All News
(Apprion: Orlando, FL) -- Apprion, developer and provider of wireless application network systems and services designed for the process manufacturing industry, has unveiled two new applications, ION Collaboration and ION Mustering, both integrated into the ION system and presented in ION’s unified…
(CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL) -- Superior Customer Value: Strategies for Winning and Retaining Customers, Third Edition, by Art Weinstein (CRC Press, 2012) is highly readable, practical, and action-oriented, giving managers at all levels of experience guidance on how to improve marketing operations…
A new report by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Department of Justice’s National Institute of Justice (NIJ) has documented 149 potential sources of human error in the analysis of crime scene fingerprints. The study by a working group of 34 experts recommends a…
The loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs is a topic that can provoke heated arguments about globalization. But what do the cold, hard numbers reveal? How has the rise in foreign manufacturing competition actually affected the U.S. economy and its workers?
A new study co-authored by David Autor,…
(Zontec: Cincinnati) -- Zontec Inc., the international developer of statistical process control (SPC) software solutions, announced the launch of a new Best Practices Webinar Series. The first webinar will be on “Supplier Management: How to Handle Supplier Relationships.”
“When it comes to issues…
(ISO: Geneva) -- The February 2012 issue of ISO Focus+, the magazine of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), will be showing up on people’s desks soon. In particular, it will make an appearance at the Fully Networked Car workshop, which is held annually at the Geneva…
(The Conference Board: New York) -- The Conference Board, a membership organization to help businesses improve performance and service, and Nielsen Holdings N.V., an information and measurement company, has announced the launch of The Demand Institute. Operated jointly by The Conference Board and…
(Productivity Press: Boca Raton, FL) -- For visionary leaders, an organizational master plan and associated technologies have become essential components of strategic decision making. Written for leaders, planners, consultants, and change agents, The Organizational Master Plan Handbook: A Catalyst…
(Minitab: State College, PA) -- Refine your quality improvement skills by attending Minitab’s Manufacturing Quality training series in Chicago, March 27–30, 2012. Professionals will have the opportunity to learn from an industry-seasoned Minitab trainer, who will emphasize techniques for improving…
Business process management (BPM) delivers significant benefits to organizations, but some have faced many problems due to wrong turns along the way, according to Gartner analysts. They have identified five BPM threats that business process improvement (BPI) leaders need to be mindful of as…
The pile of papers in front of me is sizable. I’m wondering what would be the correct term for the volume of these white sheets of paper. A group of lions is called a “pride”; is a group of résumés called a “wedge,” a “stack,” or a “flurry?” I’m distracting myself from the reality of having to work…
(General: New York) -- With its exceptionally broad measurement range of –40° to 1,076°F (–40° to 580°C), the new 12:1 Wide-Range Infrared Thermometer (IRT657) from General Tools and Instruments (General) is perfect for testing and troubleshooting a wide variety of systems and components. It has a…
Weights and measures are indispensable. From the grocery store to the gas pump, all kinds of consumer products are sold by some measurable quantity, whether it’s length, count, volume, or weight. These values, the machines that measure them, and the people who measure the machines to ensure their…
(PRI: Warrendale, PA) -- At the February 2012 Nadcap meeting in San Diego, the results of the most recent global Nadcap Supplier Survey were announced.
In response to the question “Do you agree that quality has improved because of your Nadcap accreditation?” 85 percent agreed, while 7 percent…
(Mettler-Toledo: Greifensee, Switzerland) -- Mettler-Toledo Inc., a leader in the research and development of products and services in the precision instrument industry, has released its ReactIR 45P for real-time in situ IR analysis. Next-generation technology allows reaction scale-up to be studied…
(ASQ: Milwaukee) -- The American Society for Quality (ASQ) will present its Distinguished Service Medals, along with 11 other awards, on May 20 in Anaheim, California, in advance of its annual World Conference on Quality and Improvement, which will be held May 21–23, 2012, at the Anaheim Convention…
(Breuckmann: Meersburg, Germany) -- Breuckmann GmbH, manufacturer of high-value optical systems for contact-free measurement, digitization, and inspection in 3-D, is presenting its comprehensive range of high-performance 3-D scanning systems at Control 2012, the international trade fair for quality…
(Elsys Instruments: Monroe, NY) -- Elsys Instruments, manufacturer of custom and standard, high-precision data acquisition systems, has expanded its family of LAN-controlled transient recorders to include high-speed PCI Express (PCIe) data transfer on its data acquisition modules.
The new TPCE…
(Wiley: Hoboken, NJ) -- We live in an age where healthy living and physical fitness are all the rage. Media of all types promote improving our physical well-being through a healthy lifestyle. But conspicuous by its absence is any encouragement to become “decision fit” so that we can deliberately…
The city of Austin, Texas, wanted to be listed as one of the top five places to live in the United States. Explaining that vision to the various municipal departments wasn’t difficult. Managers set about benchmarking from previous years, looking at the numbers, and deciding where they should take…
Every four years our Gregorian calendar provides us with an extra day. Leap year, as it is called, or intercalary or bissextile year, contains one additional day to keep the calendar year synchronized with the astronomical or seasonal year. (And if you understand that, please contact me.) In any…
Many companies begin their lean improvement journey by first implementing 5S, the Japanese methodology minimizing errors and mistake proofing: seiri (sort), seiton (set in order), seiso (shine), seiketsu (standardization), and shitsuke (sustain).
For many firms 5S seems like a logical starting…
(NSF-DBA: Ann Arbor, MI) -- In response to growing industry and regulatory demand for certified training courses tailored to the needs of pharmaceutical quality management lead and internal auditors, NSF-DBA has developed an audit and self-inspection course. The NSF-DBA Effective Pharmaceutical…
(CEESI: Nunn, CO) -- The Colorado Engineering Experiment Station Inc. (CEESI), provider of calibration services, specialty testing, research, and engineering services, has announced its 2012 flow-measurement training courses to be held in San Antonio and Houston, Texas, in April. Following is a…
(DCS: Troy, MI) -- Dimensional Control Systems Inc. (DCS), provider of quality management software solutions and consulting services, has announced that Donald Jasurda, the vice president of DCS, will address composites engineers, aerospace and defense manufacturers, and others at the 2012…
