All Features
Quality Digest
The International Organization for Standardization recently published a new version of International Workshop Agreement 1, which provides additional guidance for the health care sector. IWA 1:2005 has been made more user-friendly by incorporating improvements suggested by health care providers…
Quality Digest
The Juran Institute and a South African firm have formed a strategic alliance to expand their operations. Together, Juran Institute and Thinking Dimensions Group will focus on pioneering resources in change interventions, business strategies, cost improvements and quality methodologies to a wider…
Quality Digest
Well-known consultant Thomas McCarty, author of The Six Sigma Black Belt Handbook has joined Cohesia Corp.’s advisory board. McCarty has worked with more than 50 leadership teams at various companies and governmental organizations. His clients include Agilent, American Electric Power, Microsoft,…
Quality Digest
Solectron Corp. recently selected Statit Software Inc. to provide statistical process control and data analysis solutions to its manufacturing facilities all over the world. Solectron, an electronics manufacturer, operates on five continents in more than 20 countries. The implementation of Statit’s…
Quality Digest
Citing concerns about bioterrorism preparedness, the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association has discouraged the extension of several prescription drug patents currently being discussed by Congress. Congress is currently being lobbied by drug companies to extend the patents on some drugs, but…
Quality Digest
Karen Brozowski was recently appointed to the position of East Region medical health services product manager for TÜV America Inc. Brozowski has worked for 20 years in the quality and regulatory industry. Most recently, she was TÜV America’s group vice president of regulatory affairs and quality…
Quality Digest
The 2006 PharmaEdge Summit will examine the unprecedented pressures and public scrutiny facing the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry. The event will he held Jan. 22–24 at the Myrtle Beach Marriott Resort at Grande Dunes, South Carolina. Delegates will discuss benchmarking, best practices and…
Quality Digest
Brooks Software recently formed a new engineering, services, marketing and sales team specifically focused on the life sciences and medical-device manufacturing industries. The team, led by Vice President of Regulatory Compliance Joseph Vinhais, will provide strategic direction and leadership to…
Quality Digest
A new book reveals that lean initiatives are more strategic when extended from the supply chain into distribution channels. Value-Driven Channel Strategy: Extending the Lean Approach (ASQ Quality Press, 2005), is based on research from the manufacturing and service industry. Authors Eric Reidenbach…
Quality Digest
Decisioneering Inc. and Vose Consulting US LLC have recently formed an alliance to launch Decisioneering Services, a new service for Six Sigma practitioners. The service offers on-site and off-site consulting, providing clients with the resources and expertise they need to solve complex problems.…
Quality Digest
The application of Six Sigma at Red Robin restaurants dramatically improved the delivery of its milkshakes. Red Robin, a gourmet burger chain with locations throughout the United States and Canada, will make more than 5 million milkshakes in 2005. Only 36 percent of them were being served to…
Quality Digest
The Society of Women Engineers recently granted Melissa Tata a Distinguished New Engineer award for engineering leadership in Six Sigma and management. Tata, a senior manager of inventory control for Dell Inc., was also recognized for her dedication to teaching girls about engineering and the…
Ken Levine
Engaging your workforce is a major obstacle in a lean Six Sigma implementation. Only a limited number of employees will initially participate in Six Sigma improvement projects. It can also take one to two years before all employees participate in a lean kaizen event. It’s best to encourage…
Quality Digest
Quality professionals in Shanghai have a 10-percent higher pass rate on quality-certification exams than quality professionals in other parts of China. The Shanghai Academy of Quality Management reports that the nationwide average pass rate for the exam is 30 percent, while Shanghai’s average pass…
Quality Digest
A new survey of 1,200 Six Sigma professionals shows that the more companies invest in their Six Sigma projects, the greater the return. Companies that invested less than $500,000 were most likely to break even, at best, while companies that invested $2,000,000 or more were most likely to see a two…
Quality Digest
Michael F. Brennan is the new managing director of the International Automotive Oversight Bureau.The IAOB is the U.S. oversight office of the International Automotive Task Force. Brennan will be responsible for the bureau’s oversight of ISO/TS 16949 compliance. Brennan joined the IAOB in January.…
Quality Digest
KB Home Tucson is the first and only builder in Arizona to achieve National Housing Quality certification, according to the National Association of Home Builders Research Center. KB Home Tucson has built nearly 7,000 homes since 1998. In 2004, homebuyers gave the company a 97-percent customer-…
Quality Digest
RABQSA has announced the suspension of its Certification Training Plan, requiring auditors to transition to competency-based certification schemes for quality management systems (QMS), environmental management systems (EMS), food safety, and occupational health and safety (OH&S) audits. The…
Quality Digest
PowerSteering Software recently released Enterprise 4.6, a product that provides unprecedented functionality for Six Sigma practitioners. Falling closely on the heels of the recent PowerSteering Enterprise release that contains more than 50 enhancements specifically geared to improve Black Belt…
Quality Digest
The American Council of Independent Laboratories presented its Seal of Excellence Awards at its annual meeting in Palm Springs , California, last month. Participants in the award program are committed to ensuring the integrity of laboratory data, meeting customers’ quality needs and setting the…
Quality Digest
AMETEK Calibration Instruments recently opened a direct-sales office in the United Kingdom. The office will operate as part of AMETEK Lloyd Instruments, which is based in Fareham, Hampshire. The new sales office is led by U.K. sales manager Ian McPhie, and provides site visits, demonstrations and…
Quality Digest
Illinois Tool Works Inc. has announced its acquisition of Instron Corp., a supplier of instruments, software and services for the testing of materials and structures. Based in Norwood, Massachusetts, Instron has manufacturing facilities and technical centers in 13 countries throughout North America…
Quality Digest
The metrology division of Leica Geosystems recently relocated its Midwest Service Center to a new state-of-the-art facility in Wichita, Kansas. The new Wichita Service Center is a 4,000 square-foot facility that is staffed with highly qualified Laser Tracker service technicians. “We are responding…
Quality Digest
View Engineering Inc. recently acquired Micro-Metric Inc., a manufacturer of high-precision noncontact dimensional and coordinate metrology systems. View Engineering provides high-accuracy, large-area video, and laser-based and coordinate measuring systems for process monitoring and control in the…
Quality Digest
Rockwell Automation will host its annual Manufacturing Perspectives and Automation Fair next week in St. Louis. The Manufacturing Perspectives portion of the event will be held Nov. 15 at the Renaissance Grand Hotel. It will feature a full day of discussions about factory automation led by experts…
