Content by Taran March @ Quality Digest
On the Road to Big MedicineLife science and tech companies bump heads to interpret the new map
Mon, 03/18/2019 - 12:03
Life science companies are no strangers to data, so it would be easy to assume they are adept at making innovative use of huge amounts. Not necessarily. A tradition of rigorous scientific method and clinical trial hasn’t prepared them for the…
To Unlock Life Science’s Future, Use a Quality KeyAn interview with Sparta System’s Stephen McCarthy
Tue, 02/19/2019 - 11:59
It’s been a year and a month since Stephen McCarthy switched C suites, moving from Johnson & Johnson, where he served as vice president of quality system shared services, to Sparta Systems, where he’s now vice president of digital innovation.…
The Gift of Being SmallStories are the ornaments in our lives
Wed, 12/19/2018 - 12:03
I tend to be a holiday slacker, but this year I’m really sitting it out. No fingering handmade crafts at pop-up fairs, no high-calorie marathons with my oven, not even a sprig of holly on my door. I’m hibernating, waiting for spring, waiting for the…
FDA: Innovation Spoken HereFrom digital submissions to integrated document control, the agency moves into the lean arena
Wed, 11/14/2018 - 12:02
These days, even regulatory agencies must innovate if they expect to keep pace with the speed of doing business. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is no exception, and this year especially it has challenged itself to find ways to enhance…
Brother Moonshine, Sister SolutionHigh-tech companies head to their moonshine shops to right-size problems
Thu, 07/05/2018 - 12:03
We are here, and it is now. Further than that, all human knowledge is moonshine. —H. L. Mencken I ran across the term “moonshine shop” while reading about a kaizen blitz at Ontario-based communications firm Cogeco. “Brad, [Cogeco’s] maintenance…
Need for Speed‘Here’s your package—what’s your hurry?’
Thu, 05/10/2018 - 12:03
Supply chains’ last-mile delivery has become the new Pony Express. Like that famous but short-lived courier service, the global supply chain is focused on completing the final segment between supplier and customer—which in reality is anywhere…
If Bridges Could Talk‘Buddy, can you spare a dime?’
Thu, 03/29/2018 - 12:03
The rutted road to Quality Digest’s office is a pretty good example of highway health across the country. Running to the city’s shuttered airport, it’s riddled with potholes and cracks that flourish along a timeline of repair and despair. Some are…
Off Earth, on BudgetManufacturing in space takes a giant leap this year
Thu, 02/15/2018 - 12:03
What must it be like to be Elon Musk? Here’s a guy who can successfully launch the world’s most powerful rocket into space, a feat hitherto reserved for nations with decent budgets. Since 2010 his commercial company, SpaceX, has been ferrying…
Ghost of Old Cars PastMay your days be merry and bright, and may all your Hondas be white
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 12:03
I loved my Honda. Is it OK to cling to that emotion, even after a car takes its final drive and lands in a dissection yard to be pulled to pieces so other old Hondas can stay on the road? Are there counselors out there specializing in car grief who…
Rocks, Riches, RustU.S. steel industry tests its mettle in a global market
Thu, 09/28/2017 - 12:03
One thing you can say about that critical commodity called steel: It gets around. Ancient ironware excavated in what is now Turkey has been dated to 1800 B.C. Some 1,200 years later, blacksmiths in Sri Lanka employed furnaces driven by monsoon…