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If you get off the highway and take an alternate route when traffic slows to one lane, you are making a prediction. Likewise, if you decide to invite someone to dinner, that too is a prediction. The scientific method? Predictive in nature. Every time you make a decision, you are making a…
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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…
It’s summertime. You’ve saved up your time off and planned a great vacation for yourself and your family. How, as a project manager, do you make sure your vacation just has those fun “risks,” that everything runs smoothly while you’re away, and you’re able to enjoy your vacation uninterrupted?…
Many of you work in organizations that keep track of customer complaints. Have you ever thought of how they are recorded and tallied? What could possibly be wrong with this process: The customer brings a concern to your attention. Record it.
Let’s say a certain pediatrics unit reported the number…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Researchers at Georgia Tech and Emory University have created a device that makes walking up and down stairs easier. They’ve built energy-recycling stairs that store a user’s energy during descent and return energy to the user during ascent.
The spring-loaded stairs compress when someone comes…
June 1 marked the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs through the end of November. It’s a busy time for us at the Tropical Meteorology Project in Colorado State University’s (CSU) Department of Atmospheric Science, where we are issuing our 34th annual Atlantic basin…
June 1 marked the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs through the end of November. It’s a busy time for us at the Tropical Meteorology Project in Colorado State University’s (CSU) Department of Atmospheric Science, where we are issuing our 34th annual Atlantic basin…
Two leading aircraft manufacturers, Boeing and Airbus, face a challenge many manufacturers would envy: an order book of close to 12,000 aircraft, representing between eight and 10 years’ worth of production. But what might appear to be a dream is proving to be a nightmare—asking customers to wait…
(Nikon Metrology: Brighton, MI) -- Twenty-two years since the inception of the ModelMaker product line, the cutting-edge ModelMaker H120 firmly pushes the ever-exacting boundaries of handheld laser scanning. Incorporating blue laser technology, ultra-fast frame rate, specially developed Nikon…
Joseph Juran once warned1 that ISO 9001 standardizes mediocrity, and users often discover that it does not deliver outstanding or world-class results. This is not because of any inherent problems with the standard, but rather the manner in which organizations use it. If their goal is solely to “…
It’s usually not a good idea to rely solely on a single statistic to draw conclusions about your process. Do that, and you could fall into the clutches of the “duck-rabbit” illusion shown below.
If you fix your eyes solely on the duck, you’ll miss the rabbit—and vice-versa.
If you’re using…
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…
Ever wondered why quality control (QC) professionals check a sample instead of 100 percent of a shipment during inspection? Or maybe you’ve wondered why they use acceptance sampling, rather than simply inspecting an arbitrary quantity of goods, such as 10 or 20 percent?
Most importers value the…
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…
It’s easier than ever to buy stuff. You can purchase almost anything on Amazon with a click, and it is only slightly harder to find a place to stay in a foreign city on Airbnb. So why can’t we pay for healthcare the same way?
My research into the economics of healthcare suggests we should be able…
(Intel: Santa Clara, CA) -- As more developers adopt advanced machine learning approaches to build innovative applications and solutions, Intel is committed to providing the most comprehensive set of development tools and resources to ensure developers are retooling for an AI-centric digital…
(Perceptron: Plymouth, MI) -- Perceptron, a leading global provider of 3D automated metrology solutions and coordinate measuring machines, has announced that a prestigious German automotive manufacturer selected Perceptron gauging and robot guidance for its manufacturing facility in China.
The…
(YXLON International: Hamburg, Germany) -- X-raying in 3D may seem straight out of a futuristic sci-fi movie, but with the recent advancements of Computed Tomography (CT) it is a reality, and a fast, easy, and affordable option. The newly published Computed Tomography (CT) for Industrial…
(Creaform: Costa Mesa, CA) -- Creaform, a global leader in portable 3D measurement solutions and engineering services, has announced that its latest product innovation is the recipient of the prestigious Red Dot Award: Product Design 2017, one of the most sought-after international quality marks…
Last month I mentioned that we can put autocorrelated data on a process behavior chart. But what is autocorrelated data and what does it tell us about our processes? This article will use examples to answer both of these questions.
Autocorrelation (aka serial correlation) describes how the values…
Automated process management systems are the workhorses of every modern company. These systems guide operations and improve quality and efficiency. Hidden away in the core of each automated process management system lies the unsung yet essential electronic form. You can avoid quality management…
