All Features
Quality Digest
In an effort to strengthen the automotive supply chain, the Automotive Industry Action Group will offer crisis management and business recovery training. The emergency response training is the first of its kind in the automotive industry, says Andrew J. Cummins, executive director and CEO of…
Quality Digest
The American Society for Quality has announced it’s seeking applicants to serve on its board of directors for 2005-06. The ASQ nominating committee will accept applications from senior, fellow and honorary members for the following positions: president, vice president, treasurer and…
Robert Nix
My first experience with the word “culture” comes from my high school science class. We grew a living organism on a nutrient base, which the teacher called a culture. The girls in class described it using the medical term, “Eeewwwww!” Years later, in the business world, I find top…
Chuck Doyle
Many organizations need answers to some key questions about lean and quality management: Is there a difference between quality and value? Should we have two teams, one for continuous improvement and one for lean? What roles would each have? What are the differences? The source for this…
Jeffrey S. Goss
Six Sigma, the statistical approach focused on increasing profitability by improving efficiency, has been part of the engineering world since the 1980s. Now, new innovative online and on-campus programs at Arizona State University are shaking up the way people all over the globe are…
Quality Digest
DVT Corp. recently announced the availability of a new PC-based object linking and embedding for process control server designed to work with the company’s Legend series of smart camera-based machine vision systems. OPC technology can eliminate expensive custom interfaces and drivers normally…
Quality Digest
SigmaXL recently released an enhanced version of its eponymous software suite. SigmaXL 3.0 features failure mode effects analysis; cause-and-effect matrix templates; gage repeatability and reliability templates with multivariable, X-bar and R-charts; as well as; multiple regression with…
Quality Digest
Top executives from Bank of America will host a Six Sigma symposium in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Oct. 25-27. Bank Chairman and CEO Kenneth D. Lewis will deliver the keynote address, and the company’s Six Sigma Leadership Team will lead a moderated panel discussion about using Six Sigma…
Quality Digest
Quest Diagnostics recently announced the selection of Instantis’ EnterpriseTrack tracking and management solution for its Six Sigma effort. EnterpriseTrack will be in use by Quest Six Sigma teams spread across its business units. “Information tracking and reporting needs for Six Sigma are…
Quality Digest
Hexagon AB added to its market share recently by acquiring ROMER CimCore Inc., a consolidation that is already underway. ROMER CimCore Inc., which has operations in Carlsbad, California, and Farmington Hills, Michigan, manufactures and markets metrology equipment used widely in the…
Quality Digest
Carl Zeiss SMT Inc. recently opened a new applications and demonstration lab in Redwood City, California. The company plans to use the new Electron Microscopy Applications Lab to serve West Coast customers with better applications, sales and service support. Customers can bring samples in…
Quality Digest
National Quality Assurance USA recently announced its accreditation through the ElectroStatic Discharge Association to provide auditing services against ANSI/ESD S20.20:1999. The accreditation will allow NQA USA to help organizations develop electrostatic discharge control programs. The ANSI…
Quality Digest
Pilgrim Software recently announced the availability of its SmartAudit Offline solution. The suite is based on Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003, though it’s a new and separately licensed add-on to Pilgrim’s SmartAudit version 7.03.5 internal and external audit management system. It allows…
Quality Digest
As organizations pursue quality and value, many find that Six Sigma alone isn’t enough to compete in the global marketplace. The addition of quality function deployment, however, often translates into increased functionality, quality and profitability. International TechneGroup Inc. will host…
Quality Digest
Vought Aircraft Industries Inc. recently signed a contract with Leica Geosystems to buy six laser tracking systems for its manufacturing operations in Dallas. Vought reports it will extend the contract over a span of four years to replace its existing measurement systems with approximately 24…
Michael Stanleigh
ISO 10006:2003, guidelines for quality management projects, was released in the fall of 2003. This standard is creating the next wave in our understanding of project managing processes. But how does ISO 10006 compare to the Project Management Institute’s Project Management Body of…
Quality Digest
The presidents of the International Organization for Standardization and the International Electrotechnical Commission and the secretary-general of the International Telecommunications Union recently highlighted the importance of international standards in a joint address. The annual message…
Quality Digest
Randy Dougherty, the Registrar Accreditation Board’s director of registrar accreditation, was recently named chair of the technical committee of the International Accreditation Forum. The appointment was made at a meeting held in Bern, Switzerland. Dougherty’s three-year term began on July 1…
Quality Digest
A new standard developed by the International Organization for Standardization and international maritime organizations aims at making ports around the world more secure. ISO/PAS 20858 was adopted by more than 100 member countries of the International Maritime Organization. It contains…
Quality Digest
National Quality Assurance announced it was accredited by the American National Standards Institute-Registrar Accreditation Board to register companies to AS9003. NQA representatives report the approval demonstrates that its assessors meet the exacting standards and expertise required in the…
Quality Digest
July marked the 20th anniversary of the Coordinate Measurement Systems Conference, the only conference solely devoted to the users, services and OEM manufacturers of close-tolerance coordinate measurement systems, software and peripherals. This year’s conference and exhibition was held in San…
Quality Digest
The National Committee for Quality Assurance recently released the newest version of its comprehensive Quality Compass database. For the first time, the database includes a measure of flu shots given to adults aged 50-64 last year. The metric is important, reports the NCQA, because influenza…
Quality Digest
ASI DataMyte was recently awarded a “People Make Quality Happen” award by General Motors. The manufacturer received the award for its 501 Fit Gate program, implemented to check gap and flush and vehicle body panels during final assembly. The program replaced an inefficient “carrot stick”…
Quality Digest
The new version of AssurX’s CATSWeb Enterprise Quality Tracking System includes new features that increase user productivity. The additions of CATSWeb dynamic forms and full-text search features are the centerpieces of the new release. Dynamic forms allows users to adapt based on prior…
Quality Digest
ASI DataMyte opened a Brazilian subsidiary recently, expanding the quality solutions provider’s market share in South America. The new subsidiary, ASI DataMyte do Brasil Equipamentos para Controle de Qualidade Ltda., will be operated by Marcelo Trovo and Agnaldo Trovo. The two were formerly…
