All Features
University of Arizona
Astronomers, physicists, and scientists from related fields across the world convened in Tucson, Arizona on Jan. 18, 2012, to discuss an endeavor that only a few years ago would have been regarded as nothing less than outrageous.
The conference is organized by Dimitrios Psaltis, an associate…
Stewart Anderson
What is the economic rationale for pursuing lean production? Much of the lean literature is concerned with the nuts and bolts of lean, and the economics of lean are somewhat less publicized. This article attempts to redress that imbalance, albeit in a very condensed way.
Firms employ capital and…
Gary Robinson
In an era of fast-paced and ever-increasing competitiveness, continuous business improvement is no longer reserved for a select group of innovators. It is a requisite for survival.
Every business strives to increase market share, drive down costs, manage risk more effectively, and improve customer…
Andy Masters
Life can be a real kick in the pants. In her 1983 commencement speech at Vassar College, Meryl Streep expressed her genuine surprise when she figured out that “real life is just like high school.” She went on to explain, “In high school there’s generally one acceptable way to be, and it’s dictated…
The Conference Board
(The Conference Board: New York) -- According to a report released by The Conference Board, the global business membership and research organization, productivity growth weakened substantially across the globe in 2011, with the drop-off most dramatic in advanced economies.
The “2012 Productivity…
Michelle LaBrosse
How do you know when you are truly wealthy? Your perception of prosperity will most likely change throughout your life. At the age of 5, being prosperous is having your favorite toys within reach, being able to eat ice cream after dinner, and being allowed to stay up an hour later than usual. At 16…
It can take anywhere from six weeks to six months to build a 2,800-square-foot, two-story house in the United States, mostly because human beings do all the work. Within the next five years, chances are that 3-D printing (also known by the less catchy but more inclusive term additive manufacturing…
Bill Kalmar
From the Broadway play A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum comes a delightful song titled Comedy Tonight. In the song are phrases such as “something familiar—something peculiar” and “something appealing—something appalling.” As a follow-up to those words, each day we read or hear about…
CyArk
The National Park Service and CyArk have started the new year with the launch of the much anticipated Mount Rushmore website, a new way to virtually visit the National Memorial near Keystone, South Dakota. This web portal is part of an ongoing partnership between the National Park Service (NPS) and…
Patrick Runkel
Meet Betty and Bart Bickerson, husband-and-wife quality analysts who work at different companies. Betty and Bart argue about everything. They argue whether grey is a color. They argue whether tomato is a fruit. They argue whether the chicken came before the egg, and whether the egg tastes better…
H. James Harrington
In October 2011, I attended the 3rd Business Excellence Global Conference and the 17th Asia Pacific Quality Conference held at the Marina Bay Sands hotel in Singapore. One of the highlights of the conference was the awards banquet held on October 17, where the Global Performance Excellence Awards (…
MIT News
When Microsoft’s Kinect—a device that lets Xbox users control games with physical gestures—hit the market, computer scientists immediately began hacking it. At MIT alone, researchers have used the Kinect to create a Minority Report-style computer interface, a navigation system for miniature robotic…
Matthew Littlefield
Manufacturing is now a global game. The United States is still the world’s largest manufacturer but is no longer the engine for growth it once was. China, Brazil, Australia, India, Singapore, and other countries are building new facilities at a breakneck pace.
This growth is also no longer limited…
Taran March @ Quality Digest
During a recent holiday debriefing with a friend, I learned that a colleague of hers was feeling guilty because she and her husband were unable to afford an iPad for their daughter. Nodding and sipping tea, I was vaguely sympathizing while trying on the idea of buying a macaroon from the bakery…
Bruce Hamilton
Some time ago, while speaking at a conference in the land down under, I was taken to task by a participant for suggesting, “5S is usually the first improvement” in lean implementation. I had carelessly adopted this posture because, as a consultant, I had found that workplace organization was…
The QA Pharm
Like anyone else, when I plan for the new year, I need to set aside time for reflection and anticipation. I look back and ask, “Have I made a difference in anyone’s life?” I look forward and ask, “What do I want to change that I either have control over or can influence?” For people working in the…
Laser Design Inc.
Inspired by the popularity of up-close recreational experiences in the land of 10,000 lakes, a Minnesota company has figured out how to design and manufacture a unique line of small, electrically powered watercraft. However, the company had a manufacturing problem: The small fiberglass boat was…
William A. Levinson
I recently returned a pair of $28 (suggested retail price) Chinese-made gloves I bought for $7.97 the day after Christmas, which is when I do all my Christmas shopping. The reason I returned the gloves was because a seam had begun to come apart less than three weeks after I bought them. This…
Brian Gudauskas, Shaun Wissner
A Quality Digest reader wrote in asking for techniques to evaluate touch-trigger probes for accuracy. Specifically, he asked how someone can evaluate touch probes and magnetic modules for wear, or to determine if they have been damaged as the result of a collision or being dropped. He wanted to be…
Jason W. Womack
Although you were energized and excited about jumping into 2012, the 20+ tasks added to your to-do list and an inbox full of e-mails begging for an immediate response sidetracked you into feeling overwhelmed and incapable of getting everything done. Will 2012 become another year of wishing things…
NIST
With a random-looking spatter of paint specks, a pair of cameras, and a whole lot of computer processing, engineer Mark Iadicola of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has been helping the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), in cooperation with the American Association of…
Tom Pyzdek
One of the cornerstones of quality and lean Six Sigma is data: “We insist on it.” “Don’t tell us what you think the situation is; let the data do the talking.” “In God we trust—all others bring data.” You get the idea.
An unfortunate side effect of this emphasis is the proliferation of useless…
Demand Solutions
Any company that attempts to reduce inventory and its associated costs brings its own unique advantages and challenges to the battle. Managing for optimal inventory levels is a critical objective that requires diligent attention and daily action to maintain the hard-fought advantage. The results,…
Carly Barry
I found that training to run a marathon is a lot like completing a quality improvement project. I ran my first full marathon in November 2011, and as I was completing my training, I came across this quote about quality improvement from V. Daniel Hunt, quality management improvement author and CEO…
Paul Naysmith
Recently I visited the world-famous Tabasco sauce factory on Avery Island, Louisiana. We live approximately 30 miles from the global super-brand, and what else would a quality professional like to do on his holiday downtime than visit a factory to see what lessons he could learn? And my wife…
