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In our efforts to ask for and accept customer input, many have lost sight of an important part of the process: translation.
With the advent of automated digital surveys, big data, and a plethora of voice of the customer (VOC) techniques, using customer input to drive design and improvement is…
When your product keeps planes in the air, seals Army tanks from biohazards, and enables exploration companies to drill oil and gas wells, quality control matters.
At Trelleborg Sealing Solutions in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, it’s Frank Williams’ job to pay attention to and ensure product quality. As…
As I was driving to the airport the other morning, I couldn’t help but notice that highway driving has a lot in common with leadership.
I’d like to explore some leadership questions that come up when we think about driving on the highway and examine the different kinds of drivers (i.e., leaders…
Afew years ago, Tom Davenport, the President’s Distinguished Professor of IT and Management at Babson College, and a research fellow at the MIT Center for Digital Business, proclaimed that “data scientist” would be the “sexiest” job in the 21st century. This topic was discussed at The 2014 MIT…
The Six Sigma students at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology are at it again! A few months back, we blogged about the Six Sigma project they did to reduce food waste at the on-campus dining center.
This time, the students—led by Dr. Diane Evans, Six Sigma black belt and associate professor of…
The net-zero energy test house at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in suburban Washington, D.C., not only absorbed winter’s best shot, it also came out on top, reaching its one-year anniversary on July 1, 2014, with enough surplus energy to power an electric car for about…
(Starrett: Athol, MA) -- Doug Starrett, president and CEO of The L.S. Starrett Co., announced that Starrett donated more than $100,000 of precision measuring tools to support Workshops for Warriors, a nonprofit that assists the transition of U.S. military veterans into civilian life through…
Once upon a time, about 70 years ago, entrepreneurs rolled up their sleeves, looked around, and said, “Right. World War II is over. Antitrust laws have our backs. Let’s get out there and make some money.” And like homesteaders at the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889, they sprinted into their chosen…
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n my previous two columns, I discussed eight traits of intelligence, four traits in each. If you are just joining the series, you can read part one here and part two here. Today I will discuss the final four.
The general study and analysis of the traits of intelligence are ongoing. Many minds…
Lean production, high -performance work systems, virtual communications, and collaboration applications are all examples of the latest tools, technology, and processes executives are encouraged to implement to improve productivity and efficiency. But why are there more useful tools and processes…
Born in the village of Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth, Lincolnshire, England, in 1643 (by today’s calendar), the only son of prosperous farmer Isaac Newton, this baby of the same name was premature, tiny, weak, and not expected to live.
But he did. His father had died three months before he was born…
This article is the fourth installment of a six-part series on common business challenges and the quality management system (QMS) tools that can help alleviate those challenges. We started with corrective action in Part 1, then moved onto document control in Part 2, and risk evaluation last time,…
During the Great Recession of December 2007—June 2009, employment and production in the manufacturing industry declined sharply. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, during the 24-month period between December 2007 and December 2009, the manufacturing industry lost 2 million employees…
Lin Engineering is a California-based manufacturer of hybrid step motors that was founded in 1987 as a consulting company specializing in step-motor applications. Today, Lin Engineering is the largest manufacturer of 0.9-degree step motors in the motion control industry. As the quality and custom-…
What can you do as a team member to help your team achieve The 6 Benchmarks of High Performance Teams? There are 12 team behaviors that directly affect the quality of your team’s results, the ability to make smart decisions, and the commitment to implement them.
Task behaviors focus on what is…
He was the tenth son of a Boston soap maker. His father intended for him to enter the ministry but had only enough money for one year of schooling, and the profession required many. He therefore apprenticed the young man to another son, James, a printer.
The apprenticeship did not go all that…
Author's note: To my non-U.S. readers, I apologize for using the sport of baseball to make my points today—and during the World Cup, no less! It’s a perfect context, however, and I hope you will be able to understand the main points.
In my last column, I talked about the different types of control…
Editor’s note: This article continues the series exploring structured innovation using the TRIZ methodology, a problem solving, analysis, and forecasting tool derived from studying patterns of invention found in global patent data.
A special meeting of the TRIZ executive committee had been called…
(OLYMPUS: Center Valley, PA) -- In response to increasing requirements for particle counting and cleanliness inspection, Olympus recently launched Inspector Series 5.64, an advanced image analysis software system that helps turn Olympus microscopes into high-performance analysis stations.
OLYMPUS…
Classically, negotiations are thought to be about playing one’s hand well at the bargaining table: The right combination of resolve, nerve, and polish can get you what you want.
But a new book from an MIT professor brings a different message: It’s what happens both before and after parties meet…
I’ve always been interested in technology—its uses, advantages, and disadvantages. Regular readers know that I often advocate for manual solutions first, like whiteboards to run factories and a handwritten notebook for notes.
Some believe that I’m against technology, but nothing could be further…
Regulations such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the UK Bribery Act, and the Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (specifically Section 1502 on conflict minerals) have compelled companies to extend their compliance and monitoring efforts beyond the four walls of…
Who says business luncheons are a waste of time? Recently, I enjoyed one of the most productive business luncheons of my career. In February, I was dining with two senior-level professionals at an IT staffing firm. After the usual chitchat about the recent snowstorms and traffic snarls, we started…
Except... it’s not a bar. And it’s three economists, not one.
Three economists on a road trip to Maine after an academic conference in Boston wandered into a local shoe store looking to kill some time. Little did they know it would spark a nationwide trek in search of Main Street business lessons…
Should a car be treated like a piece of software? That is essentially what Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, has done. The billionaire, who made his fortune by co-founding and selling PayPal, recently dropped a bombshell on the automotive industry: In the spirit of the “open source” movement, he…
