All Features
Laura Gillenwater
I recently had the privilege of attending the Health Care Advisory Board’s National Meeting in St. Louis. One of the topics that really struck me was the last presentation about the importance of building a consumer-focused organization and increasing consumer loyalty.
We hear so much about the…
Anna Nagurney
When we talk about supply chains, we may conjure up images of manufacturing plants, warehouses, trucks, and shipping docks. There is another, truly unique supply chain for a product vitally important to healthcare and life, and it is very volatile at the moment: the blood supply chain.
Human…
Robin Materese
A catchphrase from a popular reality show goes: “One day you’re in. And the next day, you’re out.” For the purposes of the show, the host is referencing fashion. But the same could be said about science. With each new discovery or advance, an old theory or idea often becomes obsolete—or at least…
Tim Lozier
Sponsored Content
For quality management to be effective, a solid corrective action process is critical. ISO standards and general best-practice guides suggest—and even mandate—a set procedure and proper documentation for addressing and correcting issues.
In fact, 72 percent of quality…
BEA Lasers
(BEA Lasers: Elk Grove Village, IL) -- The MIL Series laser modules includes the MIL RA Model that features a right angle, and the MIL Compact Model that features a straight housing. Both laser modules are ideally suited for applications with limited space and tight positioning requirements.
Both…
Ryan E. Day
Is it just me, or does it seem like businesses are actually trying to outdo each other in poor customer experience? Now, I don’t want to be misunderstood, so let me be as clear as I can.
I’m not talking about run-of-the-mill poor customer service like big box stores running skeleton crews as…
Tim Lozier
When it comes to quality management, it’s not just about the requirements. As companies register to ISO 9001:2015, we see an additional shift. Not only are management system requirements changing to build an improved framework for the standard, but we also see an emphasis on an overall mindset…
Andy Henderson
This is the fourth part in a series about my perspective of what the future has in store for various aspects of manufacturing. I approached each aspect by imagining what is possible using what we know to be technically possible today. In part one I covered cutting tools for machining, in part two…
D. L. Newslow and Associates
(D. L. Newslow & Associates: Orlando, FL) -- Food-safety training experts D. L. Newslow & Associates and Australia-based certification body HACCP International have employed the services of Ronald D. Mathis, CMS, as executive vice president. His role will provide strategic planning and…
Harish Jose
As our new year unfolds, I wanted to write an article to remind myself of three pieces of advice. They are from Epictetus (55–135 AD), Marcus Aurelius (121–180 AD), and George Pólya (1887–1985). Epictetus and Aurelius are two famous Stoic philosophers of the past, and Pólya is a famous Hungarian…
Ruth P. Stevens
Business marketers have much to gain from retention marketing. Business customers tend to be fewer in number, and each is more valuable—meaning you can’t afford to lose even one. But how do you keep your customers active and buying from you, vs. the competition? How do you prevent defection?
Let’s…
Anil Gaba
Whether predicting demand for a product or forecasting spot prices for a resource or currency, we invariably seek out subjective opinions—expert viewpoints—to assist in the information-gathering process in order to make informed decisions. If forecasters are too closely linked, less information can…
Shoshana Burgett
D
uring the past year, I have interviewed many customers across a variety of manufacturing industries to learn more about their industry concerns, the design and manufacturing challenges they face, and the technologies that excite them. Here are some manufacturing and business trends to follow over…
Thomas R. Cutler
Two words no manufacturing organization wants to hear: product recalls. By their very nature, product recalls are unpredictable events.
The cost to a company transcends potentially expensive litigation and settlements. Product recalls and the effects that product failures have on companies that…
Jerry W. Thomas
The many “truisms” of customer loyalty lore are mostly a set of mythologies to deceive the gullible and exploit the innocent. Let us explore these mythologies and then talk about best practices for customer satisfaction and customer loyalty research.
The mythologies
Rising customer satisfaction…
Mike Figliuolo
I
enjoy the holidays because they offer time to reflect. The work world slows down for a few weeks, and you can think about what went well during the past year, what didn’t go well, how you want to grow, and what you can do to improve yourself for the year ahead. I’d like to offer a list of…
Paul Lachance
When it comes to asset management and facility management, everyone within an organization is affected by breakdowns and downtime. That means employees from the CFO to the environmental health and safety (EHS) director to the plant engineer should be involved in maintenance.
In the manufacturing…
Mike Richman
We were back to a full complement of hosts on this week’s episode of QDL, as I returned from vacation to an action-package show with lots of interesting content.
In case you missed it, this past Friday’ Quality Digest Live looked at:
“Amazon Patents Flying Warehouse”
Dirk Dusharme reports that…
Dirk Dusharme @ Quality Digest
You’re going to see a bit of a departure in some Quality Digest coverage this year. Certainly on our webcast, Quality Digest Live, but even in our online editorial coverage. It is spurred in no small part by the incoming administration’s approach to dealing with U.S. manufacturing and the…
MIPI Alliance
(MIPI Alliance: Piscatawa, NJ) -- The MIPI Alliance, an international organization that develops interface specifications for mobile and mobile-influenced industries, has released MIPI I3C—“Improved inter-integrated circuit,” a sensor-interface specification that streamlines sensor integration in…
Quality Transformation With David Schwinn
I recently presented “Statistical Thinking for OD Professionals” for the Organization Development Network annual conference. It was well received, but more important, it reignited in me a passion for the use of control charts in decision making for everyone who uses numbers, or needs to use them…
DNV GL
According the International Organization of Standardization (ISO), there are more than 300,000 certifications to ISO 14001 in 171 countries around the world, making it the most relied-upon symbol of environmental stewardship and sustainable business practice. True to its core tenant of continual…
Jim Benson
If you are reading this, you are likely human. Congratulations; I’m human, too.
Everyday we all wake up and wonder what the day will bring. We wonder who we will meet, what conversations we will have, and what we will do.
We all want to do things
In business we have processes, we have…
Katherine Watts
While at the National MACRA MIPS/APM Summit in Washington, D.C., I heard much discussion centered on how to create and implement strategies that pay physicians fairly, while controlling spending in the Medicare program. It’s a question we’ve wrestled with for almost 20 years and a challenge we…
Matthew Muller
I have been inspired to write this article after learning about Joseph Juran and understanding the effect he has had on our society. I started working at Juran Global about six months ago, and since then I’ve had several friends and past colleagues reach out to me with questions like, “What is…
