‘Every organization has countless opportunities for improvement, but only a few points—what we call constraints or bottlenecks—govern the pace and performance of the entire system,” says Rami Goldratt, who gave the closing keynote presentation at the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program’s 36th Quest for Excellence Conference. “When we identify these points and enable smooth flow through…

Quality control workflows are only as effective as the machinery they rely on. Ensuring functionality requires understanding what to test and how to measure these factors. Consequently, choosing appropriate material testing equipment is a crucial—if overlooked—step in the quality assurance process.

Many professionals think of quality testing…

In areas such as high-precision metalworking, accuracy is nonnegotiable. This includes the automotive industry and its suppliers, which are in crisis in Germany for several reasons. The industry is under enormous pressure to deliver products of impeccable quality while reducing operating costs (for example, by increasing process speeds).

The automotive industry’s quality…