All Features
Craig Cochran
Customer feedback is the single most important type of communication an organization can receive. It is confirmation of the organization’s purpose in life and its ability to deliver on this purpose. Feedback can ultimately determine whether the organization lives or dies. Despite the highly…
Quality Digest
Microsoft Corp. has partnered with USC Consulting Group LLC to roll out its new lean technology for manufacturing companies. Microsoft has redesigned its approach to key clients by developing a “trusted advisor” role in which it helps clients that use Microsoft applications solve business…
Quality Digest
The National Committee for Quality Assurance has released a draft standard of its 2007 accreditation requirements for public comment. The draft includes increased requirements for managed care organizations and preferred-provider organizations seeking accreditation. They’ll be required…
Quality Digest
Ten very different organizations recently received The Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing. The prize, which has been dubbed the Nobel Prize of manufacturing, recognizes organizations’ quality and efficiency achievements using lean principles. It’s the premier manufacturing…
Quality Digest
Wal-Mart recently decreed to almost 70,000 of its suppliers that they must start using RFID chips—a nightmare for smaller companies that might not be able to afford to implement such a system. Fortunately, an RFID provider has agreed to supply the necessary system for $25,000. The cost…
Quality Digest
In a strategic partnership, Fuji Machine Manufacturing Co. and Cogiscan will develop and market a new RFID technology for Fuji machines. The companies jointly developed the RFID Smart Reader kit for Fuji’s XP-series machines. The kit will complement the existing RFID kits for the CP-…
Quality Digest
Leica Geosystems’ Metrology Division will showcase its Universal CMM product line at the upcoming WESTEC show in Los Angeles. The Universal CMM consists of a Leica Laser Tracker combined with the Leica T-Scan and/or the Leica T-Probe II. Specifically designed for the measurement…
Quality Digest
Editor’s Note: An incorrect version of this story was included in the Feb. 21 issue of “Quality Insider.” The following is the correct version. We apologize for any confusion this mistake may have caused. Instron Corp. now offers on-site temperature-calibration services for a variety…
Quality Digest
YESTech Inc., a supplier of automation-inspection and yield-enhancement systems for the electronics industry, recently received the Service Excellence Award from Circuits Assembly magazine. The award recognizes companies that receive the highest customer service ratings in various…
Quality Digest
Planners of the upcoming Coordinate Metrology Systems Conference are accepting papers for possible presentation during the event. The conference will be held July 17–21 at the Doubletree Hotel in Orlando, Florida. Metrology specialists from leading manufacturers and laboratories are invited…
The need to measure things inspired some of the earliest tools invented by man. Basic measurements were needed for constructing dwellings of an appropriate size and shape, fashioning clothing, or bartering food or raw materials. Understandably, early man turned first to parts of his…
Quality Digest
Hundreds of metrology professionals are expected to attend the International Metrology Interoperability Summit, March 28–30 in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The goal of the event is to define a unified “technology roadmap” for dimensional metrology system interoperability, which will form the…
Quality Digest
Renishaw recently started offering a special trade-in program for users of older Hewlett Packard HP5528 and HP5529 laser systems. The company will provide trade-in allowances when users upgrade to Renishaw’s ML10 Gold Standard laser calibration system. The upgrade program saves HP users…
Quality Digest
The American National Standards Institute recently announced the availability of a Chinese translation of the United States Standards Strategy (USSS). As part of ANSI’s commitment to promote awareness of the document’s initiatives and to support the implementation efforts of various…
Quality Digest
The National Institute of Standards and Technology, a part of the Department of Commerce, recently issued the final specifications for Personal Identity Verification (PIV) cards. The cards will be required of all federal employees and contractors by Oct. 27. They’ll be encrypted with…
Quality Digest
Are you wondering what to do with the boxes of spreadsheets, forecast plans and financial documents stored in your office? Just ask the International Organization for Standardization, which recently published a new guideline for business-records management. ISO 23081-1:2006 enables the…
Quality Digest
Pulte Homes Inc.’s Nevada Area division recently announced its registration to ISO 9001. The homebuilder retained Construction Quality Alliance Partners to consult on implementing ISO-compliant quality processes. Pulte Homes Nevada Area has its headquarters in Las Vegas and builds in…
Quality Digest
RABQSA and the Canadian Association for Environmental Analytical Laboratories (CAEAL) recently established an industry-specific laboratory accreditation scheme for Canadian assessors. The scheme provides recognition to assessors who provide Canadian laboratory accreditation assessments…
Quality Digest
Standards that relate to the wearability and care of clothes will help even the owners of the glamorous gowns and tuxes seen at the Academy Awards maintain their fancy frocks. Standards developer ASTM International, a member of the American National Standards Institute, has released a…
Denise Robitaille
It’s the week after the huge annual trade show—the opportunity for you and the rest of your industry to showcase your companies and to rollout your latest, greatest blow-the-competition-out-of-the-water product offerings. Unfortunately, instead of having a working model to demonstrate—…
Quality Digest
iGrafx recently announced the availability of the 2006 version of its process-excellence series of software solutions. iGrafx 2006 has enhanced modeling and simulation capabilities to better support corporate process-excellence initiatives. It also adds significant improvements and…
Thomas R. Cutler
Is enterprise resource planning (ERP) software helping or hindering quality? Many companies that purchased their first ERP package years ago now find that the system is hindering their efforts to adopt new quality initiatives, including lean manufacturing and Six Sigma. Since the purchase several…
Quality Digest
AEA, a high-technology trade group, will host a series of six events focusing on new and upcoming regulations that restrict hazardous substances in electrical and electronic components. The European Union Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE) and Restriction on the…
Quality Digest
National Technical Systems Inc.’s Calgary division recently started offering wireless-device testing to FCC standards and European Radio & Telecommunications Terminal Equipment Directive (R&TTE). Original equipment manufacturers require certification for wireless products such…
Quality Digest
European researchers are hard at work developing wireless sensors that will predict when components will fail. The implication of such a sensor has broad implications for just about all sectors of the manufacturing industry. The sensor could theoretically reduce machinery breakdowns to…
