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Quality Digest
The Boeing Co. recently ordered 10 Laser Trackers from FARO Technologies Inc. FARO reports that Boeing will use the Laser Tracker Xi units for its rotorcraft facility in Philadelphia to dimensionally control the manufacture, modernization and support of the twin-turbine, tandem-rotor CH-47 Chinook…
Quality Digest
Instron Corp. recently received accreditation for ISO 376 calibration of secondary force standards. The company also expanded its calibration services. In addition to force, strain and hardness measurements, Instron now offers accredited on-site calibrations of speed, displacement, stroke and…
Quality Digest
National Technical Systems Inc. recently completed electromagnetic interference testing on the U.S. Navy’s Long-Term Mine Reconnaissance System (LMRS). The testing satisfies the MIL-STD-461E standard for undesirable radio frequency transmissions that could interfere with the successful operation of…
C. Martin Schuster
Foam Design Inc. of Lexington, Kentucky, builds a wide range of foam parts, including inserts for headliners used to protect against injuries in the event of a collision. Inspecting these components with a CMM was a tedious and error-prone process because of the difficulty involved in making…
Quality Digest
The Standards Press of China and the American National Standards Institute recently signed an agreement to mutually distribute Chinese and U.S. standards. The SPC is the publishing division of China’s national standards body. Chinese standards will be available for electronic purchase at ANSI’s…
Quality Digest
Top executives from 14 national standards bodies from the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia attended a recent open house organized by ASTM International. The event included a frank and stimulating discussion about international standardization, especially as it relates to developing nations…
Quality Digest
Globalization and the effects of the Chinese manufacturing will be among the topics at the American National Standards Institute’s second annual leadership conference. The conference will be held Nov. 9–10 in Phoenix, and will bring together worldwide representatives from the International…
Denise Robitaille
I’ve long been a proponent of involving as many individuals as possible in corrective action, both during the root cause analysis phase and during the development of the action plan. Middle managers, supervisors, machine operators, customer service representatives, shippers, software test engineers…
Quality Digest
TÜV America recently promoted Derek J. Tremblett to lead its NAFTA region business development efforts. In his new role, he will be responsible for all of TÜV America’s and its subsidiaries’ sales and business development in Canada, the United States and Mexico. Tremblett joined TÜV Canada in…
Quality Digest
The Standards Engineering Society will hold its 54th annual conference Aug. 15–16 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The event, entitled “Standards—Pillars for Success,” will feature a keynote address from Mark Hurwitz, ANSI’s president and CEO, along with the participation of David Karmol, ANSI’s vice…
Quality Digest
Jeff Carr recently joined Intertek Systems Certification as its vice president of systems certification. In his new role, Carr will direct the operations of the systems certification group, which is based in Boxborough, Massachusetts and Lachine, Quebec. He replaces André Forcier, who is retiring…
Quality Digest
The Automotive Industry Action Group’s AutoTech 2005 will be held Aug. 29–Sept. 1, and will include a substantial quality component. This year’s theme is “Streamlining the Industry,” featuring more than 70 educational sessions in five areas: quality, OEM requirements, collaborative engineering,…
Quality Digest
A seminar focused on understanding and preventing human error in decision making will be held Sept. 13 and 14 in Boston. The seminar will examine the root causes of human errors and discuss how they relate the quality improvement efforts. Ben Marguglio, of BW Marguglio LLC and High Technology…
Quality Digest
The National Committee for Quality Assurance recently released its first online version of Quality Compass, a health plan comparison tool. Quality Compass includes accreditation and HEDIS results on more than 250 commercial health care plans. It allows employers, health plan administrators and…
Quality Digest
Pilgrim Software Inc. was recently recognized as one of just 12 Microsoft Independent Software Vendors for manufacturing. The designation will allow Pilgrim to receive Microsoft training, marketing and technical expertise. “Being an ISV has many advantages that will filter town as benefits to our…
Quality Digest
Quality Technology Co. recently posted an ISO 9001 self-assessment checklist on its Web site. The checklist is available free until Aug. 31, and it allows users to assess their organization’s documentation, compliance and effectiveness processes. It’s organized by ISO 9001’s components: quality…
Quality Digest
Software quality was identified as one of the greatest challenges facing the software development community in a recent industrywide survey. Seventy-four percent of respondents reported that software quality is their biggest problem. Distributed development and customization were also cited as top…
Quality Digest
Companies applying the innovation and design techniques of Six Sigma report median “hard” gains of $200,000 per project, and another $100,000 in “soft” benefits, according to a recent study. The research was conducted by iSixSigma Magazine, and found that even small companies realized comparatively…
Marilyn Fischbach
Deployment is one of the most critical elements of a successful Six Sigma program. Top-down support, champion training, wide publicity and Six Sigma awareness training for all employees are common components. In addition, employees selected to be Black or Green Belts must be trained and projects…
Quality Digest
Intergraph Corp. recently signed a four-year contract with the U.S. Air Force to deploy and manage operational excellence programs. The contract covers continuous improvement, lean and Six Sigma programs at the Air Force Materiel Command at Warner Robins Air Logistics Center at Robins Air Force…
Quality Digest
A recently released book compiles case studies, articles and advice to help readers through lean transformations.Lean Culture—Collected Practices and Cases (Productivity Press, 2005), uses articles and advice from Productivity Press’ monthly newsletter “Lean Manufacturing Advisor” to address common…
Quality Digest
Outlook Group Corp. recently reported a 13.6-percent increase in net sales for the fourth quarter of 2005, an achievement that was helped by the company’s use of Six Sigma. “Our strong performance in fiscal 2005 is a direct result of our continuing strategy to differentiate Outlook Group in the…
Quality Digest
KB Home Coastal Inc. was recently inducted into the National Association of Home Builders’ prestigious National Housing Quality Certified Builder program. The certification followed a rigorous examination of the builder’s San Diego and Riverside divisions’—which make up KB Homes Coastal—quality…
Quality Digest
Danaher Corp. will acquire all of Leica Geosystems’ shares for an aggregate price of approximately $950 million. Danaher offered 500 Swiss francs per share—about $386—to shareholders. Leica Geosystems’ board of directors reports that Danaher has pledged to maintain Leica’s identity and safeguard…
Quality Digest
Teams from the private and public sectors that focus on cost savings, product development, innovation and process improvement to support their organization’s mission will have a chance to compete at the 2005 Western Regional Teams Live Competition in November.The event, sponsored by the California…
