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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Breakthrough Devices Program is beginning to show important results for patients since it was established in late 2016 under the 21st Century Cures Act to help patients gain timely access to breakthrough technologies.
Consider Second Sight Medical…
(SAE International: Warrendale, PA) -- SAE has convened a new standards committee, AE-9, to write performance, reliability and testing standards for materials used in electrical/electronic systems for more-electric aircraft (MEA) and more-electric engine (MEE) applications, taking into account both…
(NIST: Gaithersburg, MD) -- If your organization is striving to achieve breakthrough performance and results, the recipients of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award will soon be sharing their role-model best practices at the 30th Anniversary Quest for Excellence conference.
The conference,…
QDL always strives to bring you a look at the people and stories making the news in the world of quality. We succeeded admirably on the “people” side of things this week and threw in a fun story about the physics of the basketball to boot. Let’s take a closer look:
“Clarity First Book Review and…
The cheating at Kobe Steel shook not just Japan but the entire manufacturing world. As Kobe Steel CEO Hiroya Kawasaki revealed, about 500 companies had received its falsely certified products, which affected not only those companies but also its entire supply chain. However, the issue at Kobe was…
People get overly tired. People get distracted; they get stressed and make poor decisions. People multitask when they shouldn’t. People lack training at times.
Our brains and bodies are machines, but they are imperfect ones. Even the most thorough and careful person will become an “err apparent”…
Automotive wire harnesses are a central component of modern vehicles. Against the backdrop of developments such as the connected car and autonomous driving, the highest possible quality is essential. Since quality assurance is a complex and largely manual manufacturing process, the use of a…
Automotive wire harnesses are a central component of modern vehicles. Against the backdrop of developments such as the connected car and autonomous driving, the highest possible quality is essential. Since quality assurance is a complex and largely manual manufacturing process, the use of a…
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Before transitioning to journalism, I worked in manufacturing, production, and high-volume auto repair for decades. When I finally swapped my blue collar for white, I figured my old body would appreciate the switch to something less physically demanding. And it did—for about six months. I learned…
According to the most recent report of the Economic Policy Institute, the average CEO-to-worker pay ratio in the United States has gone down from 286 to 1 (in 2015) to 271 to 1 (in 2016). This number may disappoint many top executives who were hoping to see it return to its peak of 383 to 1,…
I am a scientist. I am often wrong, and that’s OK.
You may have heard about major errors in science and engineering that made the news headlines, like the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, aka “Galloping Gertie,” or the 1999 crash of the Mars Climate Orbiter. Or maybe you’ve seen the recent…
Because of a growing movement in the health insurance industry toward not reimbursing hospitals for any expenses caused by a system-acquired infection, one health system made efforts to improve its infection rate starting in the last quarter of 2016. In June 2017, a year-over-year graph was…
When a change management system is designed effectively, it defines how strategies, procedures, and technologies will be applied to address changes in the business environment.
Implementing a change management process for quality and compliance requires planning and preparation. Starting with a…
The concepts and frameworks behind quality management are evolving. As more companies adopt new technologies, and standards like ISO 9001:2015 begin to shift in focus, there is a concept that is arising out of Industry 4.0, the factory of the future, and the industrial internet of things (IIoT).…
In part one of this article, we explored how Woodland Trade Co. (WTC) leveraged high-accuracy portable CMMs to help land tight-tolerance aerospace contracts, and even earn Boeing’s Supplier of the Year award. Here in part two, WTC’s QA manager William Shanks reveals the advanced technology that…
Instead of the internet of things (IoT), perhaps we should call it the “data of things” or the “internet of data?” IoT will generate a staggering 400 zettabytes (or 400 trillion gigabytes) of data a year by 2018, according to the 2016 Cisco Visual Networking Index.
This is being driven by…
Industry 4.0, also known as smart factory 4.0, is labeled as the fourth industrial revolution, yet many don’t understand it or how it will affect the things they do; quality management is no exception. The executives in your organization, however, are most certainly monitoring this paradigm-…
In our March 16, 2018, episode of QDL, we looked at universal basic income, management status quo, ISO 10018, and how a community college is teaching cutting-edge metrology skills.
“Public Split on Basic Income for Workers Replaced by Robots”
Gallup asks Americans if they would support a universal…
What is the primary element required by an organization—or an individual—when they begin to seek improved outcomes? It’s not dedication, or desire, or knowledge, or even skill. Rather, it’s critically important to begin by getting clear, perfectly clear, about what you’re doing and why. Only then…
One of the most valuable tools leaders have for driving results and improving performance is conversation. Your conversation can either grow your business or slow your business.
This article offers three examples of ineffective communication skills and what you can do to improve your…
Some 20 years ago, my colleague Chau Tran and I developed a way to simulate the trajectories of millions of basketballs on the computer.
We went to the coaches and assistant coaches at North Carolina State University, where we are based, and told them we had this uncommon ability to study…
On Feb. 25, 2018, an asteroid 30 ft in diameter flew past the Earth, closer than the moon is to us. The newly discovered asteroid, named “2018 DU,” is the 17th known asteroid to fly past Earth within one lunar distance (the distance between the Earth and the Moon, approximately 250,000 miles)…
Schools in our nation seem to be under siege from lone shooters, bullies, disturbing phone calls and emails, and the occasional bomb threat. It’s a sad state of affairs when armed guards and metal detectors become as common as whiteboards and backpacks.
Numerous comments and suggestions have been…
