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It can be extremely difficult if not impossible to have an antiquated, document or paper-based quality management system (QMS) work for a company. To possess, build, and support this type of management system burdens the organization.
On the other hand, a QMS that is electronic, linked, or…
(AHRQ: Rockville, MD) -- The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's (AHRQ) annual release of state-by-state quality data continues to give mixed reviews for the quality of care that states provide. As in previous years, AHRQ's 2008 State Snapshots show that no state does well or poorly on all…
Mike Micklewright's pun of the month (we can only hope there is just one)
Question: When Potsie and Fonzie tried to trick Richie into handing over his date to Ralph Malph in exchange for a better looking girl, what did they call the deal?
Answer: A Ponzie scheme.
Training within industry…
(Intertek: Boxborough, MA) -- Intertek, a leading global provider of quality and safety solutions, is working with medical device manufacturers who are currently under pressure to stay compliant under widespread changes to EU regulations.
The European Union has published a revision to its…
This is further information on the story released on July 1, 2009: http://www.qualitydigest.com/inside/quality-insider-news/iatf-releases-revised-version-isots-16949.html.
--Editor
(ISO: Geneva) -- ISO has just published a new edition of ISO/TS 16949:2009, which specifies quality system…
As I listened to South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford struggle through tears and sobs as he described his sordid, illicit affair with a woman from Argentina, I concluded that he must have been listening to the new Kenny Chesney song “Out Last Night” with these opening words:
We went out last…
Bright Minds, a Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) mentoring program, provides a chance for students interested in manufacturing to get an in-depth look into the industry. Students are given the opportunity to immerse themselves in rapid prototyping, tooling, and additive manufacturing.…
(NCQA: Washington) -- Beginning in 2010, the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) will publicly report on health plans' resource use for patients with diabetes and asthma. The reporting of these two relative resource use (RRU) measures will allow purchasers and consumers to compare…
(BSI: United Kindom) -- Findings of a recent BSI survey show that a standard to help improve energy efficiency is much needed. Of 800 public-and private-sector UK organizations surveyed, only half rated their energy management practices as good or very good. This is despite 78 percent saying that…
(Vision Engineering: New Milford, CT) -- With more than 50 years of proven optical experience, Vision Engineering has packed massive technical capabilities into the new Falcon three-axis noncontact video measuring system, delivering performance you would expect to find on systems many times the…
(CSA Group: Toronto) -- Robert M. Griffin, president and CEO of CSA Group, recently announced that CSA Group has acquired SIRA Test and Certification Limited, a world leader in the conformity assessment solutions field that specializes in the testing of safety equipment used in potentially…
Some authors recommend that you have to wait until you have the range chart “in control” before you can compute the limits for the average chart or the X chart. Why this is not true will be the subject of this column.
To illustrate the issues we will once again use the NB10 data. The 100 values are…
One of the earliest quotes I remember from a general manager: “If my manufacturing manager and quality manager weren’t at each other’s throats, then I would be concerned.” At the time, as a young graduate mechanical engineer acting a quality control manager for a small aerospace firm, I thought…
The core of lean manufacturing, kanbans use the “pull” system to prevent waste by creating a cyclical relationship between the consumer, supplier, and manufacturer. The user of a material requests or "pulls" material from the supplier, as they need it. They do this using some form of notification…
(AuthorHouse) -- To put it simply, there is no business without the customer. In any successful business venture, the objective is to keep the customer happy so that they will generate new business. In his new self-published guidebook for customer service prowess, It is All Between Your Ears: It…
The Society of Manufacturing Engineers presents a new book from Michael J. Termini, Concept to Customer: Portfolio, Pipeline, and Strategic Project Management (SME, 2009). Termini wrote Concept to Customer in response to the many questions from project managers and novices who have sought his…
(NIST: Gaithersburg, MD) -- Senior leaders from the three organizations selected for the 2008 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, as well as representatives from past award recipients, will share their best practices and results at one-day regional conferences on Sept. 15 in Milwaukee, and…
(AMETEK Calibration Instruments: Largo, FL) -- AMETEK Calibration Instruments has introduced the JOFRA RTC-156, its most advanced dry-block reference temperature calibrator to date.
With a host of innovative features and AMETEK’s long history of providing reliable, low-drift calibration…
See updated story for 7/6/2009
(AIAG: Southfield, MI) -- The Automotive Industry Action Group recently announced the availability of the new ISO technical specification for the automotive supply chain. Developed by the International Automotive Task Force (IATF), the ISO/TS 16949:2009 standard…
TRANE Residential Systems, is a lean organization that knows about growth through innovation. In 1931, TRANE came up with the radical idea of using technology to provide relief from the summer heat. The 1938 launch of the Turbovac, the industry's first hermetic, centrifugal refrigeration machine,…
(Leica Geosystems: London) -- The Leica Absolute Tracker is now equipped with PowerLock. This vision technology automatically locks onto any moving target without user intervention. Current laser tracker technology requires the operator to pay careful attention that the laser beam between the…
I often get assignments at organizations where I am required to take aside a group of people, either within the building facility or off campus, to focus on issues or problems. Typically these groups spend a considerable amount of time to summarize and present a well-defined problem. The next step…
Manufacturing Extension Partnership, or MEP, is a national network of not-for-profit centers that help small- and medium-sized manufacturers improve efficiency and bottom line results. MEP’s nearly 1,600 specialists have worked with thousands of manufacturers for the past 20 years helping…
(Alliance Scale Inc.: Canton, MA) --A compact moisture analyzer that rapidly and uniformly dries a sample, performs automatic test measurements with high repeatability, and has an integral database is available from Alliance Scale Inc.
The Alliance-Ohaus MB-Series Moisture Analyzer has a…
(EtQ Inc.: Farmingdale, NY) -- EtQ Inc. has announced enhanced features in the latest release of its web-based enterprise system for quality, compliance, and environmental health and safety management, Reliance 6.2.
EtQ Reliance 6.2 incorporates enhanced features and utilities including…
