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(AHAM: Washington, D.C.) -- The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers has announced that its performance evaluation procedure for household refrigerators, refrigerator-freezers and freezers has gained approval from the American National Standards Institute as an American National…
(ANSI: Washington, D.C.) -- What do freshly painted walls, cosmetics, desk chairs, and dry cleaning have in common? Each of these items can give off dangerous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that decrease the air quality in our homes and workplaces.Emitted as gases from both solids and liquids…
(ANSI: Washington, D.C.) -- During a recent meeting, the joint member forum (JMF) of the American National Standards Institute convened to discuss consumer product safety issues. Bringing together the entire ANSI Federation, the JMF built upon the Institute’s recent “Building Consumer…
(ISO: Geneva, Switzerland) -- Head injuries are among the most common injuries sustained in automobile-to-child pedestrian collisions, and are the leading cause of death. The International Organization for Standardization is working to reduce the risk with an international standard for…
(NCQA: Washington) -- U.S. News & World Report and the National Committee for Quality Assurance recently unveiled the third edition of “America’s Best Health Plans,” an annual ranking of U.S. health maintenance organizations and point-of-service plans. This edition coincides with the November…
(GBMP: Boston) -- The Shingo Prize criteria and model have been developed to provide companies with a blueprint for attaining world-class excellence. Workshop participants will gain an understanding of the criteria and the underlying principles and tenets behind the Shingo Prize philosophy and…
(ASQ: Milwaukee, Wisconsin) -- Improved care and increased patient satisfaction are primary objectives in today’s competitive health care environment. The American Society for Quality is introducing a new lean Six Sigma Black Belt for health care course to address those objectives. The five-month…
Our spherical world has been declared flat once again, and you’ve likely found that your old way of doing business fits about as well as the suit you wore 30 pounds ago. Many operations scattered to the four corners of the globe, and the attitudes of the workforce have undergone a similar shift.…
Between 1987 and 1992, the most successful implementation of Six Sigma didn’t require Black Belts or Green Belts. Instead, Six Sigma initiates received training in problem solving, team work, basic quality tools, and statistical tools. However, sense of urgency, dramatic improvement, and teamwork…
(Inderscience Publishers: Geneva, Switzerland) -- A special issue of the International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage with the theme “Lean Six Sigma in Healthcare” will publish research that leverages lean Six Sigma in clinical and business processes to confront the challenges…
(SBTI: San Marcos, Texas) -- Sigma Breakthrough Technologies Inc. has announced that the American Council on Education’s college credit recommendation service (ACE CREDIT) has recommended SBTI’s Master Black Belt program for graduate-level college credit.ACE CREDIT has evaluated and…
Lockheed Martin Systems Integration in Owego, New York, has developed advanced technologies and systems that enable military helicopters (including the VH-71 presidential helicopter) and other military vehicles to successfully perform their missions.LMSIO recently achieved capability maturity…
(Productivity Press: New York) -- In The Kaizen Event Planner: Achieving Rapid Improvement in Office, Service, and Technical Environments, authors Karen Martin and Mike Osterling provide a practical how-to guide for planning and executing kaizen events in office and administrative settings, and…
An old saying has guided me through the years—“Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time, and it annoys the pig.” A recent article in the Wall Street Journal in the Cubicle Corner section was written by a good friend of mine, Jared Sandberg. In “Bad At Complying? You Might Just Be a…
(EFQM: Brussels) -- Amongst the impressive surroundings of the Athens Arena, the results of the 2007 EFQM Excellence Award were announced during EFQM’s annual Gala Celebration. The excellence award is Europe’s most prestigious recognition for organizational excellence given to Europe’s best…
(ISO: Geneva) -- The ISO 28000 series of standards on supply-chain security-management systems, which have just been upgraded from publicly available specifications to international standards, will help to reduce risks to people and cargo. The standards address potential security issues at all…
(SME: Dearborn, Michigan) -- The Society of Manufacturing Engineers has developed a new initiative to identify technologies that are affecting the manufacturing industry. “Technologies that Could Change the Way You Manufacture” is a member-driven program to discover and showcase new and emerging…
(MRI: Boston) -- Results of the Medical Record Institute’s 2007 Survey of Electronic Medical Record Trends and Usage (co-sponsored by Philips Speech Recognition Systems) are now available. This survey is an annual poll of information technology usage among health care providers.Responses from…
I’ve been privileged to work in the statistical-software industry for the last 10 years, and frequently I receive phone calls from professionals who need information or guidance on statistical methods. Overwhelmingly, they call with excellent questions. Their interest and enthusiasm are exciting,…
(The Conference Board: New York, New York) -- The Conference Board recently announced that Gail D. Fosler has been named president of the 91-year-old global research and business membership organization.Fosler has served The Conference Board in a number of capacities over the past 18 years, most…
(ASQ: Milwaukee, Wisconsin) -- Cutting costs, improving quality and boosting profits are phrases every company hears at some point. Six Sigma has long been used in the manufacturing market to meet these goals. However, the use of Six Sigma practices has expanded into health care, service and…
(AIAG: Detroit) -- For the first time in the association’s history, the Automotive Industry Action Group has appointed a tier-two supplier to the board of directors. Specialty Products joined the board effective Sept. 11, 2007. “Specialty Products brings a new perspective to the AIAG board as a…
(Intertek: London) -- Intertek, a testing, inspection, and certification company, has launched the Certified Fire Door Inspector Program, through which potential inspectors will be trained to perform inspections of fire-rated door assemblies to the 2007 edition of NFPA 80: Standard for Fire Doors…
Tushar Sathe holds a vial of dual-function beads embedded with iron oxide and 600 nanometer emission quantum dots, while Shuming Nie looks on. The other vials contain beads embedded with quantum dots that emit light at other wavelengths. photo by Gary Meek…
(Duke University Medical Center: Durham, North Carolina) -- Using acupuncture before and during surgery significantly reduces the level of pain and the amount of potent painkillers needed by patients after the surgery is over, according to Duke University Medical Center anesthesiologists who…
