All Features
Arun Hariharan
Is it possible to apply the principle of first time right (FTR) in a sales context? This two-part article looks at what happens when companies do just that. Part one defined FTR in sales, and outlined some of the obvious advantages. Part two looks at FTR in sales’ effect on revenue, profits, and…
Arun Hariharan
First time right (FTR), or doing things right the first time, is an important concept in quality. Some experts even consider FTR the very definition of quality. This two-part article summarizes an experiment in which FTR was applied to sales. Is it possible to sell something right the first time?…
NIST
(NIST: Gaithersburg, MD) -- The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is hosting a free public workshop on best practices in federal conformity-assessment activities Wed., April 11, 2012, at NIST’s Gaithersburg, Maryland, site. Conformity assessment determines whether a process,…
Paul Naysmith
During the the mid-1980s, two great schools of investigation were put up against each other. Each were immensely popular, and still are today, with fans firmly seated in one methodology or the other. One school was led by a disheveled, cigar-smoking character. The other had a lady more akin to your…
Dawn Keller
I am 100-percent certain that on the day they asked me to manage at Minitab, they did not tell me I would have to do so much process work. They didn’t clearly articulate that as a manager, I’d spend a considerable part of my time discussing how we develop software rather than actually developing…
NIST
It turns out you can be too thin—especially if you’re a nanoscale battery. Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST); the University of Maryland, College Park; and Sandia National Laboratories built a series of nanowire batteries to demonstrate that the thickness of…
Kevin Atkins
Exquisite home décor begins with products that epitomize attention to detail and artistic subtleties that are often hard to manufacture in volume without looking mass-produced. For more than 55 years, Baldwin Hardware, part of the Stanley Black & Decker’s Hardware and Home Improvements (Stanley…
Mountz
In the manufacturing and assembly world, tightening, controlling, or measuring torque fasteners is imperative for production efficiency. An inadequately torqued fastener can vibrate or work loose; conversely, if the tension is too high, the fastener can snap or strip its threads. Faced with these…
Dirk Dusharme @ Quality Digest
Not too long ago, my wife and I attended a fundraiser hosted by one local restaurateur on behalf of another. The locally owned and long-time eatery, Humpty Dumpty, in Grass Valley, California, had burned to the ground, obviously putting all its employees out of a job. So, the staff of Kane’s…
Michelle LaBrosse
During your career, it can be tempting to fall into comfortable patterns, turn autopilot on, and coast from project to project. But as your job description changes and projects become more complex, it’s imperative to be alert and aware while in the driver’s seat so you don’t create roadblocks that…
Forrest Breyfogle—New Paradigms
I n my February column, "Avoiding Company Decline," I described how part of a corporation's economic slide could be attributed to organizational scorecards or dashboards because they are often ineffective in promoting the most appropriate behaviors. In this column, I will show how creating and…
Timothy F. Bednarz
The process of problem solving can at first blush appear relatively simple: The difficulty is defined, facts and evidence are collected and analyzed, and a solution agreed upon. However, because imperfect people make decisions, the entire process is fraught with traps that can lead to serious…
Society of Manufacturing Engineers
Recognizing that advancement in the way things are made is critical to the success of manufacturing, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) announces its 2012 list of Innovations That Could Change the Way You Manufacture.
Selected by SME’s Innovation Watch Committee, the new and emerging…
Tripp Babbitt
Bounties in the National Football League (NFL)? Most fans were appalled when former professional basketball player, Charles Barkley, disclosed on The Dan Patrick Show that players will pool money, called a bounty, which goes to the player who hits an opponent hard enough to intimidate him. With a…
Dan Adams
Warren Buffett famously said, “Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful.” And you’d love to be that kind of long-term thinker, willing to invest in the future when others are running for cover. Of course, Buffett has his $60 billion fortune to cushion the risks…
The Un-Comfort Zone With Robert Wilson
As you finish reloading your rifle, you realize there’s a lull in the fighting. There is no gunfire, no explosions, the screaming and yelling have subsided. After three hours of battle, it’s become relatively quiet on both ships. You take a moment to assess the situation.
From the beginning you’ve…
Ryan E. Day
I’m having that conversation with my bosses… again. I am promulgating the notion of reaching out to industries and audiences that we really aren’t engaging. However, more than once I’ve been told that the quality industry is a very narrow niche. To this I say, “Horse pucky!”
I believe this…
Michael Causey
Budget-conscious firms that do business in China and elsewhere outside the United States may not like what they find in the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) request in the Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2013.
While it is one of the few agencies that could see its overall…
Steve Wise
Selecting the right control chart starts by knowing something about what you want the chart to say about the process—what questions do you want the chart to answer? Another way to look at this is to ask yourself, “Why am I collecting data on this part?” The answers to these questions will provide…
William A. Levinson
Bowers and West, authors of the article, “Getting on Track,” in the May 2011 issue of Quality Progress, describe ISO 26000 as a guidance standard “that can help manage social responsibility (SR) issues at your organization.” The reference adds that ISO 26000 was developed by experts on governance,…
Bill Kalmar
The arrival of daylight saving time (DST) marks the official arrival of spring, at least in my mind. And notice I said saving time, not savings time. Evidently over the years this event has taken on a different identity with the addition of an “s.” And frankly until recently I always opted for the…
NIST
Organic solar cells may be a step closer to market because of measurements taken at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), where a team of scientists has developed a better fundamental understanding of how to optimize the cells’…
Christine Forcier
The global demand for medical devices has been steady in traditional markets despite the economic downturn and even increasing in some emerging markets. For medical device manufacturers seeking access to new markets, conformity with regulatory requirements is most often a prerequisite. Those who…
Tim Lozier
You’ve heard the phrase, “Get it off your plate—delegate!” It’s a nice phrase for those of us to justify passing off work, isn’t it? However, in an organization, delegation is a much more serious challenge. Market demand dictates that no deadlines can be missed; you miss a deadline, and it may…
Cliff Lowe
(InSite Solutions: Wake Forest, NC) -- One of the key objectives of lean initiatives is to identify waste, or muda, and it can be found in almost any action that takes place in a facility. Every employee should be educated about identifying muda in their daily workflow, to maximize improvements in…
