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On July 5, 2017, I was on a canal boat in Amsterdam cruising to a dinner meeting when I received a call saying, “We need immediate access to your condo; water is rushing into the street from beneath your front door.” And my heart stopped beating for a moment.
Floods are serious. Even as water…
There is a simple truth in international business: All else being equal, the more similar the host country abroad to the home country of a firm, the more likely is success. It is a lot easier, for instance, for a Spanish firm to do well in Portugal than in Switzerland.
For firms and…
To save his own life, Joseph Dombey had an idea. As two pirate ships surrounded the ship he was on in the Caribbean Sea in 1794, Dombey scrambled below deck, disrobing as he went. He appropriated the outfit of one of the ship’s many Spanish sailors and prayed that he had picked up enough of their…
The cleanliness of components and parts is at the center of most industrial manufacturing processes, as these components must be free of contaminants to ensure a high-quality finished product. Technical cleanliness inspection involves quality control, process management, and manufacturing…
Fully automated cars are still many years away. Amid the government activity and potential for social benefits, it’s important not to lose sight of smaller improvements that could more immediately save lives and reduce the injuries and economic costs of highway crashes.
Our research found that…
Fully automated cars are still many years away. Amid the government activity and potential for social benefits, it’s important not to lose sight of smaller improvements that could more immediately save lives and reduce the injuries and economic costs of highway crashes.
Our research found that…
When James Womack and Daniel Jones published Lean Thinking in 1996, they offered the world a book that collected the core principles of a key operational model. Though not stated directly, they created a profile for the Toyota Production System (TPS) that was revelatory and highly useful, adding a…
“Alexa, what does the future of leadership look like?”
Whether at home, on the road, or in the office, fascinating technology is altering our world every day. And it isn’t just simplifying our daily tasks or making our cars safer; it’s changing the future of our company leaders.
Those working…
Certificates, certifications, badges, and licenses: What are they worth to the workforce? The last decade has seen huge growth in the number and variety of credentials, and this explosion has fueled a great deal of confusion among students, workers, job seekers, employers, and others.
Job seekers…
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Restriction of hazardous substances (RoHS) regulations help protect the public from dangerous or toxic materials in consumer products and electronics. Beyond public health and safety concerns, noncompliance represents significant potential costs, including fines, product recalls…
How do extra detection rules work to increase the sensitivity of a process behavior chart? What types of signals do they detect? Which detection rules should be used, and when should they be used in practice? For the answers read on.
In 1931, Walter A. Shewhart gave us the primary detection rule…
How do extra detection rules work to increase the sensitivity of a process behavior chart? What types of signals do they detect? Which detection rules should be used, and when should they be used in practice? For the answers read on.
In 1931, Walter A. Shewhart gave us the primary detection rule…
Storms like Hurricanes Irma and Maria as well as other natural disasters bring with them lots of uncertainty: Where will they go? How much damage will they cause? What is certain is that no matter where they strike, natural disasters knock out power.
And no power means no internet for thousands…
If you were born prior to the 1950s, you may remember a sitcom filmed in black and white about two New York cops and their exploits in the city. As they pursued criminals and responded to various neighborhood incidents, there was always the prescribed call on their radio: “Car 54, where are you?”…
We preempted the Oct. 6, 2017, episode of Quality Digest Live to bring you a two-hour-plus special broadcast, our Test and Measurement Expo. This live event occurred on Manufacturing Day, the perfect time to look at some brand-new technologies, interview thought leaders within industry, and…
Friday, Oct. 6, 2017, is Manufacturing Day, one of the most important events of the year for those of us working within industry. On this occasion, we should all take some time to honor the science and art of manufacturing, an endeavor that has quite literally built our amazing modern society from…
NASA Chief Astronaut Chris Cassidy has lived for months on the International Space Station and has performed six spacewalks. “Imagine hanging out with a glass bubble on your head, one hand on a hunk of metal, Earth going beneath your feet at five miles a second, and the whole world listening to…
I recently posted a version of the graphic below with the caption: “Not perfect, but close. It’s about right.” The response was overwhelmingly positive. A great majority of people recognized it as a unique comparison, one that they had never seen before, and also as an accurate comparison that…
Are you fatigued and disheartened by the current amount of polarization in the world today? Are you frustrated with leadership that divides instead of unites?
Instead of wishing someone would do something about it and feeling helpless, focus on the place you have the most control—your own…
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If your hospital or clinic uses a Windows 7-based version of a Siemens PET/CT or SPECT system, it could be vulnerable to attack by a relatively low-skill hacker, according to a July 26, 2017, security advisory from the company.
The Industrial Control System Cyber…
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A simple fact in manufacturing is that everyone has to measure. However, measurement is not simply about inspection; manufacturers need the right tools to increase quality, maximize productivity, and ultimately, make measurement a value-added process.
One of the most critical…
Some ISO 9001 users complain that the standard does not improve performance or deliver bottom-line results, while others are delighted by the standard as a framework for effective quality management systems. I pointed out previously that ISO 9001:2015 does not address, at least not explicitly, the…
There’s a problem with journey maps? Well, not with the maps themselves but with how people talk about them.
I love attending webinars and reading articles about journey mapping because I’m always curious about how others talk about them, what their approaches are, and what outcomes they’ve…
In December 1998, NASA launched the Mars Climate Orbiter, a robotic space probe intended as the communications relay for the Mars Polar Lander. By September 1999, the spacecraft had disintegrated after coming too close to Mars and passing into its upper atmosphere.
The problem? A simple unit…
Our most recent episode of QDL from Friday, Sept. 29, 2017. featured news, technology, and two great interviews. Let’s have a closer look:
“Domestic Cars Fail to Keep Up With International Competition”
The most recent American Customer Satisfaction Index (ASCI) survey took a look at people’s…