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(GAO: Washington) – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was added to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) biennial update list of federal programs, policies, and operations that are at “high risk” for waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement, or in need of broad-based transformation…
Internal auditing, when effectively implemented, can arguably be considered the most important tool in the quality system tool box. It’s the primary method for continuously monitoring a company's quality management system (QMS). In fact, the feedback from internal auditing is critical to the growth…
Why would anyone start a new metrology business in this economic climate? Why would they do it in Michigan, the epicenter of the automotive industry recession? The short answer is that if you can identify a clear need in the marketplace for your product and have the ability and expertise to bring…
(NIST: Gaithersburg, Maryland) – The United States has 1 million miles of water mains, 600,000 bridges and 4 million miles of public roadway. Experts have pointed to serious gaps in the nation’s ability to monitor these networks adequately to ensure timely maintenance and repair. Twenty-five…
(ISO: Geneva) -- The field of nanotechnologies is advancing rapidly and is expected to influence virtually every facet of global industry and society. International standardization contributes to the potential of this technology for the betterment and sustainability of the world through economic…
As energy prices continue to soar and the public—with increased awareness and concern for the environment—continue to demand environmental accountability from manufacturers, companies are looking long and hard at ways to decrease their influence on the environment. But there are competing goals.…
(Aveta Solutions LLC: Cleveland) -- As Barack Obama takes office, the weight of many Americans will be on his shoulders over the next four years. Many expect to see the changes instantly in their lives. They expect employment to increase dramatically, their tax liabilities to be reduced, the stock…
(WCBF: Chicago) -- Learn how to effectively confront the barriers for the deployment of lean and Six Sigma in a health care setting at Worldwide Conventions and Business Forum’s (WCBF) 8th Annual Lean, Six Sigma and Process Improvement in Healthcare Summit. The event will be held March 18–19, with…
There are several issues about the Six Sigma approach to quality that bother me. First, Six Sigma is a performance standard that hardly anyone can understand. Secondly, it’s an engineering approach to quality management. It’s more of a defect-management program than it is defect-prevention.…
Question: Name the modern-day politicians who best exemplify the Seven Deadly Sins of greed, envy, gluttony, sloth, lust, pride, and anger. The last one is a group of people, not a politician.
Answer: Please record your answers, put them in your purse or wallet and save them for Part 2 of this…
Many of us will look back on 2008 as the year when gas prices soared to unbelievable highs and our 401ks dropped to unbelievable lows. A key measure of consumer confidence fell to an all-time low in December and a dismal job market and uncertain outlook for 2009 did little to settle our nerves. In…
Second only to leadership, strategic planning has been likely more written about than any other management subject.
In studying leadership, we seek to learn the emotional characteristics that define a successful entrepreneur. What makes Bill Gates or Jack Welch succeed when so many CEOs…
(TBM Consulting Group: Durham, North Carolina) -- While general cost pressures continue to be the main challenge for manufacturers globally, rising energy costs have reached a new level of concern according to TBM Consulting Group’s sixth annual “Multinational Manufacturing Pulse.” The study…
(Mentor Graphics Mechanical Analysis: United Kingdom) -- In an effort to investigate the effect of different mechanical architecture options, developers used FloTHERM thermal simulation software to develop a new mechanical design for the Philips Aurea 42-inch LCD television. Thermal simulation at…
Respecting a quality manager’s opinion is meaningless unless there’s enterprisewide buy-in to ideas and quality initiatives. Rarely do the individuals serving on a lean initiative, continued process-improvement team learn the scientifically proven communication techniques that will persuade others…
Liquid delivery is a common laboratory process and this critical function is often overlooked. As a result, routine research and test results can be in error based on a simple misunderstanding or misapplication of liquid delivery instruments. This article focuses on defining and exploring accuracy…
(FDA: Rockville, Maryland) -- To protect domestic and imported food from contamination, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) launched its Food Protection Plan in 2007. Now, the FDA has issued “The One-Year Summary of Progress under the Food Protection Plan,” which describes FDA’s…
(Drug Information Association: Horsham, Pennsylvania) -- The Drug Information Association (DIA) will host its eighth annual DIA Conference for Contemporary Pharmacovigilance and Risk Management Strategies, January 11–15 in Washington, D.C. This annual event addresses current complexities and…
The cost of doing business is rising dramatically. Included in this is the cost to recruit and hire talent to join your team. It’s estimated that the total cost of one hire can exceed $30,000 when relocation and set-up expenses are included. That cost is minimal compared to the lost opportunity…
What purpose, if any, does Six Sigma serve in economic downturns? Full disclosure: I teach and consult in Six Sigma and related areas, and you’re reading this article because you’re interested in Six Sigma, so we may not be the most objective people to assess this, but in this article, I will do…
(Transplace: Frisco, Texas) -- Eliminating waste and simplifying processes is even more important now with the uncertain economy and constant pressures to lower costs. As companies deal with tightening budgets, volatile fuel prices, and other transportation constraints, lean Six Sigma provides the…
(Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute: Atlanta) -- Georgia rural hospitals that face growing financial pressures are receiving assistance from a new Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) pilot project that is helping them improve processes and reduce waste. Supported by the…
In sports, it's always the fundamentals that your coaches emphasize, like the techniques that you first learn when you’re starting to play baseball—how to hold the ball properly, how to stand and hold a bat, or how to field a grounder. The basics about the sport, if performed perfectly, yield a…
When every product manufactured is unique, clients often accept quality risks in order to deliver the project on time. Testing time is limited by the project nature of a manufacturing process and the metrics of quality change when compared to repetitive manufacturing. “Fixed delivery times,…
As we move into the frenzy of the holiday shopping season, most of us will have encounters with shopping center store personnel and restaurant staff. Stores and restaurants will be filled with people looking for that perfect gift, then quickly digesting a meal to be prepared for another crazed…
