All Features
Julie Fraser
Quality by design (QbD) is a widely discussed approach that is often neither well understood nor effectively executed. Joseph Juran also called QbD “quality planning.” QbD is not primarily focused on typical quality issues such as corrective action, testing, measurement, or monitoring. QbD is a…
Donald J. Wheeler
I
n my February 1996 Quality Digest column I discussed an article out of USA Today. Since that article provides a great example of how we need to filter out the noise whenever we attempt to interpret data, I have updated it for my column today. “Teen Use Turns Upward” read the headline for a graph…
Texas A and M News and Information Services
Sunk in 1606, the Portuguese merchant ship Nossa Senhora dos Martires is sailing again—in 3-D presently but perhaps one day in reality. If the cyber-replicated vessel ever does hit the high seas, the way will have been paved by the research of a persevering Texas A&M University nautical…
MIT News
The information age is also the age of information overload. Companies, governments, researchers, and private citizens are accumulating digital data at an unprecedented rate, and amid all those quintillions of bytes could be the answers to questions of vital human interest: What environmental…
Nikon Metrology Inc.
A new research center designed to examine materials and structures across many length scales has been launched at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom. The µ-VIS (micro-vis) X-ray Imaging Center examines the internal structure of objects in incredible detail. It produces high-…
University at Buffalo
Need help choosing a New Year’s resolution? The University at Buffalo (UB) offers its annual list of 10 suggestions for achieving health, happiness, and success in the new year. Each resolution is based on the work of UB faculty in 2011. Their research and expertise provides some direction on…
Andrew Spanyi
Chief quality officers (CQO) are particularly well placed to lead a major transformational effort. Yet, few do so successfully in spite of having a vested role in operational improvement and having input into what the organization measures and monitors.
Although many CQOs do emphasize…
Louis Columbus
The next 12 months will see a greater focus than ever before on the quality of customer experience permeating strategies, systems, applications, and initiatives.
An efficiency and transaction mindset is driving many industries, including airlines, into a churn-based business model that is…
The Un-Comfort Zone With Robert Wilson
I was less than two minutes into my sales presentation when the business owner sitting behind his desk gruffly said, “Get out of here.” I figured someone must have walked into his office, and he didn’t want us to be interrupted. I turned around to see who it was. There was no one.
He then…
Bill Kalmar
As a frequent columnist for Quality Digest Daily and several other publications, I have learned that there are certain topics that are out of bounds. These are topics that elicit heated debate, comments from riled readers, and the occasional canceling of a subscription. I recently read there…
Tim Lozier
’Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the shop
Santa’s quality manager feared that all production would stop
The FMEA showed high risk, nonconformances were a fright
But Santa knew better—his QMS would help on this magical night.
I really enjoy the holiday season. I love the…
James Brewton
Lean Six Sigma has proven itself as an effective strategy for business success in both private and public sectors. The methodology has helped enterprise leaders recognize business processes as engines that drive performance excellence and help to deliver value. Lean Six Sigma offers a…
Diane Ciotta
A traveler attempting to book a ticket by phone became frustrated after choosing from a menu of endless options, then waiting on hold for 20 minutes before eventually being transferred twice—the second time to a dial tone. When she called back, the first live person she connected with got an…
Michelle LaBrosse
The holiday season is like a magnifying glass that enlarges both the best and the worst in us. This time of year induces joy, caring, and generosity, but it can also magnify stress, anxiety, and heighten conflict at home and in the office.
The holidays can be stressful. You see it in people…
Tim Hyden
It sometimes seems that few people can accurately define risk management, let alone apply it in their organization. Yet, a risk management plan can help an organization identify and correct hazards and substandard work practices before bad things happen. Risk management is by far one of the…
Ross School of Business - University of Michigan
Cisco Systems Inc., headquartered in San Jose, California, runs one of the most complex supply chains in the global information technology industry. The company relies on more than 1,000 suppliers, four contract manufacturers, and 50,000 purchased parts. It also outsources assembly. In October…
Forrest Breyfogle—New Paradigms
Organizations need a systematic approach for risk containment when quality, delivery, and design product and service issues occur. Such a system should also help them to recover quickly from errant decisions made by executives, operations personnel, and the quality department.
This article…
Kirk Wehby
On the face of it, today’s supply-chain risks don’t seem too different from any other time in history. We are faced with natural and man-made disasters, frequent dissolution of supply-chain partners and suppliers, constantly changing regulations, counterfeiting, and the long-standing question…
Denise Robitaille
The ISO 9001 requirements pertaining to preventive action would get a lot more attention if people grasped the very simple fact that this is all about managing risk—which is really about managing the consequences of change. Whenever we change something, even for the better, there are…
News-Medical.Net
Japanese vehicle manufacturer, Toyota, is well-known for developing the principles of lean manufacturing. Research published in the International Journal of Technology Management suggests that the lean approach might also be beneficial to medical procedures, making hospitals more efficient and…
Quality Transformation With David Schwinn
A few weeks ago, my eyes filled with tears as our daughter, Lisa, told those whom we call the Macaronis, that she was struggling to decide between her current occupational choices (yes, she’s that talented and in demand); what she really wanted to do was work more closely with my wife, Carole,…
Steven Ouellette
Last article, I wrote about the importance of correctly classifying variables as part of the research design process, and discussed the benefits of the hugely useful, but oft-neglected, blocked variables. As part of my ongoing crusade against poor experimental designs, and the people who love…
Mike Micklewright
Lean training and programs are more popular than ever. Implementing lean strategies is all the rage, but has your CEO really seen the lean light? Use these 10 signs as a gauge to find out.
10. He initiated a brand new lean department.
His thinking: Lean is something new. We don’t want to taint…
Eston Martz
It’s all too easy to make mistakes involving statistics. Statistical software can remove a lot of the difficulty surrounding statistical calculation, reducing the risk of mathematical errors, but correctly interpreting the results of an analysis can be even more challenging.
A few years ago,…
Robert Whipple
A frequent refrain of top managers is, “We need to do a better job of holding people accountable.” Accountability seems to be the mantra for organizational get-well programs these days. One can agree with this in part, and yet there is an aspect of accountability that feels like a cop out.
The…
