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Senators unanimously passed H.R. 3389 on Sept. 24, a bill that establishes a not-for-profit category for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. “This is great news for the entire country as well as the quality community and the American Society for Quality, which has been the driving force…
MetricStream Inc. announced the inclusion of application delivery (“zaplet”) via e-mail in its latest release, MetricStream 3.5. The capability will allow organizations to engage relevant internal casual users and external partners in the compliance process through e-mail without having to learn…
ISO recently awarded the subcommittee responsible for developing ISO 9001:2000 with the prestigious Lawrence D. Eicher Leadership Award. In presenting the award, ISO President Oliver Smoot praised ISO/TC 176, which developed the standard, for its “rigorous and demanding” project management…
Gerald (Gerry) J. Hahn was recently awarded the American Society for Quality’s Distinguished Service Medal for his long commitment to the quality profession. Hahn, a statistical consultant and adjunct faculty member at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, began his career in 1955 as an applied…
Organizers of the 2004 International Manufacturing Technology Show are calling the event a resounding success and are already planning the 2006 show. “Everything went exactly the way it was supposed to,” says AMT representative Lucy Coburn. “It was a big success.” A total of 86,232 people…
Sigma Breakthrough Technologies Inc. recently announced a major quality effort for the health care industry. The consulting company has developed a strain of Six Sigma and lean principles that apply specifically to health care professionals, an initiative that will increase return on investment…
Frost & Sullivan named Datasweep Inc. as the global market leader in manufacturing execution systems (MES) in its recently released report, “World Manufacturing Execution Systems 2004.” The report evaluates companies based on real-time information management, shop floor management, quality…
Sypris Test & Measurement has relocated its New Jersey calibrations laboratory from Union to Sayreville, New Jersey. The new facility is 63 percent larger than the old laboratory and will enable Sypris to handle increased demand. The new laboratory is A2LA-accredited, as was the former…
Xspect Solutions Inc. saw business in the first half of the year increase well above company predictions, a trend that demanded expansion. As a result, the company, which remanufactures pre-owned CMMs, moved into a new 24,000 sq. ft facility in Wixom, Michigan. “We have been thoroughly amazed at…
A recent study shows that U.S. workers believe the economy is on the road to recovery. In the survey, 59 percent of respondents reported being optimistic about the economy and the potential for job growth in the coming year. When asked about their own career prospects, 57 percent indicated they…
The National Committee for Quality Assurance will soon release its annual report on health care quality. This year’s report finds that while health plans participating in NCQA’s voluntary national accreditation program improved their scores substantially, the broader health care system is still…
The American Society of Safety Engineers recently announced the availability of a new standard that provides guidelines for protecting workers from potentially dangerous equipment and energy. “Control of Hazardous Energy—Lockout/Tagout and Alternative Methods,” produced by the Z244 Accredited…
A new book published by Productivity Press focuses on helping organizations understand and implement Baldrige criteria. Get It, Set It, Move It, Prove It—60 Ways to Get Real Results in Your Organization, by Mark Graham Brown, provides results-based methods for implementing the Baldrige criteria…
FARO Technologies Inc. recently released two new and less expensive versions of one of its most popular devices. The FARO Gage and FARO Gage-PLUS will sell for $12,500 and $19,900 respectively. Both devices provide smaller machine shops with 3-D measurement capabilities. “Calipers, height gages,…
More than 100 leading providers of software for supply chain management, manufacturing execution systems, MRP/ERP, logistics and materials management will attend the 2004 APICS International Conference and Exposition in San Diego. The conference will take place Oct. 10-13 and include product…
2003 was a year of transition for ISO 9001 and a year of significant growth for ISO 14001, reports ISO in its annual study. Study results about ISO 9001 included: Up to the end of 2003, at least 500,125 registrations had been issued in 149 countries and economies. 2003 total registrations…
The latest American Customer Satisfaction Index held steady for the second quarter of 2004, remaining at its highest level in 10 years. The index stands at 74.4, unchanged from last quarter. Economists report that the sunny news indicates high customer satisfaction, which generally contributes to…
Improved product design would make manufacturing products less expensive than outsourcing to countries like China, according to a recent benchmarking study. The authors suggest that U.S. companies should do a better job of integrating cost analysis into product design. With rigorous cost analysis…
School administrators looking for ways to meet tough federal requirements have found a new ally in a rather unlikely place—the quality profession. The need for continual improvement is familiar to quality professionals, but it’s relatively new to the education community. The No Child Left Behind…
The American National Standards Institute recently awarded 2004 Leadership and Service Awards to six executives. The winners were recognized for their significant contributions to national and international standardization activities and commitment to the standards community. The winners are:…
Sypris Test & Measurement will relocate its San Francisco Bay Area calibration lab, the company announced recently. The company moved from San Jose to Sunnyvale, California. Moving the lab places the company closer to existing customers in military, aerospace, communications, semiconductor and…
The revised ISO 14001 standard is scheduled to be published by the end of the year, meaning significant changes to environmental management professionals. According to the International Organization for Standardization, the changes to the standard aim to clarify it and make it more user-friendly.…
A partnership between Arc Second Inc. and Romer CimCore could signal the acceptance of indoor GPS as the measurement technology of the future. Several major metrology companies, including Romer CimCore, Metrologic Inc. and New River Kinematics, showcased Arc Second’s GPS technology at the 2004…
FARO Technologies Inc. recently released an enhanced generation of its popular laser trackers. Highlights of the new trackers include ADM Smart Auto-Adjust, which improves accuracy by automatically adapting to conditions affecting measurement drift; Fast Laser Lock, which re-locks the laser in…
Delcam Inc. is offering a free CAD viewer that will allow users to view CAD models in all the major formats, including CATIA versions 4 and 5, Pro/Engineer 2001 and Wildfire, SDRC, Unigraphics, SolidWorks and Solid Edge, as well as other industry standards. “Even though modern CAD software can…
