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Denise Robitaille
OK, so “cool” probably isn't the precise term—unless you happen to be a standards uber-geek. But there are definitely some enhancements to the 2015 revision of ISO 9001 that are worth getting a little excited about.
The final draft international standard (FDIS) is finally out for ballot, so most…
Ryan E. Day
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With the ISO 9001:2015 revision currently dominating standards conversations, it's easy to pass over the humble energy standard from Geneva—ISO 50001. You might not even know what it is, let alone the benefits of implementing it. On the other hand, the rising price of energy and…
Carrie Van Daele
Suppliers, before you read any further, I need you to do some self-introspection by answering yes or no to this question: Are you paying attention?
Now let me clarify. Often, I present a topic called “Demand” at ASQ and APICS meetings. At one of those meetings, a member said to me that he is “…
Russ King
The FDA just issued a Safety Communication on the cybersecurity vulnerabilities of the Hospira Symbiq Infusion System, which is a computerized pump designed for the continuous delivery of general infusion therapy for a broad patient population. The pump is mostly used in hospitals or other acute…
William A. Levinson
The requirement for risk-based thinking is among the most significant changes in ISO 9001:2015. Army Techniques Publication (ATP) 5-19, Risk Management is a public domain reference that supports this requirement.
ATP 5-19 includes a risk assessment approach that is similar to failure mode and…
Chad Kymal, R. Dan Reid
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Risk is not a straightforward concept. Definitions of risk vary, even within documents published by the International Organizations for Standardization (ISO). One ISO definition indicates that risk is the “effect of uncertainty on an expected result.” Risk is now addressed by…
Jeffrey Phillips
Did the headline of this article grab your attention? Did you think I was going to assert that dumb people are better innovators? Nothing of the sort. However, I think I can positively assert that bringing all of your knowledge to bear on a problem that needs an innovative solution is often…
Mark Rosenthal
I’ve run into a couple of cases where a corporate continuous improvement team orders an initiative to “implement Toyota kata.”
Aside from trying to prescribe each and every step of the process (which runs counter to the entire point of discovering the solution—“you omitted step 7b”), they also…
Michelle LaBrosse
Here at Cheetah Learning, excitement and energy abound because we’ve wrapped up the development efforts for our new program, The Happy Aging Project. With a 10-hour online class followed by a two-day yoga retreat, this program is unlike anything we’ve offered before.
Our next step is to channel…
Matthew E. May
There’s an interesting strategic play being made by Whole Foods Market. In the midst of the company’s nearly $2 billion one-day drop in market value a few weeks ago came the announcement of a shareholder lawsuit. Whole Foods had already come under legal pressure concerning claims of overcharging,…
Matthew Barsalou
A recent Business Insider article discussed Marie Kondo’s wildly popular book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up (Ten Speed Press, 2014). The book is intended for decluttering homes, but the same principles can be applied in the workplace.
For example, we’re told to place all of our books in…
Quality Transformation With David Schwinn
I recently had a dream in which Adrian Bass, a colleague and friend for whom I have much admiration, asked me why I still care about quality management after all these years.
You can substitute Six Sigma for quality management because, in my mind, they are both part of a larger belief system that…
Shuo Wang
As a buyer of manufactured goods in China, how many suppliers do you use for production? Have you ever considered your supplier development strategy? Or, maybe you don’t really have a strategy for developing suppliers. If you’re accustomed to utilizing multiple suppliers, satisfied by the benefits…
Annette Franz
In the world of customer experience, what’s the difference between outside-in and inside-out?
Inside-out thinking means your focus is on processes, systems, tools, and products that are designed and implemented based on internal thinking and intuition. The customer’s needs, jobs, and perspectives…
Mike Figliuolo
Great leaders get the best out of their teams by providing 12 core leadership “services.” The best leaders provide these services in an efficient and effective way.
Every leader wants to give their team all the help they need—help that can come in many forms. How do leaders help their team…
Bob Emiliani
In his book, Toyota Production System (Productivity Press, 1988), the original in Japanese was Toyota Production Method (Diamond Inc., 1978), Taiichi Ohno said:
“The tool used to operate the system is kanban, an idea I got from American supermarkets…. A supermarket is where a customer can get (1…
Ryan E. Day
If you don’t think the Internet of Things (IoT) matters, you’re wrong. If you don’t think the IoT is a big deal—a really big deal—you’re really wrong. Emerging technology that revolutionizes how information is shared and used disrupts many a well-entrenched business paradigm. Don’t think so? Ask…
The inspection and characterization of machine parts is still subject to research. Although optical means of measurement are very promising in respect to speed and precision, they are still not capable of measuring difficult-to-reach inner geometries. In this article, we will demonstrate our …
Jess Scheer
I have a secret: I have the worst sense of direction of anyone I’ve ever known.
I used to hide this personal failing because I feared it would undermine my professional standing. As a process consultant, I’m supposed to be the guy that shows you how to most efficiently get from Point A to Point B…
Fred Schenkelberg
Just, please, plot the data if you have gathered some time-to-failure data, or you have the breakdown dates for a piece of equipment. Any data really. It could be your review of your car maintenance records and notes and dates of repairs. You may have some data from field returns. You have a group…
Michael Causey
A new Government Accounting Office (GAO) report, designed to shed light on what effect the medical device tax will have on the industry in the future, might have done a better job of taking us under the industry’s financial hood.
The GAO, the nonpartisan counting-house arm of the federal…
Jason Furness
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very manager, business owner, or executive has had to deal with projects that fail to deliver. Our days are filled with activities that are the consequences of poorly conceived, poorly executed, and poorly tested projects—most noticeably during a new product launch.
The days leading up to a…
Bruce Hamilton
Summer is here and that means a family vacation to the beach, the boardwalk, and the Hamilton’s favorite pizza place. We all agree that Manco’s pizza is the best anywhere, but we differ on the reason why.
My brother, Geoff, thinks it’s the cheese—aged white cheddar in place of mozzarella. My son…
Arun Hariharan
Peter Drucker once said, "The most important, and indeed the truly unique, contribution of management in the 20th century was the fifty-fold increase in the productivity of the manual worker in manufacturing. The most important contribution management needs to make in the 21st century is similarly…
William A. Levinson
Risk-based thinking, or “actions to address risks and opportunities,” is among the most significant additions to ISO 9001:2015. This provision encompasses what we currently call preventive action, or proactive actions that prevent poor quality before it happens.
Corrective action for poor quality…
