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(ACSI: Ann Arbor, MI) -- Taxpayers are getting a first hint of potential returns on their investment in the U.S. automobile industry: Detroit is doing a much better job satisfying their customers, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). After having trailed competition for a…
The “Patient-Centered Medical Home” (PCMH) is the latest in health care quality initiatives. In a PCMH, a medical team—led by a patient’s primary physician—continuously coordinates and manages the patient’s health care throughout their life. The transition is being led by the promise of paying…
(Transcat: Rochester, NY) -- Transcat Inc., a global distributor of professional grade test, measurement, and calibration instruments, and accredited provider of calibration, parts inspection, production model engineering and repair services, has partnered with FLIR Systems Inc., a global provider…
(Pinpoint Laser Systems: Peabody, MA) -- Pinpoint Laser Systems announces a new storage system to be used with the Pinpoint Laser Microgage 2-D family of products. The new Microgage 2-D Display will be fully compatible with our existing 2-D measuring systems and enables the operator to record…
(NAHQ: Glenview, IL) -- Healthcare Quality Week (HQW) features the work of health care quality professionals and highlights their influence on improved patient care outcomes and health care delivery systems.
NAHQ members are encouraged to alert administrators, allied health professionals, and…
(DALSA: Waterloo, ON, Canada) -- DALSA Corp., a provider of machine vision technology, recently introduced a new member to its line of affordable and easy-to-use GigE Vision-compliant cameras with the release of the Genie HM1400-XDR camera, a model with extended dynamic range (XDR). The Genie…
(Fluke Corp.: Everett: WA) -- Fluke Corp., a global provider of handheld electronic test and measurement technology, has introduced test probes with built-in fuses for additional measurement protection.
Fluke FTP Fused Test Probes comply with recommendations of the Electrical Safety Authority (…
Mario Angeles was stuck. His family-operated machine shop, Angeles Precision Engineering LLC, was busy enough with work farmed out to it by larger shops, but Angeles had been repeatedly rebuffed in his attempts to secure a long-term contract on his own; especially one from the “Big Four” aerospace…
(Lattice Technology: San Francisco, CA) -- Lattice Technology, developers of digital manufacturing applications using the XVL format, today released chapters 7 and 8 of the new book, “Improving Lean Manufacturing Through 3D Data” by Dr. Hiroshi Toriya.
First published in Japan in late 2008,…
You see it all the time. After an initial flurry of excitement and support, an organization’s operational excellence effort bogs down. Regardless of the tools or methodologies used, passion dies down and focus gets diverted to other issues. It doesn’t matter if a company utilizes lean, Six Sigma,…
(ASTM: West Conshohocken, PA) -- The ASTM International Proficiency Testing Center is pleased to offer a 2010 proficiency testing program on thermal analyses of plastics (TAP) to laboratories who need a statistical quality assurance tool that will enable them to improve and maintain a high level…
(NIST: Gaithersburg, MD) -- As a result of a major interlaboratory study, the standards body ASTM International has been able to update its guidelines for a commonly used technique for measuring the size of nanoparticles in solutions. The study, which was organized principally by researchers from…
(NIST: Gaithersburg, MD) -- Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a new calibration technique that will improve the reliability and stability of one of NIST’s most versatile technologies, the microhotplate. The novel NIST device is being developed…
Hoshin kanri, or hoshin for short, refers to policy deployment. It is the method used to deploy the overall control system and total quality management (TQM). Roughly translated, hoshin kanri means “management and control of the organization's focus.”
Companies need to create a policy deployment…
(IBS AG: Höhr-Grenzhausen, Germany) -- IBS AG has successfully implemented its new Tool Assistance System (TAS) at BMW’s production plant in Regensburg, Germany. The TAS is based on the Location Identification System (LIS), which, as the name suggests, is a system for locating and identifying…
(Metris: Leuven, Belgium) -- Metris, market-leading supplier of X-ray and industrial computed tomography (CT) systems, launches Inspect-X 1.6 software that boosts throughput by increasing CT reconstruction speed and improving general system control. Following Metris’ drive for continual X-ray…
W. Edwards Deming has been dead for almost 16 years. In my opinion, he and Joseph Juran were the true quality giants of the 20th century. No one seems to talk about Deming much any more except to relate stories from the past and pine for the “good ol’ Deming 4-day seminar days.” (I don’t. Nor do I…
(BLS: Washington) -- The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor today reported preliminary productivity data--as measured by output per hour of all persons--for the second quarter of 2009. The seasonally adjusted annual rates of productivity change in the second quarter were…
(Stotz USA, Freeport, IL) -- Stotz USA LLC, a leader in air gauging products and quality system integration, is pleased to announce the introduction of the MRA Air/Electronic column. It is the newest and most advanced column on the market, to date. The target application for this unit was a low…
As the founder of PowerSteering and a practitioner in strategic management and continuous improvement for more than 25 years, I have seen my share of management fads come and go, and even been in the room when some of them were created.
There were quality circles and total quality management…
(Advanced Test Equipment Rentals: San Diego) -- By combining performance, flexibility, economy, and the famous Haefely quality and reliability, the ECOMPACT 4 is the clear choice for the most common transient tests, including surge, EFT, dips/interrupts and AC/surge magnetic field. This ultra-…
Real estate bubble, subprime mortgages, financial system, stock markets, and finally, Main Street. The deepest crisis in decades is here, monopolizing media’s headlines, freezing our economies and strongly affecting us not only as citizens (or should I say consumers?) but also as quality…
(FPTT: Ottawa) -- In July 2009, InnovMetric Software and the National Research Council of Canada were awarded the 2009 Federal Partners in Technology Transfer (FPTT) award for the successful development and transfer of 3-D data analysis technologies that led to the commercialization of…
(Frost & Sullivan: Mumbai, India) -- Manufacturing is one of the key contributors to the growth of an economy. A country with a well-equipped manufacturing process is believed to be balanced and independent. Every economy goes through the cycle of growing from an agrarian to an industrial and…
(The Conference Board: New York) -- The number of U.S. companies with an offshoring strategy has more than doubled from 2005 to 2008 and very few plan to relocate activities back to the United States, according to Duke Offshoring Research Network's fifth-annual report on offshoring trends,…