All Features
Denise Robitaille
I was recently asked to write about the ISO 9001:2000 requirements that are still giving folks a hard time. Recent audits that I’ve conducted have led me to conclude that there are several clauses that continue to give us heartburn.
The issue that seems to come up most frequently relates to…
Quality Digest
The American Society for Quality recently announced that it has recognized 30 members as fellows of the organization. ASQ has headquarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The 104,000-member professional association aims to create better workplaces and communities worldwide by advancing learning, quality…
Quality Digest
TÜV America and Healthcare Specialists Inc. have formed a new alliance to help hospitals receive Medicare reimbursements more quickly and easily. To that end, the organizations formed a new organization, TÜV Healthcare Specialists, which includes the National Institute for the Accreditation of…
Quality Digest
Novations Group Inc. and Motorola University recently announced that they have partnered to offer online Six Sigma learning programs. The partnership is part of Motorola’s 2002 decision to launch a new training program as part of its Six Sigma renewal effort. To accomplish this, it teamed with the…
Quality Digest
More than 10,000 manufacturing customers, analysts and partners attended Rockwell Automation Inc.’s 13th annual Automation Fair recently. The event took place Oct. 27–28 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, and was the world’s largest free education manufacturing forum. It…
Quality Digest
QMI recently announced that it has received accreditation to perform ISO 13485:2003 audits. The accreditation, which was issued by the Standards Council of Canada, also allows QMI to offer registrations to ISO 13485:1996 and ISO 13488:1996. To apply for or maintain a valid license for Class II,…
Quality Digest
Citing a crowded marketplace, The Performance Management Group recently announced it’s reducing the cost of its Six Sigma training sessions. “We believe Six Sigma certifications are now a commodity in the marketplace,” says Gerald Taylor, TPMG president and managing consultant. “There are well over…
Quality Digest
Research and consulting firm Best Practices LLC recently compiled a comprehensive list of successful Six Sigma case studies examining the methodology’s delivery, response and accuracy. Drawn from exclusive interviews and research, the database contains specific reasons for implementing Six Sigma.…
Praveen Gupta
In simple terms, Six Sigma means quick improvement in a short period of time. Incremental improvement will save a lot of time and money for a company. Breakthrough improvement, therefore, is synonymous with Six Sigma. Breaking rules through innovation is a way to achieve breakthrough improvement.…
Quality Digest
Air Academy Associates and Semizone Inc. recently announced an alliance to offer online Six Sigma training and certification. The new partnership hinges on the unique strengths of both organizations. Air Academy Associates is widely known for its knowledge-based approach to Six Sigma deployment.…
Quality Digest
Rath & Strong and Motorola University recently announced they’re teaming up to offer Six Sigma training and consulting to clients around the world. The relationship between the companies goes back almost 30 years, when Motorola hired Rath & Strong to teach its executives and engineers key…
Quality Digest
Several top executives will speak at an upcoming conference on the use of lean processes and Six Sigma. The conference is sponsored by the Lean Six Sigma Institute of Corporate College, and will be held Nov. 11 at the East Campus of Cuyahoga Community College in Highland Hills, California. Speakers…
Quality Digest
A mortgage consulting firm and business performance management company have teamed up to offer Six Sigma to the mortgage banking industry. The alliance between The Performance Group (TPG) and Intelli-Mine will combine TPG’s Six Sigma methodology with Intelli-Mortgage, Intelli-Mine’s performance…
Quality Digest
The Automotive Industry Action Group recently released a guideline to help improve computer-aided design quality in the global automotive industry. The 203-page guideline, “D-19: SASIG-Product Data Quality for the Global Automotive Industry,” describes the nature of product data and situations that…
Quality Digest
Three Canadian small businesses were recognized with Canada Awards for Excellence recently, that country’s equivalent to the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Winners in the CAE’s small business category were M & M Meat Shops Ltd. (head office), Print Audit and Strus & Associates Inc…
Quality Digest
Leica Geosystems recently received Frost & Sullivan’s Industrial Automation Product Innovation of the Year award. Frost & Sullivan, a growth consulting firm, gave Leica Geosystems the award for its innovations in the hand-held metrology device market. “By innovating leading-edge concepts,…
Quality Digest
Yazaki North America recently awarded an employee team with a Quality Control Circle award for its innovative quality and cost avoidance plan.The five-member team, which called itself “The Nut Finders” is from the machine maintenance, quality and tooling departments at the company’s plant in El…
Quality Digest
A survey of more than 1,700 banks from 63 countries reveals that improving data quality is regarded as a key issue for risk management.The survey, conducted by AIM Software and the Vienna University of Economics, and sponsored by Reuters, quizzed banks about 11 key topics involving reference data…
Quality Digest
Postmaster General John E. Potter recognized eight companies with Quality Supplier Awards recently. The winning companies are “the best of the best” in supplying employees with the equipment, tools and services they need to deliver superior products to the public. Because of their quality efforts…
Quality Digest
The Educational Society for Resource Management (APICS, from its former name, the American Production and Inventory Control Society) recently presented corporate awards of excellence to several companies that excel in innovation, cooperation and workplace education. The award winners are Northrop…
Quality Digest
iGrafx and CommerceQuest recently announced a new partnership to offer a complete solution for process definition, analysis and execution across the business process management lifecycle.To that end, CommerceQuest has developed a seamless integration between the two companies’ leading applications…
Quality Digest
Cognex Corp. recently announced that it is now offering code quality metrics on its In-Sight ID readers and vision sensors. The new capabilities include International Aerospace Quality Group Standard 9132 for data matrix codes and Cognex supplemental metrics for code readability. This is useful…
Quality Digest
Datasweep Inc. recently released a new version of its award-winning Datasweep Advantage software suite. Datasweep Advantage 6.1 adds support for new client software technology, additional hardware and operating platforms and Japanese localization. It also offers an innovative run-time option to…
Quality Digest
More than half the respondents in a recent survey on Six Sigma in manufacturing said they planned to implement the methodology in their work forces within the next six months to two years. The survey also revealed that manufacturers are faced with many challenges specific to labor management.…
Quality Digest
An increasing number of organizations are using Six Sigma to sell and market pharmaceuticals, and a December forum will focus on this new trend. Standardizing and improving the quality of pharmaceutical sales and marketing is more important now than ever as the industry faces increasing regulations…
