All Features
Dirk Dusharme @ Quality Digest
Our Aug. 25, 2017, episode of QDL looked at how technology can bring us together physically; an incredible new power source from the U.S. Army; an interview with Thomas Publishing president and CEO, Tony Uphoff, on U.S. manufacturing apprenticeship programs; and a whole lot more.
“Army Discovery…
Doug Bulla
Being a numbers-driven manufacturing CFO is a good thing—in fact, it’s essential. But as a CFO, you probably know finance and operations more than you know the ins and outs of manufacturing, which can lead you to measuring the wrong key performance metrics.
Here are five costly manufacturing…
Annamarie Mann
Once the status symbol of anti-establishment Silicon Valley tech companies such as Google and Facebook, the open-office floor plan now pervades U.S. workplaces. According to The Washington Post, about 70 percent of U.S. offices have an open-office floor plan.
Supporters say open floor plans…
Richard Pazdur
When I was in high school, I spent summers working as a restaurant dishwasher, grocery store stock boy, and gardener in northwest Indiana. The idea of spending those weeks learning about science and medicine would not have been an option for me at that time.
Yet, it is precisely those students…
Ryan E. Day
Sponsored Content
For growth-minded organizations like TS Tech, global supplier of automobile seats and interiors, “the way we’ve always done it” is rarely good enough. As a tier-one supplier to major automotive OEMs, TS Tech always has an eye out for ways to improve quality and throughput. They…
Victor Prince
A few summers ago, I hiked the ancient Camino de Santiago trail across Spain. It was the best month of my life for many reasons. Along with a lot of other great things I got by walking almost 500 miles, it also taught me some valuable project management lessons that I can use at work.
Less is…
Tim Lozier
Sponsored Content
The difference between cloud providers is often found in their chosen deployment method. Typically, software can be implemented either through multi-tenant or dedicated cloud environments. With the advent of virtual servers, cloud environments have moved past the “trend” phase…
Therese Graff
A recent article in The Wall Street Journal (“The Reason Southwest Stopped Overbooking”), which contained excerpts from an interview with Southwest Airlines’ CEO Gary Kelly, brought out the need to address airline capacity issues on the ground and in the air. Responding to a question on the impact…
Ryan E. Day
What do cocoa, socks, and smartphones have in common? If you guessed risk of slavery in the manufacturing supply chain, you are correct. Does your organization have an international supply chain? Then it’s at risk. What are you doing to address the risks associated with modern slavery in your…
Dirk Dusharme @ Quality Digest
Our August 11, 2017, episode of QDL looked at the role of technology in after-market service, stairs that help you up, Fidget Cubes, and more.
“Climbing Stairs Just Got Easier With Energy-Recycling Steps”
These stairs actually help you go up.
“The Curious Case of the Fidget Cube”
How a product…
Ryan E. Day
Innovation within industry is a must to improve processes, products, and customer experience. Although some innovations, like Amazon’s floating distribution center, seem implausible, other sci-fi technology is already revolutionizing and redefining the way employees accomplish tasks.
Tales of…
Quy Huy
At the end of the 20th century, perhaps no U.S. business leader was more admired—and emulated—than former General Electric CEO Jack Welch. He became legendary for almost single-handedly remaking the massive Boston-based conglomerate into a global leader. During his 20-year tenure, which ended in…
Greg Anderson
The Affordable Care Act created the CMS Innovation Center to allow Medicare and Medicaid programs to test innovative payment and delivery models that improve patient care and lower healthcare costs.
The Innovation Center organizes models into seven categories. Some models are based on payment…
Deirdre Mendez
For stressed managers dealing with international employees and partners, a profile describing the country they’re dealing with may seem like a natural thing to reach for. Brazil has a score of 34 for punctuality; Finns value quiet, serious conversation; good things to know. But think about the…
Mike Richman
The dog days of summer are here, but the Aug. 4, 2017, episode of QDL offered lots of cool content. Let’s take a closer look:
“What Went Wrong With the F-35?” One expert calls the Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter jet an “inherently terrible airplane.” So why does the Air Force consider it warfighter…
Jun Nakamuro
Japanese improvement techniques have been emulated across the globe for decades, and none carries more cultural weight than the theory of kaizen. When I expose Western leaders to lean practices in Japan, they often express that they have come away with a better understanding of “true kaizen.” They…
John Stepper
Whenever I talk to organizations about open, connected ways of working, this question inevitably comes up: “How do you get leaders to do it?”
It’s a problem. Most often, managers simply don’t have the time to learn a different way of leading. Or their habits are so deeply ingrained that doing…
DNV GL
Bribery and corruption are a $1 trillion drain on the global economy and a door-shutting event for companies unable to prevent rogue acts from destroying a company’s entire reputation. If you think about it, managing bribery is a bit of an oxymoron. How do you manage something that hasn’t happened…
Mark Whitworth
For decades, audit management has centered on paper checklists, with tracking moving to Excel spreadsheets in more recent years. Despite growing adoption of cloud-based manufacturing software, many auto suppliers still rely on paper checklists and spreadsheets to manage audit programs.
There’s a…
John Guaspari
‘You want me to pull the kids out of school for what?”
I could tell that my wife didn’t like my idea because she had used the tone she uses when I say something that is, to employ the pet phrase she employs in such instances, “really stupid.”
“For Guaspari Family Quality Day,” I replied. “We take…
Jeffrey Phillips
I have just returned from a trip to Dubai to speak at an innovation conference there. This is my third trip to Dubai, and I always come away consistently amazed at what the people and the government are doing. When I return to the States, people ask me what Dubai is like. I joking tell them that I…
Jesse Lyn Stoner
Jerome said his biggest problem was time management. He was overloaded, deadlines were getting missed, and he was stressed.
Managing his team was his biggest time drain.
“When they ask me questions, I get stuck spending time with them instead of doing my own work. And when I don’t hear from them…
Loic Sadoulet, Giovanni Tassini
Making the most of its position as an important seaport, Venice’s remarkable economic development during the Middle Ages relied on network effects, contractual innovation, and coordination among the players involved in long-distance trade. Companies today still exploit these mechanisms to succeed…
Shaun Wissner
Sponsored Content
Connectivity has changed the world we live in. While today it is a trend, the true potential of connectivity lies in the future. As manufacturers begin to investigate how they can integrate this developing technology, they rely on solutions from organizations, like Hexagon…
Kelly Graves
The following is an excerpt from Kelly Graves’ book, The Management and Employee Development Review (CRC Press, 2016).
When Darwin first made famous the term “survival of the fittest,” I don’t believe he was talking about the strongest species, or the fastest, but rather those species most able to…
