All News
(Grant Thornton LLP: Chicago) -- Senior management at U.S. manufacturing companies is once again optimistic, according to a November survey by Grant Thornton LLP. Nearly half (49%) believe the U.S. economy will improve during the next six months, and the same amount (49%) say they plan to increase…
People often ask me how best to prepare for a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspection when you know that you have problems. My first response is that they have already taken the first step: acknowledging that there are problems. Believe me; that is a huge first step. Just like Alcoholics…
(Rucker & Associates: Raleigh, NC) -- Getting lean can often mean going green. As energy costs continue to rise, company decision makers search for ways to make their organizations more efficient. Rucker & Associates president David Rucker says lean Six Sigma strategies, usually applied to…
A couple years ago, I was consulting in a large rolling mill to help reduce late deliveries to its customers. After walking the floor for the first time with an enthusiastic 20-something engineer (let’s call him Mark), I asked for help with observation at a particular point in the factory where…
Since automotive manufacturing is so highly automated, it makes sense that this industry was an early adopter of machine vision technology. Automotive manufacturers and their suppliers haven’t put their vision solutions on cruise control, however, as they continually seek easier, faster, and less…
(ISO: Geneva) -- The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has released two new videos—one for the general public and the other for business and government audiences—that communicate how standards help people in all aspects of daily life and provide tools to assist organizations in…
(TÜV SÜD America: Peabody, MA) -- TÜV SÜD America Inc., a global inspection and certification services organization, has announced that its Industry Service division offers nondestructive testing (NDT) personnel-approval services in accordance with Europe’s Pressure Equipment Directive 97/23/EC…
(WinWare Inc.: Marietta, GA) -- WinWare Inc., provider of inventory control software and automated tools, is presenting an educational webinar on CribMaster9 Inventory Management System, on Thursday, Dec. 16, from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. This short yet useful webinar will help you understand which…
(Micro-Epsilon: Passau, Germany) -- Micro-Epsilon has launched the MTS 8202, a modular thickness-control measurement system in C-frame construction. Equipped with calibration technology and supporting different physical measurement methods, the system offers a unique range of measurement solutions…
(Gemba Research: Mukilteo, WA) -- Don’t miss the next Japan Kaikaku Experience, a best-practice benchmarking tour of lean manufacturing companies in Japan. This is a full-immersion experience in lean culture. The kaikaku tour is designed to open your eyes, broaden your horizons, deepen your…
(AMT: McLean, VA) -- October U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $387.13 million, according to The Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT) and the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association (AMTDA). This total, as reported by companies participating in the U.S.…
There are times when we make decisions at work that are more personal in nature. To us, they may seem harmless because they are not intended to interfere with our day-to-day activities on the job. Although sometimes done with the best of intentions, these decisions can also hamper our efforts to…
(Institute for Healthcare Improvement: Cambridge, MA) -- During Dec. 9–12, some 50 patient activist leaders travelled to the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s (IHI) National Forum on Quality Improvement in Orlando, Florida, to share experiences and consider ways to combine forces to be that…
(Profit Finders: Strongsville, OH) -- Profit Finders, a proprietary data collection and analysis company, has developed a web-based technology rooted in the concepts of lean manufacturing and continuous improvement. The technology is designed to capture and analyze detailed cost and process data.…
(Zagat Survey: New York) -- As consumers gear up for the holiday travel season, Zagat Survey has released the results of its 2010 airline survey. The survey covers 16 domestic and 74 international airlines, as well as 30 major domestic airports. Conducted on ZAGAT.com, the survey is based on more…
(Marcus Evans: Hollywood, FL) -- Aerospace and defense manufacturers need to provide change at much higher speeds as the industry heads toward downsizing, says Bruce Weinberg, vice president of Operations at L-3 Communications Corp. They must look internally to create an environment of continuous…
(T&D Corp.: Matsumoto, Japan) -- T&D Corp. has released the TR-5i series of data loggers, a more powerful and functional family of data loggers. The TR-5i lineup includes the TR-51i with internal temperature sensor and the TR-52i with external temperature sensor; you get the same great…
(CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL) -- In the book Leading the Lean Healthcare Journey: Driving Culture Change to Increase Value (CRC Press, 2010), by Joan Wellman, Patrick Hagan, and Dr. Howard Jeffries, every health care organization can learn from Seattle Children’s Hospital’s continuous improvement…
(PIQC: Lahore, Pakistan) -- The PIQC Institute of Quality (formerly Pakistan Institute of Quality Control) and the Quality and Productivity Society of Pakistan (QPSP) jointly announce the 12th International Convention on Quality Improvement (ICQI 2011) and the 2nd Regional Conference of Asian…
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eginning last week with “This Year in Quality, Part One,” the editors of Quality Digest Daily took a look at its stories and news articles throughout 2010 and collected what we thought were the most remarkable in the world of quality. From precision measurement to 3-D scanning, from Six Sigma…
The other day on the radio I heard these lyrics from the song, “If You Only Knew,” by Shinedown, “It’s 4:03 and I can’t sleep… I toss and turn like the sea.” I thought, “Yeah, why is it always 4 a.m. that I wake up when I’m worried about something?” The singer of this top 10 pop rock song was…
(Delcam: Windsor, ON, Canada) -- Delcam has launched the 2011 version of its PowerINSPECT inspection software. This new release makes the analysis of results even easier with the introduction of a “Quick Report” option. It also incorporates improvements to the handling of point-cloud data and…
(Fluke Corp.: Everett, WA) -- The first IEC 61010, CAT III 1000V/CAT IV 600V safety-rated portable oscilloscope, the Fluke 190 Series II ScopeMeter, is the only scope designed to be safely used on industrial three-phase power electronic equipment. Yet it offers the fast sampling (up to 2.5 GS/sec/…
(QI Macros: Denver) -- Most people are afraid of math and statistics. They worry that they’re not smart enough to use them correctly, or that someone will challenge them. And who can blame them when statistics “speak” is loaded with phrases like, “cannot reject the null hypothesis.” Great jargon…
(WCBF: Chicago) -- WCBF’s 10th Annual Lean Six Sigma and Process Improvement in Healthcare Summit, “Healthcare Transformation to Achieve and Sustain Excellence—Culture, Leadership, and the Impact of Government-Initiated Reform” is the largest gathering of senior-level executives responsible for…
