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We are more than halfway through the countdown of our exploration of the kooky, and expensive, mistakes people make in implementing Six Sigma, and I want to talk about something that’s so fundamental people rarely see it—Stupid Six Sigma Trick #4: Overusing DMAIC.
DMAIC stands for define the…
A certain company has a complaint department that answers calls for three unique products. Because of failure rates inherent to each product type, some products have a higher expected complaint rate than others. Calls are tallied each hour and categorized by product type…
Dairy plants are among the heaviest users of municipal water in the United States, using two gallons of water for every gallon of consumer product produced. The clean-in-place (CIP) systems that daily wash and sanitize every truck, tank, pipe and surface in the plant use the greatest amount of that…
Capella Hotels & Resorts has chosen PAR Springer-Miller Systems’ SMS|Host Hospitality Management System for installation at Capella’s luxury hotels. Schloss Velden in Velden, Austria, and Capella Castlemartyr Hotel and Golf Club in County Cork, Ireland, will be the first to implement…
Exterro Fusion is the first fully integrated discovery management platform available to law firms and corporations. The new software is said to help the legal industry improve responsiveness, control costs and mitigate risk in the discovery process. “During complex litigation,…
HelpIT, which sells data-cleansing software, recently joined with QAS, a supplier of address verification solutions, to provide organizations with tools that standardize and verify addresses, and identify and process duplicate records.Because customers in a multichannel environment can…
For their technical performance and quality, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration recently bestowed the George M. Low Award on Teledyne Brown Engineering and Barrios Technologies.Barrios, nominated by the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, won the small-business service…
The National Biodiesel Accreditation Commission recently announced the registration of six more companies to BQ-9000, a voluntary program for quality control of this alternative to petroleum-based diesel fuel. Biodiesel producers Stepan Co. of Northfield, Illinois; Western Iowa Energy…
Dairy plants are among the heaviest users of municipal water in the United States, using two gallons of water for every gallon of consumer product produced. The clean-in-place (CIP) systems that daily wash and sanitize every truck, tank, pipe and surface in the plant use the greatest amount of that…
This year’s winners of the Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing are: Autoliv Querétaro CMX Facility, Querétaro, Mexico Baxter Healthcare Corp., North Cove Plant; Marion, North Carolina Baxter S.A. de C.V., Cuernavaca Plant; Morelos, Mexico Cordis de Mexico; Juarez, Mexico…
Using the eye is visual. The use of magnified imaging by eye or with a camera is a common part of manufacturing. Some of that use is for inspection. Some is for measurement. Some is online. Some is offline. There are vision-inspection systems. There are video-inspection systems. There…
CogniTens, a provider of dimensional measurement solutions, was included on a list of the fastest-growing technology companies of 2006. This is the second consecutive year that CogniTens was included on the list. The 2006 Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA was compiled by Deloitte Touche…
At next month’s WESTEC conference, Verisurf Software Inc. will demonstrate how the company has combined first-article inspection with metrology solutions to allow quick model-based definition (MBD) inspection. Verisurf MBD uses the company’s CAD/CAM-based inspection software with…
Hexagon Metrology recently acquired Svensk ByggnadsGeodesi AB (SBG), a Swedish manufacturer of measuring systems for construction industry and surveying applications. The measuring systems SBG develops are multidimensional and are based on a common software structure, allowing information…
RAND Worldwide recently announced its upcoming purchase of CADVisions Inc., a consultancy and business software provider. RAND provides technology solutions for information systems and engineering design, and reports that the transaction is part of its overall growth strategy. The…
Standardization was presented as a way of minimizing threats from global challenges such as climate change at the World Economic Forum, held Jan. 24–28 in Davos, Switzerland. More than 1,000 economic and industry leaders attended the event, at which a “shifting power equation” was noted…
The Independent Association of Accredited Registrars recently approved RABQSA International Inc.—an accredited personnel and training certification body—as its newest member. The IAAR is an association of accredited management system registrars that operate in North America to promote the…
The American National Standards Institute’s Homeland Security Standards Panel met recently to discuss ways in which standards could help boost emergency preparedness in the public and private sectors. The meeting was the final in a series that examined standards suggestions based on…
San Francisco will be the site of a week-long meeting of the International Accreditation Forum’s technical and executive committees. Held at the Hilton San Francisco, March 24–30, the event will be hosted by the ANSI-RAB National Accreditation Board (ANAB). The IAF’s technical…
The International Organization for Standardization recently selected the members of a jury that will choose winners of a new award for the teaching of standardization in higher education. The ISO Award for Higher Education in Standardization selection committee is: George Arnold, ISO…
Previous columns have addressed some of the topics that provide a foundation for understanding the scope and complexity of the worldwide movement to achieve hazardous-substance free (HSF) products and production processes. This month, let’s take a look at how people have been behaving and why they’…
Auditing clause 7.3 of the design and development section of ISO 9001 can be a challenge for the auditor and the auditee. Unlike purchasing, manufacturing, shipping or order processing, it’s rarely carried out on a regular or consistent schedule. The level of activity ranges from the…
Last year I had the good fortune of doing some consulting with B&C Specialty Products in Hopeulikit, Georgia. B&C does light manufacturing, primarily plastic molding and assembly, and they also distribute imported products produced by companies in the Far East. They have about…
A new partnership will make Muddy Boots Software’s Quickfire mobile auditing and quality assurance solution available as part of Agentrics’ GenNovation management suite. “By offering Muddy Boots Quickfire as part of our private-label solution, retailers can now incorporate a higher…
AppSense Ltd. recently announced its participation in Citrix Systems Inc.’s Citrix Ready and the latest release of Management Suite software. Citrix Ready allows Citrix channels and customers to determine the best third-party solutions and products for use in Citrix environments. “Citrix…
