnership will allow Nu-Biz to market and use Decisioneering’s Crystal Ball software, which transforms Excel spreadsheets into powerful tools for risk management, predictive modeling and value…
Quality Digest
The Corporation for Manufacturing Excellence (Manex) recently received an award from the National Institute of Standards and Technology for its service to the manufacturing sector’s effort to enhance competitiveness.Selected from more than 1,500 applicants, Manex was honored at the 2006…
Quality Digest
The Israel Society for Quality will hold its 16th-annual international conference in November.The International Conference of the Israel Society for Quality will be held Nov. 14–16 at the David Inter-Continental Hotel in Tel Aviv. The event’s theme is “Quality as a Catalyst for Global…
Quality Digest
IQS Inc., provider of enterprise quality and compliance-management software, has partnered with QAD Inc., a provider of enterprise resource planning software.The companies report that the partnership was formed in an effort to provide customers with a complete, globally supported…
Quality Digest
Productivity Press recently released two new books that focus on the use of the Baldrige Criteria in organizational improvement efforts and on strategies for maintenance management, respectively.Baldrige Award Winning Quality—15th Edition—How to Interpret the Baldrige Criteria for…
Thomas R. Cutler
At the Shorewood Packaging Midland Avenue facility in Toronto, real-time information helps yield world-class lean manufacturing results. Shorewood Packaging is part of International Paper, which has operations in more than 40 countries and sells its products in more than 120 nations. Shorewood…
Quality Digest
HSPM2006 will offer attendees dozens of ways to save millions of dollars while achieving compliance with RoHS, waste from electric and electronic equipment and all green process requirements. Experts from three continents, many countries and at least 14 different states will be…
Quality Digest
Statit Software Inc. has released three next-generation software suites for SPC, business graphics and statistical analyses, among other applications. Statit e-QC, Statit e-Server and Statit Custom QC include enhanced flexibility for dashboard creation, new quality control benefits,…
A. P. Porter
The quality of my telephone experience has deteriorated over the years. As a teenager, I spent hours on the telephone when being on the phone meant being tethered to a wall. High-tech was a 25-foot cord. If I called a friend, he’d only answer if he were at home. If someone was on the…
Quality Digest
The Automotive Industry Action Group will host its first Best Practices Summit in Novi, Michigan. The event will be held June 7–8 at the Rock Financial Showplace and will coincide with Quality Expo Detroit. The summit will include three session tracks: Product Lifecycle Management,…
Quality Digest
Ducommun AeroStructures Inc. manufactures components and assemblies for military and commercial aerospace applications, and recently received the Boeing Silver Eagle Award for its lean initiatives.Ducommun Aerospace is a subsidiary of Ducommun Inc. The company’s Monrovia, California,…
Quality Digest
PQ Systems has re-issued the classic film “Right First Time” in DVD format as a 50th-anniversary celebration of its effect on the world of process improvement. The film was produced by London Television and released by the British Productivity Council in 1956, when the manufacturing…
Quality Digest
iAdvantage Software Inc. and StatSoft Inc. have partnered to deliver a full array of statistical and visualization capabilities with an upcoming software release. eStudy version 5.0 will include StatSoft’s WebSTATISTICA engine, giving life-sciences users statistical and analytical…
