All Features
Joseph A. DeFeo
Strategic quality planning (SQP) is a systematic approach to defining long-term business goals, including goals to improve quality and the means (i.e., the plans) to achieve them. Many organizations have created a vision “to be the best,” toward a goal of outperforming competitors. Many of these…
Tracker Handbook by Javier Vera
From time to time there are advances in technology that merit recognition. From the invention of the measurement ruler, to the first electric light bulb, to the creation of the first transistor, which led to the invention of the computer—such devices have advanced our abilities to manufacture…
Richard Muller is a guy who thinks spouting fun physics facts will make you the life of the party. And his new book, The Instant Physicist: An Illustrated Guide (W.W. Norton & Co. Inc., 2011), may just convince you he’s right.
Who knew, for example, that liquor, by law, must be radioactive…
Stewart Anderson
Imagine yourself seated in Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center awaiting a concert by the New York Philharmonic. The orchestra’s musicians are on stage warming up, producing a cacophony of sound. The concertmaster raps his stand for the orchestra to tune to the principal oboist’s A. A few minutes…
100 Customer Service Tips by Larry Williams
In sports, you will find athletes who mentally prepare themselves for competition. Politicians prep vigorously before big speeches, interviews, and debates. The same is true for entertainers, news anchors, teachers, community leaders, and others in business. Those who are committed to their craft…
Tripp Babbitt
Missed opportunities for improvement represent a 20–60 percent chunk carved out of the bottom line. Scores of programs and projects that claim improvement but never materialize in the financials are a travesty. The Wall Street Journal reports that more than 60 percent of improvement efforts fail.…
Minitab LLC
(Minitab: State College, PA) -- Swiss-based Metalor Technologies, a global leader in precious metals and advanced materials, is a supplier to electronics companies and manufacturers of medical and electrical equipment.
Metalor’s skill in creating reliable technology has earned the company a…
Bill Kalmar
As a retired citizen, I no longer have to make any New Year’s resolutions because changes to my lifestyle at this juncture could be injurious to my health, well-being, and mental acuity. So I’ve decided to make them for others in our society. I know you will understand; if not, just chalk it up to…
Mike Martyn
The best indicator of successfully developing a continuous improvement culture is your ability to engage people. Because “engagement is all about participation,” according to communications consultant David Sibbet, it is critical that you create a way for people to consistently participate in…
Donald J. Wheeler
Measurement error is ubiquitous. As a result, over the past 250 years, different areas of science and engineering have come up with many different ways to deal with the problem. One approach to the problem of measurement error was developed during the 1960s within General Motors. Throughout the…
J.D. Power and Associates
(J.D. Power and Associates: Westlake Village, CA) -- New-vehicle owners are increasingly citing fun-to-drive vehicles as a top reason to remain loyal to their brand, while shifting away from expected resale value as a loyalty reason, according to the recently released J.D. Power and Associates…
J.D. Power and Associates
(J.D. Power and Associates: Westlake Village, CA) -- New-vehicle owners are increasingly citing fun-to-drive vehicles as a top reason to remain loyal to their brand, while shifting away from expected resale value as a loyalty reason, according to the recently released J.D. Power and Associates…
Bill Kalmar
Back in 1959, crooner Perry Como greeted us with the holiday song, "There’s No Place like Home for the Holidays." It became a highly anticipated tradition over the years to hear him sing these words:
“Oh, there’s no place like home for the holidays,
‘Cause no matter how far away you roam,
If…
Let’s face it: The business world is changing. Rapidly. While the object of the game is still to drive revenue, the methods have changed. Instead of a monolithic one-way interaction, business is now being conducted through constant and meaningful two-way conversations between organizations and…
The office of the future might not be an office at all. As virtual teams become more prevalent, we edge ever closer to a culture where “work” means logging in to your company’s online project management site from your home, or collaborating with people who work for different teams or functions at…
Miriam Boudreaux
Most of us set new resolutions every New Year. Whether it is losing weight, exercising more (always the top resolutions), or finishing a degree, we all recognize that a new year and the chance of a fresh start is a powerful combination to motivate us to achieve those goals. So why not apply the…
100 Customer Service Tips by Larry Williams
Gratitude is something that is as great to give as it is to receive. There are many ways in which you can show your appreciation to your customers. Likewise there are many ways our customers do the same. These tips will help you focus on ways to restore the faith of customers who may have become…
National Center for Manufacturing Sciences
We don’t often pause to consider electroplating, but the fact is, today’s world would be impossible without it. Cadmium, zinc, gold, silver, platinum, titanium, and chrome are some of the metals often used in the process. Despite its ubiquitous role in manufacturing, the process and technology for…
Michelle LaBrosse
We are almost there… the close of another year. There are two ways to end the year. One way is to write off the rest of December because the year is just about shot, and then just start fresh in January. Another way is to focus on what is most important for you to accomplish in December so you hit…
Quality Digest
Beginning Dec. 8 with “This Year in Quality, Part One,” and continuing Dec. 14 with part two, the editors of Quality Digest Daily took a look at its stories and news articles throughout 2010 and collected what we thought were the most remarkable in the world of quality. From precision measurement…
Maribeth Kuzmeski
It’s that special season again: the season of crowded stores, whiny kids, irritable customers, and stressed-out employees. If you’re a business owner—in any industry but especially in retail—the holidays are a precarious time. When fuses are short and wallets are shrinking, customers expect great…
Bill Kalmar
Christmas morning is an exciting time for millions of boys and girls who have been good all year. Heaped under a beautifully decorated tree will be an assortment of gifts—some electronic gizmos, a doll or two, some sports equipment, and maybe some clothes. Years ago when we were growing up, there…
Dirk Dusharme @ Quality Digest
For most of us, food safety is a topic that, at best, only lurks at the edges of our brains. It rarely becomes something we really think about until we open up our refrigerator and try to figure out what’s growing in the back corner of the bottom shelf, or until we hear stories about people being…
The QA Pharm
People often ask me how best to prepare for a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspection when you know that you have problems. My first response is that they have already taken the first step: acknowledging that there are problems. Believe me; that is a huge first step. Just like Alcoholics…
Bruce Hamilton
A couple years ago, I was consulting in a large rolling mill to help reduce late deliveries to its customers. After walking the floor for the first time with an enthusiastic 20-something engineer (let’s call him Mark), I asked for help with observation at a particular point in the factory where…
