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Ralph Welborn’s and Vince Kasten’s new book delves deep into the global offshoring movement to examine best practices and provide advice for organizations new to—or trying to fix—their operations. In Get It Done! A Blueprint for Business Execution (Wiley & Sons, 2006), the authors…
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n Dirk Dusharme’s First Word in the April 2006 issue of Quality Digest, he sneaks into the back of the “Church of the Six Sigma” and cannily reports the goings on. In this column, I will burst in through the doors dressed in motley and try to pry the scales off of your eyes, chanting, “DMAIC…
Xerox Emirates recently received the prestigious Sheikh Khalifa Excellence Award at a ceremony in Abu Dhabi. The company, which recently deployed a comprehensive lean Six Sigma program, provides printers, digital copies, multifunction products and color printers, among other business…
The Juran Institute is offering Six Sigma training at a reduced cost this summer. The training consists of: Step One: A two-day interactive introduction to lean on July 18 and 19. Step Two: A four-day Yellow Belt workshop that includes a review of the skills learned in step one…
WCBF will host a design for Six Sigma (DFSS) conference in Las Vegas in September. The keynote address—“Design for Six Sigma: A Key to Growth”—will be delivered by Martha Gardner, GE Global Research global quality leader. Other expert speakers include Kamal Ayoub, Tyco Healthcare vice…
The Society of Manufacturing Engineers’s lean certification bronze-level exam will be used as an outcome assessment as part of the 360vu Research and Education Foundation’s Lean Enterprise Certification Program, the companies recently announced. The exam will be used for lean enterprise…
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 distribute products produced by companies in the Far East. They have about 150 employees and are by…
TÜV America Inc. and Product Safety Engineering Inc. have entered into a partnership in order to expand their product safety and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) testing services. PSE will provide EMC testing, product safety services and global certification services to TÜV’s customers in…
Flexible Learning Ireland recently formed a partnership with AssurX Inc. to distribute AssurX’s CATSWeb software in Europe. FLI is a provider of consulting, training and software to the life sciences sector, and will focus the distribution of CATSWeb on this market. The company works with…
The International Register of Certificated Auditors and RABQSA have agreed to recognize each other’s training certifications. Both organizations are currently performing evaluations to identify which of their certifications are mutually acceptable. They expect to add continually to the…
Rising fuel costs seem to be affecting customer perceptions of quality in the energy and airline industries, according to the American Society for Quality’s Quarterly Quality Report. The QQR examines the perceived quality of goods and services, as measured by the American Customer…
The Baldrige National Quality Program’s annual Improvement Day is approaching, and the organizers are seeking comments to improve its processes. Improvement Day will be held July 26, 2006, at the National Institute of Standards and Technology offices in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Comments on…
Fluke Corp. recently added nine new products and enhanced features to its family of pressure calibrators. Designed to provide a compact, lightweight pressure calibration solution for transmitters, gages and switches, the Fluke 718 Pressure Calibrators feature a new design that protects…
Kotem Technologies recently released an enhanced version of SmartFit 3D, its best-fitting and analysis software.Taking measured-part data from popular coordinate measurement machine, video and laser metrology systems, SmartFit 3D troubleshoots manufacturing processes and finds the best coordinate…
An upcoming metrology course will focus on the practical use of vibration and shock testing, measurement, analysis and calibration. The course will be held Oct. 16–18 at the Amerisuites Las Vegas. Wayne Tustin, an expert on vibration and shock testing, and president of Equipment…
InterTech Development Co. has released new software designed to optimize test conditions for leak-testing applications. InterTech’s S3085 monitoring software helps provide users with the means to show real-time traces of how their test instrumentation transducers are performing, versus…
Renishaw recently released QuickView, software that makes the company’s widely used ML10 laser interferometry system more powerful and flexible.The resulting system combines the accuracy and resolution of Renishaw’s interferometer system with the ease of use of a conventional oscilloscope…
An upcoming metrology course will focus on the practical use of vibration and shock testing, measurement, analysis and calibration. The course will be held Oct. 16–18 at the Amerisuites Las Vegas. Wayne Tustin, an expert on vibration and shock testing, and president of Equipment…
"For want of nail a shoe was lost For want of a shoe a horse was lost For want of horse a rider was lost For want of a rider a battle was lost For loss of a battle a kingdom was lost And all because of a horseshoe nail." In researching the origins of this familiar cautionary maxim, I…
The United States National Committee (USNC) to the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) will host the 2010 IEC General Meeting in Seattle.The 10-day event, scheduled for Oct. 6–15, is expected to draw more than 1,500 delegates from around the globe for technical and policy…
The International Organization for Standardization recently published a new international standard for the market research industry. Market research is now a global industry and the cross-border trade will be standardized by the implementation of ISO 20252, which encourages consistency…
An International Organization for Standardization subcommittee recently discussed the development of standards to improve crisis management for natural and man-made disasters. Approximately 70 delegates from 30 countries, including 12 developing countries, attended the first meeting of…
The National Institute of Standards and Technology will host a meeting to help strengthen U.S. standardization efforts that help developing nations build their economies.The Options for Actions Summit will include trading partners’ assessments of U.S. standards-setting activities provided…
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plans to form a task force to develop standards to facilitate interoperability of communications equipment used by various emergency personnel. A recent DHS report highlights the need for interoperable emergency communications devices. The…
In a recent Volkswagen Jetta commercial, a pleasant conversation between two friends is abruptly interrupted by a horrific accident. Fortunately there are no injuries thanks to the air-bag system in the Jetta. Similar experiences are provided by Allstate Insurance warning us to buy a…