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Community Blood Centers of South Florida Inc. recently implemented a quality effort that uses Pilgrim Software Inc.’s SmartCAPA software. The blood center provides more than 75 percent of the blood used in transfusions in Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties, and operates 18 donor…
Paper manufacturers may now improve productivity and paper-roll quality with the new WindPro winder control solution from Rockwell Automation. The solution includes advanced visualization hardware and software to provide real-time control and monitoring in one location. Manufacturers can view the…
STAT-A-MATRIX and Uniworld Consulting Ltd. have joined forces to form SAM Asia, a consulting company that will specialize in Asian training, licensing and consulting needs. SAM Asia will have offices in Taiwan, Hong Kong, China and Korea, with consultants throughout China and other Southeast Asian…
Three teams earned awards for their cost-cutting prowess at the American Society for Quality’s World Conference on Quality & Improvement on May 18. Baxter Healthcare’s Value Stream Team earned the top prize, the Gold Award, in the conference’s International Team…
CNC Software Inc.’s educational division recently launched a new competition to find innovative student manufacturing projects. The Innovator of the Future competition requires student participants to produce a part that meets certain size requirements with CNC Software’s Mastercam CAD/CAM software…
The American Customer Satisfaction Index fell in the first quarter of 2005, an indication that there might be further economic slowdown on the horizon. The ACSI for the first quarter of 2005 stands at 73.0, down 0.8 percent from last quarter. The factors driving this decline are falling inflation-…
EMS Consulting Group Inc. will host a public lean manufacturing certificate program in San Diego this fall. The program includes six course modules designed to provide participants with targeted managerial and technical competencies in lean manufacturing. Participants will learn how to apply value…
A new agreement between the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and health care quality improvement organizations focuses on reducing nursing assistant turnover rates in more than 2,000 nursing homes. Nurse aide turnover averages 71 percent per year, according to the American Health…
Caterpillar Inc. and StatSoft Inc. have joined forces to release PROCEED, a turnkey software solution designed for manufacturing companies’ efforts to model, optimize and simulate complex processes. PROCEED is based on the integration of Caterpillar’s patent-pending…
Several Baldrige Award winners and award supporters met with key Congress members last month at the annual Quest for Excellence conference. The conference was hosted by the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award program and gives award winners an opportunity to share their successful quality…
The Baldrige National Quality Program is seeking comments for discussion during Improvement Day 2005. Multiple comments on a given theme will be added to the agenda for the event, which will be held July 27. Topics might include but aren’t limited to: The award’s Criteria for Performance…
ANSI-RAB National Accreditation Board (ANAB) and QSU Publishing Co. will conduct a detailed survey that will examine the costs, benefits and savings associated with registration to ISO 14001. The fourth in a series of surveys conducted by QSUP and Quality Systems Update since 1993, the survey will…
Kelly Services, a Fortune 500 employment service, recently had 1,200 of its offices registered to ISO 9001. he registrations were awarded by DNV Certification. Kelly Services offers staffing solutions including temporary placements, staff leasing, outsourcing, vendor on-site and full-time…
The National Committee for Quality Assurance will release Quality Compass 2005 this summer. The online tool is described as indispensable for selecting a health plan, conducting competitor analysis, quality improvement, benchmarking and health care research. It will be released to the public on…
ASI DataMyte Inc. recently acquired Universal Elektronik GmbH.Universal Elektronik is a German manufacturer and reseller of products for torque and gap and flush applications, primarily in the automotive markets. It’s been a distributor of ASI DataMyte’s products since 1986 and is the European…
A network of state-sponsored Baldrige Award programs has formed an alliance in an effort to bring added recognition—and possibly added funding—to their programs. The Alliance for Performance Excellence was formed about 18 months ago. Operated by an almost all volunteer board of directors, it serves…
Hexagon Metrology released its new TesaStar M motorized probe head at a recent exposition held in Germany. The TesaStar M is a shank-mounted, motorized articulating probe head for CMMs. It’s capable of indexing in 5-degree increments, ±180 degrees in revolutions, and +90 to -115 degrees in pitch.…
A new book helps budding project managers pass the test that allows them to become certified project management professionals. Michael W. Newell’s Preparing For The Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification Exam: Third Edition (AMACOM, 2005) reflects the most current version of the test.…
Specialized Technology Resources Inc., a quality assurance testing and compliance monitoring company, recently acquired the textiles testing business of Precision Processes Textiles Ltd. “PPT is a very strong brand within the UK textiles testing market and will further strengthen our offering in…
Cognex Corp., a leading supplier of machine vision systems, has announced its acquisition of DVT Corp., effective May 9. Under the terms of the agreement, Cognex purchased all the outstanding shares of DVT for approximately $115 million. Cognex will maintain operations at DVT’s facility in Georgia…
The American Society for Quality will host the 20th International Team Excellence Awards May 16–18 in Seattle. The event, which will be part of the World Conference on Quality and Improvement, is the only worldwide team-based improvement and performance excellence competition in the United States.…
The Society of Manufacturing Engineers, the Association for Manufacturing Excellence and The Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing are working together to develop a new standard for lean certification. The organizations are collaborating with industry and academia in the initiative, which…
A new game from Ryan Systems Inc. is designed to teach quality tools and techniques while entertaining the players. The Quality Game includes more than 1,000 problems common to manufacturing quality for players to solve. As problems are solved, players advance on the game board. The game can be…
Supply chain executives are increasingly focusing on their suppliers’ quality management processes, according to a new benchmarking report from Best Practices LLC. Now more than ever, leading organizations see tactics such as supplier certification as ways to achieve key performance results and key…
RABQSA International recently began offering training designed to bridge the knowledge gap between its current training course certification (TCC) and the recently introduced Training Provider and Examiner Certification Scheme. The current TCC doesn’t satisfy the knowledge-based competency…
